In a few hours Romania and Bulgaria will become member states of the European Union, and I am very proud and happy about that. I can still remember so clearly being stuck on a train at the border between Lokoshaza
Continue reading
Sad about the death of a tyrant
I went online this morning with the intention of writing a blog post about 2006 in politics. Yet the news on BBC that Saddam Hussein was executed today has entirely distracted me. How can we find ourselves in the situation
Continue reading
Macedonia: what’s in a name?
There are plenty of rivalries that you could argue have some sort of justification, yet the ongoing disputes over the name Macedonia strike me as totally ludicrous. I’ve come across few issues in EU politics that contain such fire as
Continue reading
TUC and executive pay – give us some European examples
Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, has today released a statement calling for a national debate about the level of Chief Executives’ pay – read the full statement here, and a news summary from The Scotsman here. (Worth noting
Continue reading
Progressivt EU, and how any campaign cannot forget the internet
The blogging world is a complex and interesting place. Thanks to Technorati, I have today discovered that my blog has been syndicated by the Danish multi-blog site Progressivt.dk EU Section. Quite a privilege as my posts are there together with
Continue reading
Britain’s grey baby-boomer cabinet
Politicians have the reputation of being boring and grey, and also predominantly male. So how does the UK cabinet shape up? And what might there be on the horizon? If you read until the end of this entry you’ll find
Continue reading
The expat vote in the 2009 European Elections
Step by step people are waking up to the potential of expat voters in elections, or at least realising that the formalities of organising elections need to be improved. According to EUObserver, the European Commission is looking at the issues
Continue readingUltimate Christmas kitsch in Lisbon
Only now have I had the opportunity to download and do something with my pictures from the weekend in Lisbon and Porto after the PES Congress. Overall the Portuguese are a stylish bunch, but somehow they manage to let all
Continue reading
Back from Porto: we’ve all been living in a bubble
I’m now back in the UK after 4 days away in Portugal. I spent yesterday afternoon watching the sunset over the waves of the Atlantic and this morning I was drenched on the way to my office – a dire
Continue reading
Activists at the PES Congress: some preliminary conclusions
The PES Congress in Porto has steadily drawing to a close; the fringe meetings are over, and the final session is about to start. So what are the overall impressions, and what should happen now? First and foremost it has
Continue reading
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
Continue readingRoyal 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
Continue reading