Tag: European Commission

EU Politics

Commissioners on Twitter: how are they doing?

The European Commission, and Commissioners themselves, have progressively taken to Twitter over the past couple of years as a way of communicating with (at?) EU citizens. So how are they doing? This blog entry gives a quick summary. My starting point is that a good Twitter account is an engaging […]

EU Politics

Taxing public servants (nationally and internationally)

Scandal! Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, pays no tax! How can this be when she’s lecturing more Greeks to pay tax!?! Story from The Guardian here. Sony Kapoor, so often the voice of reason throughout the Eurozone crisis on Twitter, stated “IMF staff don’t, period!” prompting all kinds […]

EU Politics, UK Politics

The idiot in Brussels

(Thanks for @spignal for pointing out the film) Extraordinary ‘debate’ on Newsnight last night between Amadeu Altafaj Tardio (Ollie Rehn’s spokesperson) and Peter Oborne. Oborne repeatedly calls Altafaj Tardio ‘the idiot in Brussels’, a phrase that Paxman also uses, and Oborne is equally vile towards Richard Lambert, giving him a copy […]

EU Politics

The anatomy of a story about the European Parliament and body scanners

I saw this tweet from @Bruce_Schneier, retweeted by @EvgenyMorozov: [blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/Bruce_Schneier/status/99450840410112000″] This led me to Schneier’s piece about a Welt am Sonntag article about ineffectiveness of full body scanners in airport tests in Germany. One piece in particular caught my eye: The European parliament backed on July 6 the deployment […]

EU Politics

What Cathy Ashton needs to do now

I stand accused of being a negative, complaining blogger. I have not been a fan of Cathy Ashton’s work as the EU’s High Rep, wrote that she should go as early as January, have analysed her current predicament, and have even raised a few smiles at her expense. While Ashton’s […]

EU Politics

Clearly UKIP’s poison is all-invasive

Since the 2009 European Election I’ve kept an eye and an ear open for what MEP Marta Andreasen will do in UKIP’s delegation. Today I seem to have my answer – she’s willing to be just as stupid and poisonous as the rest of them. The issue at stake is […]