“With the European Union struggling to overcome the financial crisis, and the knock-on impact on the politics of the European project, national political classes have been grasping for solutions to the EU’s perceived legitimacy problem. One of the most commonly cited solutions is to seek a greater role for national […]
Perhaps I’m overdoing it, but I’m not a fan of the way Mark Leonard’s recent ECFR column is titled. “The revenge of the German elite” he writes, documenting concerted efforts by Bundespräsident Gauck, and ministers Steinmeier and von der Leyen. The basic gist of the piece is that the German […]
I’m growing rather tired of loads of complaints on Twitter… about Twitter. Redesigns, changes to the chronological listing of tweets, pictures appearing in-stream by default are common complaints I keep on reading. This has prompted analysis, and even odd browser-based work arounds. Why is all of this so annoying? Because […]
First the simple bit: the very short term future of #EUtweetup is that the next tweetups will be on Monday 17th February in Brussels, and Wednesday 19th February in Berlin. The Berlin tweetup will be at Gorki Park from 1800 (details same as last time). But what about #EUtweetup Brussels? […]
I have not been developing websites for politicians for a while now, preferring instead to do consultancy and training work for a variety of different political and governmental actors. The problem was essentially that you can bring a politician to the social web, but you cannot make them drink, and […]
Back in the early summer of 2013 I wrote a detailed series of blog posts about the future President of the European Commission. There were posts about EPP, PES and other candidates. Overall those posts have stood up well over the last 6 months. But with the EP elections just […]
Here I sit writing this blog entry on a Sunday night in Berlin. The Kreuzberg streets outside my window are quiet now; earlier today they were thronged with people in the January sun. I do not know where those people were from who were passing outside my window – Berlin, […]
🚨 This guide is now over 6 years old. And I am now looking for a new flat in Berlin. You can read about that here. And a whole new guide will be written at the end of the process as well! 🚨 I moved to Berlin on 26th October […]
The former Tempelhof Airport is one of Berlin’s extraordinary places. The former airport is a huge open space in the city, and is larger even than Tiergarten (the park / forest further north in the city). Slow Travel Berlin has an excellent history of the airport and the field in […]
2014 is going to be quite a year for the EU. It’s election time! And will we all toast the end of José Manuel Barroso’s political career? And Ashton too? And might election turnout increase to a level higher than Viviane Reding’s hair? Anyway, these, and any other EU question, […]
Mit Blick auf die Europawahl 2014 initiieren die Stiftung Mercator und der Zeitbild Verlag das Projekt „RE:INVENT EUROPE – Jugend gestaltet Europa”, das Jugendliche in Nordrhein-Westfalen dazu motivieren soll, sich kreativ mit der europäischen Idee auseinanderzusetzen und eigene Ideen für ein zukunftsfähiges Europa zu entwickeln. Jon Worth, Europa-Blogger und Politikberater, […]
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament and wannabe Commission President, was on BBC World’s Hard Talk yesterday (4th December 2013), and used the following words: You used the term that I am a European federalist. I have never in my life used it that I am a European federalist. […]
