Charles Grant’s poor pieces yesterday about national parliaments and EU decision making set me thinking: what think tanks are there that actually are trying to come up with solutions to make EU democracy work better? Yes, I respect ECFR and Bruegel, but EU democracy is not the main focus of...
Charles Grant of the London-based think tank CER has written a piece entitled “Can national parliaments make the EU more legitimate?” Of course, having posed that question, Grant does not actually fully nail his colours to the mast as to whether he actually thinks national parliaments will help the EU...
Just under 2 months ago I set about getting all Danish Ministries on Twitter, unofficially. The blog post about why I did it can be found here, and the list of the accounts can be found here. So what has been the conclusion from the 8 weeks that have passed?...
Over a coffee after State of the Net in Trieste, Luca Conti (@pandemia on Twitter) posed me a question. “What do you [meaning non-Italians] think of Beppe Grillo?” It’s also a question that my good friend Antonella Napolitano will be trying to answer at Personal Democracy Forum France later this...
As Isabelle Philippe of Greenpeace France said to me, Greenpeace ships have some sort of mythical reputation about them. I suppose that’s why I took up the invite to go on board MY Arctic Sunrise in the first place. So what is life like on board Arctic Sunrise? You can...
As Arctic Sunrise set off from its anchor off Lyme Regis last night, all the campaigners on board knew that in Brussels it would be an important night for future of Europe’s fisheries. The main protagonists were (from the Presidency) Irish Fisheries Minister Simon Coveney, European Commissioner Maria Damanaki, and...
I put a politician and a fishing spokesperson in front of the camera to ask them about Greenpeace, and what is needed for the future of fishing policy in France. First you will see Joel Labbé (Senator for Europe Ecologie Les Verts), and then Gilles Bertrand from l’Association des Ligneurs...
Spending time on Arctic Sunrise in Saint-Malo, you gain the impression very quickly than some powers in the town are not at all content that Greenpeace is here. But of course that is precisely the reason why Greenpeace came here in the first place. Arctic Sunrise was supposed to be...
https://files.jonworth.eu/downloads/greenpeace 26 May – Arctic Sunrise allocated a berth that is hidden away in Saint-Malo 26 May – evening sunshine on Arctic Sunrise at Saint-Malo 27 May – Photosynth panorama at Saint-Malo, including projection on the wall 27 May – early light at Saint Malo 27 May – morning light...
Moored in the same basin in Saint-Malo as Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise is a small fishing vessel from the local industry with a banner hanging over the side saying “Greenpeace Prédateur des Emplois de la Filière Pêche” (Greenpeace Predator of the jobs in the fishing industry). The target for today, in...
On Saturday I am heading for Saint-Malo to board Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise for 5 days. I will be blogging / tweeting / filming / taking photos throughout the trip. So what am I going to take with me or this purpose? Items are numbered in the picture above, and click...
[I wrote this piece, unsolicited, for Comment is Free of The Guardian today. They did not want it, so I publish it here instead] Last week on these pages the CBI’s John Cridland set out why leaving the EU would be bad for British business. Business grandees such as Richard...