Jon Worth Euroblog

I have complained here about the poor quality of Britain’s houses and a lack of taste in carpets. But there are decent British designers – take Jonathan Ive, the inventor of the iPod for example. Now the government is starting to get interested and hope that better investment in design […]

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. Groucho Marx Well, what has that quote got to do with the European Commission’s selection process, the famous concours? It’s the first time I have written about the concours here but I am indeed one of the […]

OK, anything must be better than Silvio Berlusconi, but you have to get a bit scared when one of the first references to Romano Prodi in recent times on BBC News Online talks of his plans to reconstruct a Catholic pilgrim route – see this. It is clear that Prodi’s […]

It’s one year before the next general election in Sweden, and I am forever surprised by the very negative nature of the political debate. Look at Sweden from almost anywhere else in Europe and things look very, very good. So why can’t the Swedes see it? As a starting point, […]

OK, so my time in JEF is over. It gives me free evenings, and the release from the responsibility is so, so welcome. But the Congress in Strasbourg leaves a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth. The main political resolutions I wrote – on the situation facing the […]

Quick blog from Stansted Airport just before my 07h20 flight to Baden Baden, before heading on to Strasbourg for the JEF Congress. I have just a couple of days more in JEF, and it’s both with relief and sadness that I am on my way out. Fingers crossed that the […]

No, Britain has not joined the Euro (alas). But UK citizens have finally been given European Health Insurance cards – pictured. A number of countries, including the UK, had 2 year derogations to the Directive. All EU citizens should have the cards by the end of 2005. Any information about […]