Latest posts
Goodbye
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This will be my last blog. I am leaving the European Commission – and Brussels – after 10 years. Ten years is a long time when I look at my youngest son: he has transformed from a small (mischievous) boy to a strong-willed teenager with a girlf...
Blogging
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So what are my thoughts after almost five years of blogging? First of all, I really enjoyed it but it was more time consuming than I had expected. It sounds easy to sit down and write a piece per week but finding the time to do this when you have t...
Meatballs, Malmö and hopefully a Milestone
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Last week finished with the yearly Christmas lunch with my team where we had the traditional Swedish “smörgåsbord” with pickled herring, Jansons temptation, salmon, meatballs, ham and other delicacies. Good food and Christmas carols was a perf...
Replies
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I haven’t had the chance to write for a while but I have been reading all the comments, as always, and thought I would respond to some of them: - a number of people have asked what will happen to my blog when I leave the Commission and whether...
An extraordinary dinner with a positive result!
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United in Brussels yesterday evening for the occasion of an extraordinary dinner summit, the heads of States and governments agreed on the names of the two high profile posts introduced by the Lisbon Treaty: the President of the Europan Council and t...
Have your say!
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When the Lisbon Treaty enters into force on the 1 December, it will offer a new opportunity to citizens to influence the EU agenda. It is the Citizens’ Initiative that will enable one million citizens to request the Commission to bring forward...
Goodbye Lisbon, hello Copenhagen
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The Constitutional Court in the Czech Republic said that “it is a court, not a place for endless debates”. It ruled that the Treaty of Lisbon is in conformity with the constitutional order of the Czech Republic and there is nothing to pre...
European Development Days 2009
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For two days last week (22-24.10), Stockholm was a real buzz. The fourth edition of European Development Days was organised jointly by the European Commission and the Swedish Presidency. I was honoured to be asked to participate in this annual event...
USA last week, European Parliament this
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Last week I visited the U.S. Despite the freezing cold, I received a warm welcome, both in Washington D.C. and New York. The purpose of the visit was to discuss two issues of global urgency: climate change and matters relating to women & security...
Ireland says Yes
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First of all I want to thank those of you who expressed condolences on the death of my mother. It is very much appreciated. It has been a difficult time lately but I have been able to spend time with my extended family, of course mourning her dea...
Ireland revisited
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I visited Ireland again last week. It was interesting to see the country in full referendum mode with posters all around and the press and airwaves full of Lisbon Treaty related discussions. As I repeated many times over the two days, I am accoun...
Music, Afghanistan and light bulbs
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Together with my husband I was invited to the presentation of The Polar Music Prize Laureates 2009 in Stockholm last week. Two outstanding musicians and personalities received a nice sum of money from a donation by the late Stig Andersson (who wrot...
Power games
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It is not always easy to follow or understand the inner workings of the European Parliament – or the dynamics within and between the different political groups. The “power games” that undeniably go on behind the scenes after an election...
Back again
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Brussels tempts us back from holidays with warm weather, making the transition smoother maybe…? Long into the autumn I will remember what it was like to unpack innumerable moving boxes (since we moved all of our stuff from Brussels to Sweden end of...
The silly season
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So, August is here and summer holidays and a news drought with it! Last week the Swedish think-tank Timbro released a report complaining that “EU information is not neutral”, that we “buy coverage in the media” and that “...
“Open season for civilians” in Congo
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Yesterday’s front page of the International Herald Tribune explores a new angle to the atrocities and violence in Congo – men raping men. What has been a horrible nightmare for women and girls in Congo for years is now becoming reality also f...
Climate justice
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Today, the Swedish EU Presidency gathers Environment and Energy Ministers for an informal meeting in Åre, Sweden. One of the objectives is to discuss the challenges of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December. The Copenhagen conference pr...
USA revisited
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I spent much of last week in the United States participating in meetings on a trio of important issues - communication, climate change, and sexual violence in conflict. It was very interesting to meet with Judith McHale, the US Under Secretary for Pu...
Fiery crosses and quotas
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Yesterday the country I know best took over the Presidency of the EU. I had the pleasure to be part of the inauguration event at the beautiful open air museum at Skansen in Stockholm, where I handed over a small gift to Fredrik Reinfeldt and José Ma...
More jam
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Last Tuesday I was invited to the European School in Woluwe here in Brussels. I was welcomed by the Director, Mr Galvin, who incidentally is from Cork in Ireland where I was last week. Having read in my blog that my Irish jam was confiscated in the s...
