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Les nuits blanches du cabinet de Pierre Lellouche
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Les conseillers de Pierre Lellouche présents lors d’une des désormais-traditionnels «matinées de l’Europe», mardi 10 novembre au Quai d’Orsay semblaient fatigués. Plusieurs d’entre eux arborent des cernes impressionnantes. Travail sur u...
La «cellule» de Solférino à Bruxelles
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Conversation surréaliste avec le service de presse du parti socialiste français, à la veille du Conseil européen des 29 et 30 octobre: (le journaliste) – Bonjour, savez-vous si Martine Aubry sera présente à Bruxelles pour la réunion orga...
La France a sauvé le monde (ou presque…)
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A la tribune de l’Assemblée nationale, le premier ministre François Fillon a esquissé, mercredi 7 octobre, un raisonnement surprenant. Il n’a pas hésité à lier les initiatives de la France pour résoudre la crise à…la paix dans le mo...
Le commissaire à la politique régionale snobe 160 régions européenne
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Interrogations à Göteborg, en Suède, où la Conférence des régions périphériques maritimes (CRPM), réunissait du 30 septembre au 2 octobre, son assemblée générale annuelle. Le tout nouveau commissaire à la politique régionale aurait snob...
MED Countries Need To Wake Up To The Climate Challenge
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The southern Mediterranean countries have a vital interest in engaging in the fight against climate change. Their share in global green house gas emissions may still be small, but bound to rise due to population growth and increasing energy demand; a...
Tops und Flops in der Kommission
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Die britische Zeitschrift “Economist” hat in ihrer aktuellen Ausgabe die “Tops” und “Flops” der EU-Kommissare vorgestellt. Erweiterungskommissar Olli Rehn ist bei den guten Jungs mit dabei. Warum? „Der clevere, ausdruckslose Finne hat d...
Lisbon results - live blog
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This Saturday, Blogactiv will provide live, up-to-the-minute coverage of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Live results, constituency-by-constituency, with comment and analysis on breaking news as it happens. Log on from 11am (CET) for what...
Why is there so much bitterness in the East?
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Blogactiv is pleased to have received the following contribution from Corina Cretu, a Romainian MEP and Vice Chairwoman of the Development Committee in the European Parliament. I am not very sure that in Washington there have been fully understood th...
New dividing lines
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This week will be important not only for the Lisbon Treaty, or future of institutional reform, but for the European integration process as we know it. Few would argue that the EU could go for long with its current institutional settings and policies.
Poisoning the well for EU social media
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PR firm interns posting fake reviews about iPhone clients. Ghost blogging and tweeting, including by though-leaders in social media. Bloggers not disclosing sponsorship. It’s just a matter of time before someone poisons the well for EU social...
My new friend on Facebook: the EU
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My new Facebook-friend is not like my other friends – in fact, I’m not really sure if it’s a man or a woman. Certainly, I’ve never had a friend like this before. He’s quite a popular guy – he has almost 600 friends, although he barely has...
A blank cheque
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While the Irish government continues to play down the EU’s ambitions in defence policy in order to get the Lisbon Treaty safely passed, some telling comments have been forthcoming from other Europeans this week, which give us some insight into...
Mr. Barroso, be fair to the East
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The Commission is transparent enough to make obvious the huge East-West gap in the EU administration highest posts’ distribution. The data are appalling. At the highest level of the administration, AD16, there are 37 civil servants from across the...
Copenhagen Follow-up: A Remodelled International Energy Agency
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The Copenhagen Climate Conference is most likely to end in a failure, due to the complexity of the proposed solutions and the diversity of positions of the key actors. But this must not be the end of the story. Humanity has no option but to continue...
G20: ‘It’s the jobs, stupid!’
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After a fruitful meeting with the Americans for Financial Reform, I briefly met Richard Trumka, the newly elected President of AFL CIO - the largest federation of trade unions in North America - and delivered a speech at a meeting with the ITUC. Here...
Kroatien nähert sich der EU-Ziellinie
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Wohin geht die EU-Erweiterungsreise in den nächsten Jahren? Olli Rehn hat gestern in einer Grundsatzrede an der Princeton University wenig Neues gesagt. Lesenswert ist die Rede dennoch - das betrifft die klare Ansage, dass sich Kroatien der Ziellini...
Conference of Chiefs of Defense of US-Adriatic Charter Member States held in Montenegro
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XI Conference of Chiefs of Defense from US-Adriatic Charter 5 member countries was held in Montenegrin city of Budva this week. Adriatic Charter is association of countries from Adriatic (Balkan’s) region with purpose of fostering their attempt...
Confusion over enlargement
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I was recently involved in a special working group under the Council on future EU strategies. Believe me or not, the group’s hands are tied, because it has no mandate to discuss enlargement. Why? Because countries such as France don’t want to hea...
Asian Union Plans Attract Japan
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The plans for creating an Asian economic community grouping China, ASEAN and Japan have received an important boost recently. During his informal meeting in New York with Chinese president Hu Jintao, the new Japanese premier Mr. Hatoyama has proposed...
Humanity Needs A Universal Carbon Tax
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Whatever the outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Conference, humanity will need a simple and effective tool for making fossil energy increasingly more expensive and renewable energies relatively cheaper. An excise tax on coal, oil and gas would constit...
