I’m a bit slow on the uptake – I had not until today really noticed the inaugural speech that was made by new European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering. See the EP’s News Service about it here. That’s probably because his speech was notable for the things he did say, rather […]
There are not too many readers of this blog that will know Stanley Handcock, my great uncle. Some of the people who attended the Strasbourg Congress of JEF in October 2005 might recall that he was the unknown federalist I mentioned in my parting speech. It has always been immensely […]
President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell, when talking about the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament, last week stated that the “historic dimension [of Strasbourg] cannot be perceived in the same way in ‘some Nordic country’ which did not participate in WWII” (news story from EUObserver here). What a […]
I must admit that I have been astounded by the amount of people that have found this blog thanks to searches for matters relating to the European Commission concours. My original post about the issue has – by 25th September – amassed no fewer than 47 comments! It seems that […]
Excellent news today – oneseat.eu has passed the 1 million signature barrier! This will not have a direct impact straight away, but it will at least act as a decent tool in the armoury of those that are calling for the abolishment of the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament. […]
The online petition calling for one seat for the European Parliament – oneseat.eu – has now passed 900000 signatures. It’s an excellent initiative to call for the ending of the wasteful monthly trips of the European Parliament to Strasbourg. Anyone in favour of an effective European Parliament and value for […]
No, I’m not losing my mind. Dutch PM Jan-Peter Balkenende might do something good for the EU today or tomorrow: raising the issue of the EP having its seat in Strasbourg at the European Council meeting in Brussels. See this article from EUObserver. Balkenende is far from being my favourite […]
Following on from my recent post about the European Parliament and Strasbourg, I am very happy that one MEP is doing something about. Swedish Liberal Cecilia Malmström has launched www.oneseat.eu – an online petition calling for one seat of the European Parliament, and for that seat to be in Brussels. […]
He gained the nickname 2 jags for driving 200 yards in a Jaguar, then 2 jabs for lashing out at a protestor who threw and egg at him. Now the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has been labelled ‘2 shags’ by the Daily Mirror, having admitted to having an affair. […]
The European Parliament has today finally voted Evelyne Gebhardt’s report on the Services Directive, otherwise known as the Bolkenstein / Frankenstein Directive if you are one of those people scared of it. As one of the people who has read the original Directive, I am not one of the people […]
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 […]
