Latest posts
How the EU works
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Here is a great infographic of the “Ordinary legislative procedure” (formerly known as “co-decision”procedure) – the basic policy-making mode in the EU. And another one for the budgetary procedure – only used...
How to become a British eurosceptic
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1. Don’t pretend to be sceptic in the true sense of the word. You hate the EU hence your are a sceptic. Don’t question this logic. The word “sceptic” sounds good because it shows that you can think things through. 2. Don&rsquo...
Reporting Europe Prize 2013
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The Reporting Europe Prize is back and nominations are open! Please nominate the best pieces of EU reporting/journalism via the official website: UACES is looking for an outstanding blogpost, a great newspaper article, or a particularly good radio or...
Understanding British EU journalism
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This sums it up. (thanks to Mary Honeyball for publishing the letter!)...
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...
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...
Kosmolinks #22
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Cameron at the Mercy of European Events Excellent piece by Simon Nixon on David Cameron, the Tories and Europe. The lack of any coherent EU strategy and the focus on short term gains has left David Cameron at the mercy of events – and in the ha...
A poisonous concoction
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Chris Davies: You take a handful of distortion, add in political bias, stir in doses of UKIP’s vilification, sprinkle with gullible journalists who don’t check their facts. And what do you get? A poisonous concoction. An ill-informed Brit...
EU wins 2012 Nobel Peace Prize
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EU wins the Nobel Peace Prize 2012.(kudos to Norwegian state broadcaster for the scoop a few hours before the announcement) Do we now need an extraordinary European Council to decide who is going to pick up the prize? (My bet is on van Rompuy –...
David Cameron’s fresh consent
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I am still confused about what David Cameron’s ‘fresh consent’ idea will involve. But I think he is going for a minimal risk strategy – and instead of an active negotaition strategy to repatriate powers he is hoping for a R...
The British ‘nuclear’ JHA opt-out
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Very interesting CER policy brief by Hugo Brady – and a shorter EUROPP piece on the JHA block opt-out option; here a couple of paragraphs: Lisbon has shifted the emphasis of EU criminal justice policy away from ‘co-operation’ towards mor...
Political Union?
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The framing is simply wrong: There is already a “Political” arena called the European “Union” – so what’s the point of this “Political Union”? It is a complex debate but the ‘political union’...
How to win a EU referendum…
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So apparently a EU referendum in the UK is winnable (which I still doubt). But new YouGov research suggests that the only thing you need to do is convince ‘pragmatic nationalists’ and scare some ‘worried nationalists’. It is a...
Back
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Ok, I am back. Not sure for how long, let’s see… expect some short stuff – maybe I should get into mobile blogging (to use the daily commute in London a bit more efficiently). Just to reiterate my general problem … Continue re...
Decision-making
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If an important decision is to be made [the Persians] discuss the question when they are drunk and the following day the master of the house…submits their decision for reconsideration when they are sober. If they still approve it, it … Co...
Nobody cares about Parliaments
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Interesting research findings: In 2006: “…the public are usually in the dark as to how [the EP] works and what legislation actually means to their lives. [Brussels], the world of politics and [the EP], remain a closed book to many. R...
