Latest posts
An outbreak of Tory moderation on Europe or just wishful thinking….
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For most of the past fifteen years, pro-European Conservatives have been on the endangered species list in British politics. In 2008 only three Conservative MPs out of a caucus of nearly 200 voted in favour of the Lisbon treaty. Thatcher govern...
Only in Italy?
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A common phrase was on the lips of pundits this morning – only in Italy. With the centre-left scoring only the narrowest of victories, leaving them with control of the lower house – the Chamber of Deputies – but a good 40 seats shor...
Forget the MFF, it’s trade not budget aid that matters
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EU leaders started their first summit of 2013 in fine fashion. First talks set to begin at a civilised 4pm were delayed until 8.30pm – a cruel interruption into carefully laid dinner plans. Then there was no formal proposal tabled by Herman van...
Cam’s euro-vision deserves a fair hearing
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David Cameron’s EU speech attracted vitriol from the usual suspects last week. Guy Verhofstadt accused him of “playing with fire”, the Socialist group’s Hannes Swoboda said it was “tragicomic” – and those wer...
Surprise summit success buys time and credibility
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Last Wednesday I was bracing myself for yet another failed EU crisis summit followed immediately by the usual flight of capital courtesy of panicky financial traders. It was a relief to find that Italy scored a surprise diplomatic win over Germany ju...
No more moralising, Greece needs its own Marshall Plan
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Now that the dust has settled on the second Greek general election in as many months it is striking to realise that the two elections have not achieved a lot. A coalition of Pasok and New Democracy is going to be replaced by – you’ve gues...
Beware the wrath of tax-paying Greeks
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Christine Lagarde is paying the media price for some unwisely strident remarks about the plight of Greece. Asking during an interview over the weekend whether she felt any sympathy for ordinary Greeks struggling against the background of deep spendin...
Euro 2012 – to boycott or not to boycott
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Not that you’d know it from the peculiarly damp and dismal weather that has afflicted Brussels over the last month, but summer is rapidly approaching. In two months time politicians and hacks will be on their holidays or (in my case at least) enjoy...
Getting caught in the web of Internet reform
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It’s become difficult to escape legislation on Internet regulation. In Europe, and across the Atlantic to the US, the governance of cyber-land hasrisen to the top of the political agenda. In January the European Commission released legislation to r...
Single EP seat wars – it’s that time of the year again
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Like Christmas, the debate on a single seat for the European Parliament comes round once a year. This time last year MEPs backed amendments calling for the Parliament to have a single seat. Today during the vote on this year’s budget report dra...
Closing the EU’s democratic deficit
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Talk about the EU’s ‘democratic deficit’ has been a popular debate amongst federalists for decades but, as the European Commission and Parliament have become more powerful, it has become a particularly acute problem. The Economist’s Charlemag...
Let’s hear it for ‘Team Culture’
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The Danish Presidency launched a 12-person culture ‘taskforce’ in Copenhagen this week. Among an impressive bunch of luminaries are former European Commissioner Margot Wallstrom, and Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum. The culture big...
Trouble still following Rupert Murdoch
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Last summer I wrote a piece about the phone hacking scandal which has engulfed Rupert Murdoch’s once all-powerful News International. More than six months later, the crisis still continues. The independent judicial inquiry into the state of the...
Reform, support and trust in the eurozone
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About a year ago I was at a meeting addressed by Luxembourg’s Prime Minister and euro group spokesman, Jean Claude-Juncker, about the latest state of play in the resolving the Greek debt crisis. During his presentation Juncker came up with a phrase...
More votes please, we’re British
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Most of the hoary diplomatic clichés have been trotted out since David Cameron’s bizarre performance at December’s EU summit. But while the Tory leader’s cack-handedness has attracted anger and delight – most of it synthetic – his...
Election not acclamation
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Important elections took place this month – a new President of the European Parliament was elected, as were the heads of its legislative committees. However, while they generated plenty of gossip and back-room political fixing in Planet Eurocrat, f...
Would pan-EU licensing mean cheaper TV? Don’t bet on it
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Being a sports fan who cannot bear to be parted from the England cricket team and the football, my subscription with Sky is a necessary, if expensive, evil. Likewise, I have a subscription to watch NFL American Football games. While I may be a fully...
Lighten up! 2012 is not the year of doom
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The Christmas season has been unusually mild for us north Europeans. However, our political leaders have seemed determined to bring a bit of chill. In fact, so gloomy have their new year’s message that I suspect Merkel, Sarkozy et al have organised...
