100 posts
David Cameron’s Oily Evasions
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David Cameron attacked the E.U. for introducing a ban on restaurants serving olive oil in unlabelled containers that the U.K. had passively supported. The U.K. Prime Minister owes the British public a proper explanation.
The remarkable rise of continental Euroscepticism | Mark Leonard and José Ignacio Torreblanca
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Trust in the EU has plummeted across the continent. Both southern debtors and northern creditors feel like they are victimsOnce it was seen as a British disease. But Euroscepticism has now spread across the continent like a virus. As the data from Eu...
Week in Bloggingportal: Exercises in Democracy
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BY CC FutUndBeidl It may be a year until the European elections, but with Croatia joining the EU in July, Croats are heading to the polls today to elect their representatives to the European Parliament. It’s not been the bes...
Ecfin Sits Next To The King
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The 800 or so officials of the European Commission's economic affairs division have been moved to Schuman, reflecting their new-found importance in the EU bureaucracy.
Not everyone in the UK is anti-EU: young people and the Eurosceptic vote
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The prevalence of Euroscepticism within the UK electorate is widely claimed yet Stuart Fox argues that it is not borne out by the facts. The nature of such attitudes is more complex than the Europhile/Eurosceptic dichotomy suggest...
Business backs Cameron's call for a mandate on Europe
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A letter in today's Times from some leading UK business people supporting Cameron's approach:EU reforms must come before any membership referendumBusiness faces ever more burdens from Brussels and the single market in Europe has not yet been fully re...
"David Cameron’s Argument will relegate the EU-UK Relationship to the Periphery" by Julian Priestley
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Julian Priestley takes an in-depth look at David Cameron’s speech on the UK’s relationship with Europe. He finds that that it fell into familiar Eurosceptic fallacies about the EU, ignored linkages between regulation and the internal...
David Cameron’s EU Speech
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Prime Minister David Cameron today promised to hold a referendum on the UK’s position in the EU, if he is re-elected in the 2015 general elections. His much-awaited speech on Europe started off by paying homage to veterans of World Wa...
From outside, it's clear why Britain has to stay in Europe | Timothy Garton Ash
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Cameron's speech could have been a lot worse, but five years of anxious uncertainty are bad news for Europe and the worldSo now we know: Europe will be roiled by internal turmoil for another five years. While Germany, France and others wrestle to bui...
Cameron's poker face?
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No, Europe hasn't collectively turned against Cameron (which you would think from reading headlines like these - seriously?). Though several politicians from around Europe haven't exactly come out celebrating following Cameron's speech - which doesn'...
The EU’s media deficit
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The most depressing result from my analysis of media coverage of EU reform is the complete absence of substance and detail in the arguments presented. Politicians and commentators alike seem Continue reading →...
Young, Europeans and abroad: here it is our presentation letter
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Where would a Frenchman, an Italian, an English, a Danish, a Belgian, a German and a Spanish be seen together? On Erasmus. No this is not the introduction of a silly joke, they are fine examples of characters found in the opening scenes of many famou...
"Single Market yes. Federal Europe No"
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As we argued here, though there has been quite a bit of noise from the business community over recent weeks, few interventions are actually dealing with the sharp end of the policy debate, e.g. what is the greatest threat to business: Trying to artif...
Union of citizens ”roundup” #EYC2013 (21 January)
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In the United States of America today, 21 January 2013 is Martin Luther King Day, a public holiday (Wikipedia), and the day of the second inauguration of president Barack Obama (Huffington Post). How about Europe? Do we have causes and events of ou...
EU reform: Cameron and Miliband have a duty to act as statesmen | David Owen
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Treaty amendment should not wait until 2015 – and Labour should co-operate, in the spirit of one-nation politicsIt is a reflection of disarray both within his own party and in the coalition that David Cameron has virtually abdicated from the debate...
"Why do the British don’t like the EU?" by Maja Rasmussen
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Watch Dr Maja Rasmussen of the London School of Economics and Political Science discuss the current feeling in Britain towards the EU and possibilities for the future if Britain decides to change its relationship with the EU.
The post-national case for the EU
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The ‘eurorealist’ pressure group Nucleus in the UK has rebranded and is now the Centre for British Influence Through Europe (CBIE). I read the name and it immediately rankled, and a...
‘For 40 years Britain has benefited’ - SW MEP Watson reflects on 40 years of UK membership of EEC/EU
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Today - 1st January 2013 - marks exactly 40 years since the day the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community, now the European Union. To mark the occasion, long-serving South West Liberal Democrat MEP Sir Graham Watson has reflected on w...
In an EU referendum, what does NO mean?
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If Shaun Woodward in today’s Guardian is to be believed, it seems some sort of plan is emerging in David Cameron’s mind with regard to an EU referendum in the...
EU Commission's translation and information breakdown
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My latest articles in English about the Commission's ”copyright reform” and regarding the Digital Agenda review revealed an unprecedented breakdown of translation services for citizens and the collapse of systematic posting of COM documents on Eu...
Même pas peur !
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La fin du monde s’est bien ri de nous aujourd’hui, en nous mettant au défi de continuer encore un peu, mieux si possible, combien de temps, on verra. Ce délai bien salutaire nous donne à vivre une nouvelle année européenne, qui sera, on peut...
Enlightenment pro-EU, versus values based pro-EU – some thoughts about Garton Ash and an in-out referendum
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So Timothy Garton Ash has nailed his colours to the mast in The Guardian, and stated the case for an in-or-out of the EU referendum in the UK to be held sometime between 2015 and 2020. Loads of people are jumping up and down about TGA’s piece &...
“We’re standing up for Britain” or “We’re all in this together” – ways to explain the EU budget
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A tweet by Emma Burnell pointed me towards this blog post by Tracy Hill about UKIP, and the threat they pose to Labour. You can read the whole blog post to look at the stuff about UKIP, but there is one paragraph I will highlight, for it shows the pr...
EU leaders pledge 'not to harp on about it'
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Leading EU institutional figures pledged late on Monday not to bang on and on about getting the Nobel Peace Prize this year. "I mean, it's not like its a big deal or anything," said one. "We're not going to like throw it back in your face or an...
Discipline
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A more specific passage from the Cohn-Bendit & Verhofstadt book that makes me mad: « La zone euro ne souffre toutefois pas uniquement de ce manque de solidarité. La discipline est également défaillante, alors qu’elle constitue la seco...
LEVESON, BLAIR, EU: a tale of media untruths
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Lawrence Brewer Wednesday, 05 December 2012 The Leveson Inquiry report published last week includes a list of how the British Press misleads the public with regard to the EU and other non-existent bans – like...
"Is Britain sliding into an EU Exit?" by John Palmer
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A remarkable political consensus is emerging both within Britain and across much of the European Union that the UK is heading inexorably towards withdrawal from the EU. Opinions differ about the speed of a potential British exit and also about precis...
UK Labour and the EU
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In Britain, Labour is in a curious spot. After it allied with Eurosceptic Tory rebels to defeat the government on a non-binding motion on the EU budget, Labour Leader Ed Miliband tried to outline a sort of pro-European realism (interview with The Tel...
The real value of the EU for Britain is geopolitical
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Britain is reconsidering its relationship with the continent. The country has never felt fully comfortable with its membership in an EU that has been conceived, after World War II, as aRead more…...
Fortress Europe, Schengen and the European Sphere
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“[H]ow can the public debate necessary to make the EU a genuine ‘land of immigration’ take place if there is no common, democratic European ‘public sphere’, and no space for genuine intra-European political debate? The d...
Daily Mail refuses to publish my letter
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Last week the Daily Mail published this article, which suggested that the European Parliament could ban certain children’s books which reinforced gender stereotypes from British schools. This is very misleading. I therefore wrote a letter for...
Towards a European Party System?
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Dimitri Almeida Amidst what is arguably the most severe crisis the European Union had to face in recent memory, we tend to overlook crucial dynamics in the transformation of the European polity. The sovereign debt crisis and the rising scepticism o...
Mail article on EU banning books dismissed as 'nonsense'
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The Mail claims the EU is now looking to ban...the Famous Five:James Chapman explains:Books which portray ‘traditional’ images of mothers caring for their children or fathers going out to work could be barred from schools under proposals from Bru...
Norway highlights need for UK engagement with the EU
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By Conor Brennan Speaking at the All Party Parliamentary Group on the EU on Monday 5 November, Professor Fredrik Sejersted, director of European Law at the University of Oslo said that Norway’s relationship with the EU is based on “dynamic homoge...
David Cameron's chance for real reform of the EU budget
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We need a productive restructuring of the EU budget and David Cameron should attempt to negotiate a 'grand bargain' for a smaller growth-focused budget with other leaders - argues Glenn Gottfried...
Can Angela Merkel talk Cameron into being a more flexible ally? | Katinka Barysch
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As the German leader visits Downing St, she has worries about keeping her economically liberal-minded EU partner in the unionThe vexed EU budget is supposed to be the main topic of discussion when Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, meets David Came...
Much ado about little: Britain and the EU budget
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As almost all European governments are cutting spending, it is hardly a surprise that the EU’s budget is under fire. The European Commission has rather optimistically proposed a real terms increase of five per cent in total spending over the next b...
Beyond posturing, Germany knows that the UK is needed in the EU
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We have a piece in today's Telegraph, where we argue,Last week, even as British MPs were voting down the Government’s position on the EU budget, I was attending a European discussion of a very different kind. In a conference room in Berlin – at a...
Britain’s EU bill explained without the anti-European hype
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Mark Reckless, Bill Cash, Douglas Carswell and the other feral Tory Eurosceptics are quite simply wrong on the EU budget. At best they have either not bothered to do their homework or quite simply and naively believe the plethora of … Continue...
Nick Clegg wants “engaged and balanced” approach to the EU
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By Conor Brennan The UK will become “isolated and marginalised” if it is “pulled towards the edge” of the European Union stated Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Thursday 1 November. Clegg criticised the “proposals doing the rounds” o...
Are Leaders Born or Are They Made?
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Fall 2012 American Marshall Memorial Fellow Megan Owen observes that effective global leaders are both born and made.
Nowotny Opens a Can Of Worms With Comments on ECB Votes
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Today is Election Day in the U.S., but European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny seems more concerned with who’s voting at the ECB.
Merkel’s British Firestorm Comes Early
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A huge effigy of Angela Merkel doing a Nazi salute (with the wrong arm) and bursting out of the Acropolis of Athens was burned during a bonfire and fireworks show in England, in an incident that comes 48 hours before U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron...
UK 'cannot afford' Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants
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In 2014 there will be an unprecedented crime wave in Britain if we do not stop Romanian and Bulgarian citizens having open door access to British borders, claims Godfrey Bloom...
Europe’s Regional Revolts
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Article by Ana Palacio, published on Project-Syndicate.org, on November 5, 2012 In both Catalonia and Scotland, calls for independence are growing once again – an indication of conditions not only in Spain and the United Kingdom, but in the Europea...
Britain battling 'alone' against EU in Council of Ministers
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The UK's frustration with the EU is reflected in the voting records of the Council of Ministers, where David Cameron's government often battles alone against 26 member states. Not since the Margaret Thatcher era, if ever, has Britain been as Euroscep...
Tories go feminist on europe: IDS says ‘we can have it all’
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Peter Wilding Tuesday, 06 November 2012 Pressed by Andrew Marr on whether he believed that Britain would flourish if it did leave the EU, Iain Duncan Smith said: 'My view isn't that we could do necessarily outs...
Clegg’s instincts are right but his bid to assert himself just looks desperate
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Repatriation of powers from the European Union to Britain remains a thorn in David Cameron’s side. The movement for “Europe Light” initially dreamt up, I believe, by William Hague back in the mists of time, is really causing the Prime … C...
What has Europe ever done for us?
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The UK's main political parties begin to scratch their old itches on Europe again - the budget, the rebate, subsidiarity, and the classic debate on whether we should be in or out of the EU. ARead more…...
"Citizens have the rights to..." Social welfare defending EU Citizens' lack of interest in their political sytem
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It seems as if there is not much sense in discussing the topic of Citizens' duties in times of duties. To whom ever I talk I just here: Citizens have the rights to,... Yes, citizens have the right. "Citizens have," as one person stated today during a...
The Centripetal Theory of Governance: A Borderless Union
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Many articles have been written from different sources on European crisis and its origins, but most of them base their arguments on personal standpoints derived from financial news and officials’ speeches. What we see is two distant authorities’...
Conference: “The Challenge of Non-Territorial Autonomy” on 9-10 November in Belfast
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European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) and partners are preparing for the multidisciplinary conference this weekend. A draft programme of 'The Challenges of Non-Territorial Autonomy' is now available. Continue reading →Source: ECMI InfoChan...
How Tony Blair could be elected President of Europe.
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Tony Blair recently made a speech (here) where he spoke about the need for a directly elected President of Europe. Not surprisingly, as soon as he made the speech, the usual suspects made their remarks about how Blair was pretty much advocating a job...
Seeing small in the age of European federalism
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Europe has been these last couple years at the forefront of world media. First, the Eurocrisis and its domestic impacts have been over studied and analyzed. Second, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the EU creating a...
Barroso's State of the Union address: “Europe must remain united”
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The President of the European Commission gave an address on the State of the European Union on 12th September - 1. News focus / European Commission...
Nick Clegg fell for a euromyth
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Last week Nick Clegg presented his vision for the UK in Europe. Of course there could have been a bit more ‘vision’ but well… In an attempt to earn some street cred and to appeal to his coalition partner (yes – hard...
Labour must not let Britain drift into a European exit | Jackie Ashley
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After last week's political opportunism, Ed Miliband has to ensure his party counters the nation's growing anti-EU sentimentEurope has become the place where nothing quite happens. David Cameron goes to Brussels demanding a freeze in the EU budget, w...
Making the eurozone fit for the challenges of the 1990s
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British economist Jonathan Portes remembers the UK’s exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism: We argued that the fundamental problem was that we’d joined the ERM at the wrong rate; sterling was overvalued, meaning that we were stuck with a...
Political Europe, with rockets.
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Something that has been interesting me recently is the surprising resilience of political Europe. It’s not supposed to work this way – economic integration was meant to pull the continent together into ever-closer union, and the imperativ...
No need for a more democratic Europe!
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When reading the news every day I stumble upon the demands of different stakeholders and civil society agencies, bloggers as well journalists who say that the European democracy is at risk and that Europe is undemocratic. As matter of fact there is n...
Trains, boats and planes - Britain and the EU
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As I wrote recently, a question raised recently by Alexander Stubb, Finland's Europe minister was that of whether Britain is drifting away from the EU (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/18/us-eu-britain-finland-idUSBRE89H19J20121018).In doi...
To get the best deal on the EU budget we must engage with our natural allies
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Although the Commons vote on the EU budget isn’t binding, the Government is now under pressure to make demands that simply cannot be met. Calling for a real-terms cut in the EU budget would not only be unrealistic, but would … Continue re...
This latest Tory rebellion was not just cynical, it was completely bogus | Andrew Rawnsley
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The result of the unholy alliance between Tory Europhobes and Labour will be to increase the cost of the EUMy congratulations to Mark Reckless – you couldn't make up a more splendid name for a Conservative MP – and the 52 other Tory rebels who te...
The referendum
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Some thoughts on a EU referendum in the UK (scribbled down a couple of weeks ago – the debate is so annoying so I thought I publish them without turning them into a fully thought through article) (1) First of all we should not fool ourselves: P...
