European Union

12.10.2015 Brexit

Britain Stronger in Europe – horrible framing and imagery, and a message bordering on the disingenuous

So, all hail the ‘Remain’ side in the referendum campaign! Place your trust in “Britain Stronger in Europe“, the Will Straw and Stuart Rose campaign. It’s like the late-1990s “Britain in Europe“, only with more muscle, more fight, and more

08.02.2013 EU Politics

No secret ballot in the European Parliament on the EU budget vote!

So it looks like the European Council has agreed a real-terms cut in the EU budget for the 2014-2020 period. This has, understandably, been labelled unacceptable by the 4 largest groups in the European Parliament. Yet, fearing coercion from Member

05.12.2012 EU Politics

An alternative source of the UK’s EU-scepticism: politico-scepticism

Forgive the even more rough and sketchy nature of this post than the normal you find on this blog, but this is about something that has been on my mind a lot recently, and I am struggling to adequately explain.

18.11.2012 EU Politics

No-one’s going to believe Labour is “hard-headed” about the EU, and it’s wrong anyway

So Labour has another stab at getting together some sort of EU policy. Ed Miliband is interviewed in The Sunday Telegraph and the only thing that seems to emerge is that Labour needs a “hard-headed” approach to the European Union,

27.05.2011 Brexit

What would leaving the EU actually mean in practice?

In 2005 I went to France to campaign in the referendum on the European Constitution, making the case for oui. One thing about that campaign has been with me ever since: it was clear what oui would mean (France would

27.01.2011 EU Politics

European federalism – never more necessary, yet never has the prospect looked so distant

Essentially journalists, politicians, bloggers and the general public have two frames of reference when talking about the European Union. Either it’s talked about in terms similar to the descriptions used for international organisations (the UN, NATO) or in terms similar

04.11.2009 EU Politics

Some questions for David Cameron today

It has been widely trailed that David Cameron is going to outline his new European policy today, after capitulating yesterday on the Treaty of Lisbon issue. The feral members of the Tory Party are baying for blood, so what is

19.02.2009 EU Politics

The joy of languages

Today’s EUObserver has an article about how the European Commission is struggling to find enough English language mother tongue interpreters. As everyone in Brussels works in English, so the need for Brits and Irish to speak other European languages declines