Turkish politics roundup (1): Referendum and judiciary
ŞAHİN ALPAY – Referendum to further consolidate democracy The military in Turkey staged a coup d’état on Sept. 12, 1980, held power for nearly three years and adopted a highly authoritarian constitution that reinforced the tutelary powers...
Suriname President welcome, behind bars (Trouw, Amsterdam)
“Putsch leader Bouterse is president,” headlines Trouw in the wake of the election of Desi Bouterse in the Republic of Suriname. The former Chairman of the National Military Council and leader of a putsch that overthrew the South American...
Will Aussies choose to keep their first woman Prime Minister?
In about a month from now, on August 21, Australia’s first ever woman Prime Minister Julia Gillard will find out if the voters of the country also want her in the government’s top spot. According to a Guardian Weekly story last week, Gill...
Sport goes on sale (Lidové noviny, Prague)
“Czech sporting assets worth several billion will shortly be put up for sale,” announces Lidové noviny. News in brief : cover...
Imaginary ‘Gareth’
The story of a British football fan arrested in Portugal was just a tale.
Eurocracy fattens on crisis (Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Warsaw)
Bureaucracy loves the crisis, quips Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, raising the issue of increased spending on the legions of eurocrats in Brussels and elsewhere. The European Commission’s budget, writes the daily, is ever growing and new EU institutio...
A blog from Kazakhstan
Find out about the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in this week's video blog.
$ vs. €: what to expect this week
Those who follow me on twitter know that I closely follow the variation of the exchange rate Euro / Dollars. I am no economist, but I can read a graph and I can see in conjunction with which event variations occurs. So for your benefits, discover bel...
Spain channels Reagan
The Spanish government are about to take a very robust line with their air traffic control.The Spanish Government has announced that it will use military air traffic ontrollers to guarantee air traffic over the country if necessary.It comes after a w...
“Experiment. Take risks. Fail. Try again.” European Parliament on social media
In an interview with the European Parliament Web Team we discuss their use of social media.
The Budget Group
There was an interesting and at times impassioned discussion in this morning’s meeting of the EESC’s Budget Group about the post-Lisbon Treaty budgetary procedure. I have bored on about this in previous posts. Suffice it to say here that...
Kizuna West
A bit more on the Big Society. I mentioned that Rory Stewart wants faster broadband for his constituents in rural Cumbria. Now Rory is a decent guy - I knew him at school - but I don’t think he’s on to anything much with his play to relat...
What’s ‘Miranda’ in Portuguese?
European Commission argues that Europeans arrested in an EU country not their own aren't afforded proper legal protections -- particularly the right to deal with the authorities in a language they understand.
Dave unleashes the Big Society (The Independent, London)
“The Big Society: a genuine vision for Britain's future – or just empty rhetoric?” headlines The Independent. Nearly a month after his government announced the harshest austerity budget in living memory, David Cameron has unveiled h...
Something is out there: Europe's banks
For a long time Europe's banks and officials have been haunted by the fear that something is out there. They have not been able to identify the monster alien but, like in the science fiction TV series, they are convinced...
2010 Reports for Bulgaria and Romania under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism
The European Commission has published its progress reports for Bulgaria and Romania under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM). The reports monitor the progress of the two Member states on progress with judicial reform, the fight against...
Buzek's hankies
He's at it again. This time the lachrymose EP President is at it again. Another train crash, and bout of synthetic sympathy.This time our august Parliamentary President is getting all teary about the ghastky crash in West Bengal."Once again West Beng...
Documents
Recommendations Report Opening remarks Opening speech of H. E. Nobutake Odano – Ambassador of Japan to the European Union (in Japanese) Introductory remarks by Ms Eve Päärendson, President of the EESC – Japan Cont...
