Castle in the Sky
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I had promised to take the family to see Inception in the evening (see next post). But by the time we got to the cinema there were no places left. So the sprogs were left to choose a mutually agreed DVD. Their choice, exceptionally, was a Japanese a...
19 Months of Talks — Still No Gas Deal
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Without a contract with the Russian Federation, Poland may not be able to avoid shortages of gas this winter.
Coming To A Council Estate Near You
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As in so many other areas, the coalition doesn’t seem to have a consistent policy towards crime. Cameron does the zero-tolerance posturing so loved by anaemic sheltered politicians. His ministers argue against prison sentences and tell violent re...
The EU and the US in confronting Iran
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When the European Union appears to line its policy up with the United States, we should take notice and examine the policy for yet another instance of "Please America First." This article weighs the Security Council Resolution 1929 aimed at Iran- a...
Hip Hip Hip Hurray! Big Brussels Bash for 100th Director-General
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It’s official and the Brussels crowd is cheering: the European commission just created its 100th post at the level of Director-General, which translates into EU jargon as A15/A16, and in Wall Street jargon as €15-18K per month. The Brussels J...
European Commission’s External Action Service approved by Council amidst protest
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The European Commission’s so-called Diplomacy Services, or EEAS for European External Action Service, has been approved by the Council yesterday, amidst quite some rumblings from different sides of the EU bubble. But not everyone rejoices, far...
Sacred trees or sacred cows?
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State-owned industries in ex-communist countries are usually a byword for cronyism and bad management. Questioning their status produces interesting results...
Battle joined over new EU diplomatic service
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Any day now the advertisements should go out for the top jobs in Brussels’ new diplomatic service – the European External Action Service, as it will be boringly known. If the optimists are right, the service will be anything but boring. It’s th...
Europe and the “Factory” of good politics
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Eyafjallajökull is the name of the Icelandic volcano used as the slogan of the meeting of all Nichi Vendola's factories, held in Bari from 16 to 18 July, which included debates on employment, the economic crisis, the Mafia phenomenon, migration, new...
Not going on holiday? You're on 'staycation'
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It seems an eternity, but the financial crisis is only just celebrating its second birthday. The US has spawned a side effect phenomenon, a neat little neologism called the 'staycation'. The term contradicts the notion of going away on 'vacation'. Pe...
Do-it-yourself policing and garbage cleanup in Britain?
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The "big society" initiative, which the new British prime minister David Cameron first came up with during the campaign, has gained sudden prominence in recent weeks. Apparently, it wasn't just a feel-good campaign slogan. The plan, which would devol...
Food industry's green efforts may hit price wall
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The European food and drinks industry is finalising plans to measure its environmental performance but increasingly price-aware consumers might derail their efforts, the European Commission cautioned. A European round table bringing together the food...
Citrus from Southern Africa in Europe
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As always a large volume of oranges from, amongst others, South Africa and Zimbabwe will arrive in Europe this year. Because of the difficult climate for entrepreneurs in Mozambique and Zimbabwe compared to South Africa only small volumes come from t...
International trade, european values
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We need to keep working hard to conclude the Doha Development Round. It will greatly benefit the world economy, plus it holds a range of systemic advantages that cannot be allowed to slip out of reach. The political reality however is that concluding...
EU reaches out for new powers at United Nations
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European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will in future be able to address the UN chamber no differently from US President Barack Obama or Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmedinejad under draft reforms agreed by member states. EU countries at meetings in...
DUTCH TV INTERVIEW
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OK, so I did not exactly keep my promise to go on a blog holiday. This is an interview with Dutch TV (in Dutch) on what we are doing to protect consumer from excessive roaming charges, and some information on how I use my phones and computers. Numbe...
The Single Market – the UK can give it a second wind, and help Europe grow
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Phillip Souta “What we need are strengths which we can only find together … We must have the full benefit of a single large market.” These are the words of Margaret Thatcher, spoken in 1986 as Prime Minister, emblazoned on the first page of M...
