EU Politics Archives - Page 26 of 89

EU Politics

Malcolm Harbour’s delightful contradictions (but he’s not the only one)

18.10.2011 0 comments

Tory MEP Malcolm Harbour was on the second panel at the European Transport Forum, talking in broad terms about how the Single Market in transport is not yet complete. Nice soundbite, right? But what would completion of the Single Market actually mean? It means either major infrastructure investments, or constraints […]

EU Politics

If you want to ship some truck parts from Umeå to Gent… 3 changes of locomotive and 30km/h

18.10.2011 1 comment

I’m at European Transport Forum in Brussels, live blogging and live tweeting the event (tag: #ETF2011). I’m here at Cristina Riesen‘s initiative, and fellow bloggers Eurocentrique and Christian Wolmar are covering the event too.

EU Politics, UK Politics

Tories seem to have found someone even more barking than Roger Helmer

12.10.2011 4 comments

Today’s good news: Roger Helmer is standing down as a Member of the European Parliament. He says its because he disagrees with nine-tenths of Tory policy, and his statements have become more and more shrill and reactionary over the years. In the list-based election system used in the UK, it’s […]

EU Politics

LabourList | Introducing the new Tory MEP

12.10.2011 0 comments

“Today’s good news: Roger Helmer is standing down as a Member of the European Parliament. He says its because he disagrees with nine-tenths of Tory policy, and his statements have become more and more shrill and reactionary over the years. In the list-based election system used in the UK, it’s […]

EU Politics

Wifi in the EU quarter, Brussels

12.10.2011 3 comments

There’s been a bit of discussion on Twitter this morning with @megankenna and @thefashioncloud at the prohibitively high cost of Wifi in and around the EU quarter in Brussels. Many conferences are organised in hotels and the cost for wifi can be up to €25 per day. This, I fear, […]

EU Politics

LabourList | A cautious welcome for primaries in the French Socialist Party

11.10.2011 0 comments

“Just as une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps (one swallow does not make a summer), une primaire ne refait pas un parti politique (one primary does not remake a party). But looking back at yesterday’s first ever US-style primary to decide the French Socialist Party’s candidate to oppose incumbent […]

EU Politics

LabourList | Barroso’s State of the European Union: a challenge for Labour

02.10.2011 0 comments

“Few in Labour would have noticed it taking place, but President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso delivered his annual ‘State of the European Union’ address (highlights here) on Wednesday this week, at the moment when Labour politicians and activists had their full focus on conference. Labour would do […]

EU Politics, UK Politics

The idiot in Brussels

29.09.2011 6 comments

(Thanks for @spignal for pointing out the film) Extraordinary ‘debate’ on Newsnight last night between Amadeu Altafaj Tardio (Ollie Rehn’s spokesperson) and Peter Oborne. Oborne repeatedly calls Altafaj Tardio ‘the idiot in Brussels’, a phrase that Paxman also uses, and Oborne is equally vile towards Richard Lambert, giving him a copy […]

EU Politics

Barroso is not just ‘A senior EU official’ – he’s President of the European Commission

28.09.2011 4 comments

Have a read of this piece (see comments – link changed – a version is available here) on AP’s website about Barroso’s State of the European Union speech. It’s entitled “Top EU official seeks closer policy union” and then starts “A senior EU official called for closer political and financial unification […]

EU Politics

An idea for next year’s #SOTEU – deliver it to the EP and the European Council

28.09.2011 1 comment

Barroso has just finished delivering his State of the European Union address to the European Parliament. While – as before – we had a bit of a chuckle in the blogosphere with buzzword bingo, this was a serious occasion and Barroso rose to it, delivering a speech full of determination that contained […]

EU Politics

LabourList | Ahoy the Berlin Pirates (and what it means for the left in Europe)

25.09.2011 0 comments

“As last week’s column appeared on LabourList, voters in Berlin were going to the polls to choose the 149 members of the Abgeordnetenhaus, the parliament for the state of Berlin and one of the 16 states of Germany. Full election results can be found here. At one level little changed […]