Let’s remind ourselves of the lofty aims set out in the EU’s so-called Lisbon Strategy back in 2000: the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, and respect for the environment by 2010. Everyone […]
Just a quick plug for a really amusing environmental campaign website entitled EV-EON – criticising power firm E-ON’s devotion to burning coal to generate electricity, and the problems with carbon capture. The site has excellent design and whether you agree with it or not it’s well worth a visit. I […]
I’m probably about the only person anywhere who gets really hung up on the question of how effective MEPs are. A majority of the populations of European countries cannot muster the energy to turn up to vote, let alone cast a critical and analytical eye over their European representatives. But […]
Sometimes you turn up somewhere for the first time in a while and you realise something is different, and you search for an answer why the change took place. I’ve been to the French port town of Sète, in Languedoc, every year between 1990 and 2000, and every couple of […]
Thanks to LME for posting up the list of all of Labour’s candidates for the 2009 European Parliament elections – 69 candidates in all. Below you can find the full list. Apart from the retirement of Glenys Kinnock and Gary Titley all the other MEPs are sitting pretty at the […]
The European Parliament (and indeed the EU) badly needs characters to liven up an often rather dull institution. Hence it’s sad that 2 of the most interesting and influential MEPs are departing this spring, for very different reasons. Alexander Stubb (whose work I have previously praised) was appointed on 1st […]
Have a read of this brilliant article in today’s Guardian about a new cultural initiative involving Gordon Brown and Carla Bruni. I sort of wish Brown would do something so daring… Pity it’s not on the Number 10 website. I also realise that I may have inadvertently written an April […]
What a slogan: “Nuclear is UK’s new North Sea oil”. That was the title of a front page article in yesterday’s Guardian about a pro-nuclear speech made by Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, John Hutton. Yet if you look at it more closely the story is […]
Richard Corbett is probably Britain’s best known blogging MEP, and as I’ve stated here before I reckon he’s Britain’s best MEP. Give him his due – he does put his head above the parapet and try to take on Britain’s vast array of eurosceptics, which is more than can be […]
I’ve stumbled across this excellent map of the US political blogosphere (small screenshot above), showing who links to whom and which sites have the highest influence. The colours on the map demonstrate political affiliation. Toute l’Europe has tried something similar for European politics, but to be quite frank they have […]
I wrote a first version of this entry in September 2007, and have added and amended it ever since. A starting point for my reflections was this analysis from Euractiv of the Euroblogosphere. I have also reflected on the issues of the Euro-blogosphere having contributed to this academic analysis by […]
According to the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning Stavros Dimas is the “EU’s Environment Chief“. Well, sort of. He’s actually European Commissioner for the Environment. Now would the same programme dream of calling John Hutton “Britain’s Industry Chief” or Hillary Benn “Britain’s Environment Chief“. No, of course […]
