Like many people engaged in EU politics work, I read EUObserver on an almost daily basis. What few people know is that its editor – Lisbeth Kirk – is married to Jens-Peter Bonde, chair of the Danish June Movement and leader of the IND/DEM (i.e. eurosceptic) group in the European […]
OK, so am I writing it off before it has even started? Sorry, but I just cannot see how the European Union’s Communication Policy, laid out today in Margot Wallstr√∂m’s White Paper [PDF] can possibly work. The issue is simple. When a poltical body tries to communicate what it does, […]
Now, as readers of this blog who have ever discussed European politics with me will know, I am no fan of Gisela Stuart. All started so well for any Labour voter – her beaming face, winning in Birminigham Edgbaston in 1997 was the sign that Labour was on course to […]
My reflections after the Sound of Europe conference in Salzburg have been continuing over the last few days. I still don’t have everything clear in my mind about what could or should be learnt from the conference – a better overview will appear here in a few days. One idea […]
The row over the Muhammad cartoons in Jyllands Posten shows no sign of going away, and Libya has today announced it is closing its embassy in Denmark and will aim to cut economic ties with Denmark as the Danish Government has refused to criticise the newspaper – see the BBC […]
Before the start of the Sound of Europe conference this weekend, I thought writing as many observations here would not be a bad idea. With free wireless in the conference centre, uploading things was quick and simple. Yet a quick search of Technorati (direct link to results here) or Google […]
The Sound of Europe is over, and I am sat in the relative silence of the press centre as the delegates leave the place. I can’t really write any profound analysis here and now. I am utterly gutted and drained by all of the events this morning. Barroso was however […]
The more I reflect on the speeches yesterday, the more disappointed I become. First of all: enlargement. De Villepin, Moisi and many others seemed to be obsessed by the borders of Europe, and stated so much how important the borders are for many European citizens. But is this actually true? […]
The afternoon panel of the Sound of Europe conference?? Wallström is back, but looked a bit nervous and had negative body language, Plassnik looked serene and calm, Danskeckguber looked smug, and Moisi too. The best quote at the start came from Geremek: “Mozart is what we want, Wagner is what […]
The morning started with a quick and bland introduction from Wolfgang Sch√?ssel, followed by some words from Margot Wallstr√∂m. Nothing much of note, except the video Wallstr√∂m wanted to show did not work correctly. She then left the conference – is that as much as we are going to hear […]
It???s Friday morning and the conference will start in one hour. My real work will then commence, writing the minutes of the speeches and the discussions. I???m here to help out with this as an English native speaker yet trying to write the minutes of a vast variety of different […]
A new study of different nations’ environmental protection has been released today prior to the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The report is different to previous analysis by the same authors from Yale and Columbia universities in that it ranks countries according to how well they are […]
