Latest posts
A Remarkable and Unforgettable Man
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Laurens Jan Brinkhorst is a former Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and a professor at Leiden University. The avalanche of reactions to Stanley’s death just over four months ago is a living proof of Stanley’s great impact on those who met him.
Fraser’s appreciation
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I first met Stanley twenty years ago in Kitty O’Shea’s, then used as the canteen for EPC as it had offices upstairs. When Stanley found out that I was a foreign policy expert he asked if he could send me a draft he was writing on the new common f...
Stanley
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A speech delivered by Stanley Crossick’s daughter, Elizabeth, on the occasion of his memorial. This occasion really started as an afterthought. A response to those in Brussels and beyond who wanted to mark the sad event of my father passing.
A Celebration of Stanley Crossick’s Life
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Dear Friends and Colleagues, Stanley Crossick, co-founder of the European Policy Centre and a champion of European integration, died last November. He is sorely missed by family and friends. Stanley’s was a well-respected voice in the EU blogg...
Stanley Crossick
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Dear Friends and Colleagues, It is with sadness that we write informing you of the death of Stanley Crossick on Saturday 20th November. Stanley, in spite of his serious medical condition, recently managed to travel to China. He was able to continue w...
Get Well Soon!
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This is just a short note on behalf of Stanley to apologise for the break in blogging service. I have just been informed that he has been quite unwell recently and is currently in hospital. Doubtless Stanley will be back in the blogging hotseat very...
Death of Max Kohnstamm
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Max Kohnstamm, Honorary President of EPC and one of it’s founding fathers, died peacefully on 20 October, aged 96, survived by his wife Kathleen and five children. Max was the last survivor of the nine EU Founding Fathers, and his death marks the e...
The Nobel Peace Prize
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The following interview with the Global Times took place on 15 0ctober, bit was not published: 1. Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo this year. What’s your comment on the decision of Nobel committee? Can the award be inter...
500th Blog post (cont)
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Personal note I never blog about myself but Blogactiv have asked me to make an exception this time and tell an anecdote. I received an unexpected letter from the French Minister for Europe in 200? announcing that I had been awarded by President Chi...
500th Blog post
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Three years on: state of EU-China relations When I posted my first blog exactly three years ago on 11 October 2007, not for one moment did I anticipate 500. But I confess that I enjoy it – I hope a pleasure I share with you. Watching the US, in...
Coordinated EU strategy can further cooperation with China
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The following article appeared in Global Times on 29 September: It now looks unlikely that the current Sino-Japanese dispute will be resolved next week in Brussels on the sidelines of the ASEM Asia-Europe Summit, when Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanes...
EU-China: role of culture
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“Politicians come and go but culture lives on” said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, when opening the “EU-China High Level Cultural Forum”, which was held in Brussels on 6-7 October. The successful development of EU-China relations needs increas...
China-Japan relations and a week of summitry
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Wen Jiabao and Nato Kan, the prime ministers of China and Japan, discussed, in the wings of the ASEM Summit in Brussels, the tensions following the 7 September maritime incident near the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku islands. They will have further oppor...
Middle East: Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement the key
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Whether or not Iran is going to build nuclear weapons remains uncertain, as does the time-span in which it could be achieved. This is still some years away as Israel has only recently confirmed. A breakdown in the current attempt at Israeli-Pales...
EU-China: to dialogue or not to dialogue?
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It is a poor reflection on the EU’s China activities if the latest available organigrarmme is nearly five years old and there is no agreement as to how many Dialogues, Working Groups (WG) etc there are. It indicates a serious lack of coordination...
Community method vs intergovernmentalism
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Despite the changed circumstances, the debate over the effectiveness of the ‘Community method’ as compared with ‘intergovernmentalism’, rages on. Those who regard themselves as ‘true believers’ see the Community method as the Holy Grail...
EU-China relations: EU strategy towards China
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The EU Summit has come and gone, but was hijacked over the Roma dispute. This meant that little time was spent on discussing strategies towards third countries, including China. There was an inconclusive discussion at the recent informal foreign...
EU-US relations : Transatlantic Trends
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• Many fewer Poles than other EU respondents approve of Obama’s handling of international policies. • Given the choice between accepting a nuclear Iran and taking military action, 64% of Americans and 43% of Europeans favour military action.
Does the Shanghai Cooperation Organization matter?
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What is the SCO? The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has, to the surprise of many, emerged as a force to be reckoned with in Central Asia. The ‘Shanghai Five’, founded in 1996, became the SCO in 2001. Its members are China, Russia, Kaza...
Barroso’s State of the Union Message
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The Commission President delivered to the European Parliament on 7 September his first State of the Union Message. This comprised a catalogue of current problems without offering concrete remedies. Implementation is the problem. President Barro...
