When I worked for National School of Government I used to accompany groups of UK civil servants on study trips to Brussels. The aim was that these visits would give the civil servants a first taste of the EU environment. On one visit to the European Parliament an old friend […]
I joined Twitter (@jonworth) just over five years ago. Now with 40659 tweets, 9665 followers, and following 4641, I have accumulated a fair amount of experience using the network – and that’s just with my own personal account, let alone the dozens of accounts I have for other purposes. I’ve […]
When changes to EU law are going to have an impact on business, businesses lobby. That is normal. That business tries to use financial clout to increase its influence in Brussels is also normal; that’s why we need things like the transparency register and websites like LobbyPlag to see who […]
““Our national interest lies in staying in the European Union” says Ed Miliband. Nick Clegg does the same, stating “Liberal Democrats, it falls for us to stand up for the national interest, we will be the party of ‘In’.” Even Cameron states “Leaving the EU is not in our national […]
An association for European Young Entrepreneurs. Sounds like a fine idea, right? Well, not if you mean the Association Européene des Jeunes Entrepreneurs – AEJE (website here). The sole purpose of this organisation seems to be simply to attack all efforts to achieve a single seat for the European Parliament, and to […]
I saw this tweet earlier today from UKIP MEP Derek Clark, complaining that now the “EU is coming for our vacuum cleaners”. His tweet links to this story from the Nottingham Post. So then, with “is this UKIP bullshit” warning system activated in my mind, I set out to find […]
I’m an intensely political person and it has been that way for a long time. I joined the Labour Party in the UK as a 16 year old, before I was even old enough to vote. This means I have spent more than half my life in the Labour Party, […]
So we’ve organised a whole bunch of EU Tweetups in Brussels. But two of the three of us that started it in Brussels, Anne Laumen and I, now live in Berlin. So why not bring #EUtweetup to Berlin too? Hence do come along to the first #EUTweetup, Berlin, from 1800 […]
Social Bar in Berlin
“The PES has selected a candidate for Commission President. That’s good news. However, the entire process falls short of the “democratic and transparent process” that was promised November 6th 2013, with a press release and press conference and rather little fanfare, may nevertheless mark an important step for the future […]
Today in Berlin I bought a bike. With cash. Yes, with a wad of €50 and €20 notes. Why? Because the bike store accepted only the German EC-Karte debit card, and not credit cards. On Thursday I will need to buy some furniture in IKEA and, as confirmed on their […]
I’m back. Today is my first full day back living in Berlin since leaving here in March 2002. Then I had spent 6 months living in the city as a 21-year old recent graduate from the UK, trying to scrape together a living. I left for Brussels, and resolved one […]
