EU Politics

Rasmussen animation
EU Politics

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, leader of the PES

Poul was re-elected as leader of the PES in Porto. This has allowed him to make plenty of speeches on the podium. It’s the first time I have seen Rasmussen perform in the flesh, and he’s actually quite impressive. He comes across as honest, as expressive, and almost emotional in […]

EU Politics

Royal in Porto: the anglophone press doesn’t care

A quick check of Google News this morning maybe explains why Ségolène Royal’s speech yesterday was 100% in French. Searching Google News – French Version – for ‘Ségolène Royal’ gives more than 20 articles about her speech in Porto, with titles such as ‘Ségolène Royal ovationnée au Portugal’ – do […]

Poland © European Commission Audiovisual Library
EU Politics

Party politics: what’s going on in Poland?

The Polish government has been roundly criticised for its stance on a number of EU issues recently – the veto of the EU-Russia Treaty for example. I had perhaps naively assumed that the problems stemmed largely from the positions of the Law & Justice Party that is currently predominant in […]

Rainy Porto Morning
EU Politics

I wish it wouldn’t rain down

It’s 9.30 on the first day of the congress. Only I’m not there yet. I’m sat in cafe beside the River Douro, escaping the driving rain. However the cafe has a whole Phil Collins CD playing, and the track that’s just been playing was “I Wish It Would Rain Down” […]

EU Politics

John Reid, Monty Python, and the European Constitution

“The constitutional treaty is no more – it is a diseased dead parrot.” So said Home Secretary John Reid after the 4th December JHA Council in Brussels (article from EUObserver). Now, I’m not the greatest fan on John Reid – I think his views on law and order are repulsive, […]

Pär Nuder
EU Politics

Delving into Pär Nuder’s visions of political leadership

I went along to a round table discussion this evening, organised by Policy Network and CER. Former Swedish Finance Minister Pär Nuder and UK Minister for the Third Sector Ed Miliband were speaking. The debate was interesting enough, but more importantly it started me thinking about Pär Nuder’s political ideology […]

PES Activists
EU Politics

Blogging the PES Congress in Porto

I have the great privilege of having been chosen as one of the PES Activists to write a blog on the Party of European Socialists Website about the PES Congress taking place 7-8 December in Porto. The blog can be found here. However the functionality of the system there is […]

Royal
EU Politics

Get ready for a Royal good fight

Excellent news – Segolene Royal has won the vote in the French Socialist Party to become their candidate for the Presidential elections in the spring of 2007. Stories from EUObserver and BBC. She won a resounding 60.62% of the vote with Dominique Strauss-Kahn on 20.83% and former prime minister Laurent […]