The end of a clear January day in Roma. Time for a run before the sun set over the pines lining the hills along the Tiber north of the city, a perfect end to a long day in the office.
Continue reading
Too busy to read blogs about the EU? No longer – bloggingportal.eu
There are hundreds of blogs about the European Union and EU politics. So how do you make a start reading them? It’s no easy task. But today things just became a whole lot easier with the launch of BloggingPortal.eu –
Continue reading
Barroso as maoist rebel, and Berlusconi as, erm, Berlusconi
My favourite member of the European Commission has an interesting past… Hat tip: EUX.tv / Schuman Square Silvio Berlusconi instead seems to think it’s OK – in public – to look like he’s more than attracted to a traffic warden.
Continue reading
Beith about the budget – it’s the flood aid scenario revisited
I happened to catch a few moments of PMQs today, and Alan Beith asked a question about how EU funds were being denied to the North East, while Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were still eligible for the same funds,
Continue reading
The David Miliband inauguration speech
I sat listening to Obama’s inauguration speech thinking: oh for a European politician capable of something similar! Of course the systems and characters are very different… But Britain, one way or another, is going to get a new Prime Minister
Continue reading
Is Labour’s brand too tarnished to use for online campaigns?
A post at the Fabians’ Next Left blog caught my eye, flagging up a new Labour Party website initiative called Labourspace.com. Next Left compares the site to Change.org in the USA. But there’s a vital difference: branding and design. While
Continue reading
Topolanek on the Treaty of Lisbon (Czech Gaffe-o-Meter score: 2)
As reported by the Irish Times: […] all eyes were on the new president of the European Council, Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek. Outlining his priorities for the next six months, he surprised MEPs by announcing that if a referendum
Continue reading
Introducing the Czech Presidency Gaffe-o-Meter
The dreadful errors made by the Czech Presidency of the European Union go on and on… They don’t know who’s who in the Kremlin, they think Israel is defensive, and now they’ve caused all kinds of fuss by hanging art
Continue reading
Mandelson cannot resign a life peerage (even if Prentis and Dizzy want him to)
A post at Dizzy Thinks caught my eye. Gordon Prentice MP, never one to beat about the bush – has said stated this in a Commons motion: That this House believes that individuals who are given peerages to enable them
Continue reading
Visiting this blog emits less CO2 than boiling a kettle
What an idea! That doing 2 Google searches produces as much CO2 as boiling water for a cup of tea. This is the first line of the Sunday Times article in which the claim appeared: Performing two Google searches from
Continue reading
The Dutch obsession with national parliaments
Adriaan Schout and Jeroen van Dijken wrote a column last week in Dutch daily de Volkskrant entitled EU kan goed zonder Europees Parlement – essentially that the EU could do OK without the European Parliament. I picked up on the
Continue reading
If there’s a problem call Tony
So here we go again. The EU has a multitude of problems on its hands: Russia turning off the gas, the Gaza conflict brewing, and no-one really knowing what to do about the economic downturn, least of all the Commission.
Continue reading