MAIN FOCUS: EU budget power games | 17/11/2010
Negotiations on the EU Budget in Brussels have met with resistance from several member countries and run aground. The press complains that this wrangling for power blocks important new projects in the EU.
Barroso’s case of the Budget Blues
After a tumultuous five-plus-months of discussions, EU negotiations over the 2011 budget broke down two days ago, leaving an array of despondent MEPs, Commissioners and eurocrats to lament a ‘budgetary crisis’.
Ireland the Symbol and Sovereignty the Ideal
For a small country, Ireland has been a very symbollic country in the world. As an oppressed nation under an empire, as a rebellious and feircely independent people, as an example of the terrible consequences of famine, as one of the “angelic states” (very supportive of the UN & UN missions), as what a small country could achieve in the EU, and as a model for how to deal with the economic crisis. It seems we’ve been good at promoting our own version of history, but Ireland the symbol has become internationalised, and – especially now – Ireland is an example to be held up in argument.
Europe heads back into the storm
MAIN FOCUS: The euro crisis is back | 18/11/2010
Ireland is set to request financial help from the EU rescue fund, Portugal is thinking of doing the same and Spain may also be sucked under by the debt crisis. The euro is once more under pressure and is dragging the EU into a crisis which commentators say could be the end of the union.
Question for Eurozone finance ministers
Today in the lower house of the Irish parliament, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan repeated a statement that he made on Irish radio yesterday concerning European endorsement of the Irish government?s policies in relation to the banking crisis. Specifically, he told the house (around 9 minute mark)
Europe’s Civil War
After the HSBC Bank and British Consulate General attacks of Al Qaeda in Istanbul, the British held a series of meetings in order to understand the reasons of the shocking events and prevent the possible future attacks. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ihsan Bal and I participated at the meetings as representatives of the USAK (International Strategic Research Organisation) in one of these meetings in 2004 Autumn. Ambassador of UK to Ankara, Consulate General of UK to Istanbul, security advisors to British PM Tony Blair, representatives and experts of the House of Commons were also present at the meetings. Intelligence officials, diplomats and security experts tried to give advice to the Turks as well as seeking advise how to prevent the possible attacks.
The price of German leadership
Ireland continues to refuse bail-out help
‘Technical talks’ or a done deal?
EU Stockholm Programme heresy?
Yesterday I wondered if EU theology needed to introduce the term ?limbo? to explain the whereabouts of the Action Plan Implementing the Stockholm Programme (entry in Swedish; use Google translation and the sources in English or your own language if you are interested): Handlingsplanen för Stockholmsprogrammet: I limbo? (16 November 2010)
Anger at Germany boils over
Barroso ‘extremely disappointed’ over budget collapse
from EUobserver.com – Headline News
Power to the Parliament
Open Europe has just hosted a debate on the Coalition Government’s proposed ‘referendum lock’ with Europe Minister David Lidington. A write-up and recording of the event will be put on our events page shortly. But in the meantime, two thoughts: