Erkan's field diary

Lisbon Treaty Referendum: Last Minute Scribblings on the Irish Vote

By nanne

Looking into the crystal ball on the Irish referendum tomorrow, there is little to see. I find myself wishing that there were more polls. The Irish Times poll and the Sunday Business Post poll were conducted over much the same period. Although the Sunday Business Post poll was released on Sunday, it was conducted on the Tuesday and Wednesday before and the Friday previous to that, which makes it less current than the Irish Times poll.

Sarkozy at the wheel of Europe: What to expect from the French EU Presidency

"Nicolas Sarkozy will soon experience the limits and frustrations of France holding the six-month rotating presidency of the European Council," warns Justin Vaïsse of the Fondation Robert Schuman.

Irish No camp recruits singing turkey to give EU treaty a roasting

Irish No camp recruits singing turkey to give EU treaty a roasting

Ireland chooses

By rz

Irish voters are going to the polls today and will decide the future of the Lisbon treaty. As always the anti-EU forces, consisting of the far left and far right have not been shy to make bold claims about the treaty. From "the treaty will allow the EU to conscript Irish citizens into an EU army" to "a great conspiracy to legalize abortion".

Picture the rear end of a camel

Referendum day in Ireland

REFERENDUM day has finally arrived here in Ireland, and your correpondent has been pounding the pavement to talk with voters. Polls have sent conflicting messages in recent days. If the pundits are right, the result could be very close indeed. "As tight as a camel's bottom in a sandstorm,"

Two dead in Europe fuel protests

Two lorry drivers are killed in fuel protests in Spain and Portugal as strikes over rising diesel prices continue.

Mardell's Europe

Trade fears loom large in Irish EU treaty referendum

Mardell's Europe

Yes or No? Treaty sceptics challenge new Irish PM

Europe's big test: why the euro will not help

The eurozone is facing sluggish economic growth, great growth differences among countries and large differences in inflation, writes Václav Klaus

Interview: EU climate and energy laws 'on track'

The EU is "on track" to reach an agreement on climate and energy by December, says Jos Delbeke, a top Commission official. In an interview with EurActiv, he nevertheless warns about the demands of Eastern countries on CO2 burden-sharing, labelling their alternative proposal "hot air".

Gaddafi lashes out at 'Union for the Mediterranean'

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has strongly objected to high-flying French plans for a 'Union for the Mediterranean', due to be launched on July 13 in Paris. Quoted by AFP, Gaddafi said "we are neither hungry nor dogs to be thrown bones".

Why Ukraine has no place in the EU

Advocates of Ukrainian democracy are motivated by old desires for independence from Moscow and, now that political autonomy has been achieved, by the need to get under the protective umbrella of Nato and the EU. From an objective point view, though, there are plenty of arguments against Ukraine turning its back on Russia. By Richard Wagner (Photo: Lothar Deus)

MAIN FOCUS: Controversial working time directive | 11/06/2008

After years of wrangling, the employment ministers of the EU member states have agreed on Europe-wide regulations on working hours. But now the newspapers have taken up the debate. Europe's press comments on the new working time directive and its consequences.

Regulation model has failed, says Merkel

Continental Europe should take the lead in devising new rules for financial markets because the Anglo-Saxon model of regulation has failed, Angela Merkel tells the Financial Times

March to the middle: Merkel celebrates Germany's social market model

A chancellor once feted as a reformist has recalibrated her message for a country growing increasingly ambivalent towards globalisation

What happens if Ireland votes No?

By Richard Laming

Friday 13th is the right day for the result of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon treaty to be announced, if the recent opinion polls are anything to go by. But what happens if the vote does reject the treaty?

Farewell to Bush, a friend in the end

Marek Swierczynski: The farewell trip of the 43rd US president shows who and what really matters for America in Europe. George Bush visits America's traditional allies and friends but emphasizes the role of the EU as the main transatlantic link and one that may play an important role during the next presidency.

MAIN FOCUS: Europe's lorry drivers on strike | 12/06/2008

All over Europe lorry drivers are protesting against high fuel prices. In Spain and Portugal the violent clashes even claimed the lives of two strikers. How should governments and the public react to the fuel protests?

Anti-Terror Bill Passes In Britain

By Kevin Sullivan on Northern Ireland

LONDON, June 11 -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown won passage of a key piece of anti-terror legislation in Parliament on Wednesday, but analysts said the victory was too narrow to revive Brown's sagging public approval figures.

"Germany's Intolerant and Militaristic Culture"

By Joerg Wolf

"Support for the far-right National Democratic Party quadrupled in local elections in the eastern state of Saxony on Sunday. In the village of Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna, one in four voters chose the NPD," writes Spiegel International.

Dustin to Lisbon: Eurovision turkeys and European treaties

By Angela Steen

Will Ireland vote no in a referendum on 12 June? It is the only
European public to voice its doubts about the Lisbon treaty, which has been  ratified by fifteen EU member states and needs the remaining twelve votes to work.

Federalism and political power

By Jon

So you think federalism is a good principle on which to base the European Union? Or you have some wider, more fluffy notion of European unity? What do you do?

My route, and I’m happy to describe myself as a federalist, was to join the Young European Federalists and work with other actors in the political process to push for greater democratic accountability of the European Union. For me federalism is compatible with the other things I believe in - social democratic and liberal values.

Lisbon Treaty and corporation taxes: lots of smoke and little fire

By Jon

A post by Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber prompted me to look at the issue being banded about by the No camp in the Irish referendum campaign that ratifying the Treaty would mean Ireland’s low corporation taxation regime could be challenged. The legal technicalities of this are explained by Ralf Grahn, but what about the politics?

Listening to Merkel: Inevitable Trade-Offs

By Nikolas K. Gvosdev

President Bush and Chancellor Merkel held a press conferencetoday following their talks. Reading it, it becomes clear, that even if not explicitly discussed, some choices have been made--and as a result, priorities have emerged.