EU drops Roma charge against Paris
Is Europe a la Carte the new Integration Model?
No, this is not a blog about French cuisine or the integration of Chicken Tikka Massala into the British diet (now effectively the national dish), but about the seemingly increasing trend that the universality of the EU and its budget is more and more questioned. Pick and choose what you like instead of buying the set menu seems to be the order of the day.
How should the UK government respond to EU Treaty change?
We take another look at this question over on the Spectator’s coffee house blog. With the risk of sounding repetitive, we argue,
Germany wins French backing for EU Treaty change
As we anticipated in our previous post, it appears as if Germany has won French backing for a change to the EU treaties in return for greater flexibility on sanctions for eurozone countries which run excessive deficits.
Europe 2020 strategy leadership and communication: State of the art or lying in state?
The seven flagship initiatives promised by the European Commission under the Europe 2020 (EU2020) strategy were Innovation Union, Youth on the move, A digital agenda for Europe, Resource efficient Europe, An industrial policy for the globalisation era, An agenda for new skills and jobs, and a European platform against poverty. See the blog post: Europe 2020 strategy: Barroso?s reform flotilla (flagship initiatives) (20 June 2010).
Merkel and multi-culturalism seen from Notting Hill, London, Peyvand Khorsandi
Golborne Road, on the outskirts of Notting Hill in west London, is home to two Portuguese cafés, Stella McCartney, and my favourite burger van, run by two Moroccan men. I?ve been a regular for almost 10 years ? the van offers no ordinary fare. A ball of meat goes splat on the griddle as it?s evened into shape while onions sizzle.
Bosnia?s politics of paralysis, Peter Lippman
A predictable routine has dominated Bosnia-Herzegovina?s political cycle in the fifteen years since the end of the country?s war in 1995. Every two years when elections are held, Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslim), Serbs, and Croats elect their leaders, soon come to despise them, and then re-elect the same people next time round.
Serbia: football violence, gay pride violence, anti-west violence?
?The Serbs are experts at shooting themselves in the foot,? said interior minister Ivica Dacic, after the world watched Serbs riot in the streets of Belgrade and later, Italy. Is it all down to an extreme right burgeoning fear of the west?
Today Europe Has More Troops in Afghanistan than Last Year
Philip H. Gordon, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, gave a speech on The United States and Europe: An Agenda for Engagement at SAIS in Washington DC, where I studied in 1999/2000. It was an okay round-up of the transatlantic relationship. Dr. Gordon, formerly of the Brookings Institution, praised the cooperation with Europe: “There could be no better partner than Europe, where we work with democratic, prosperous, militarily-capable allies who share our values and share our interests.”
Can?t live with them, can?t live without them: European Union and Switzerland
The relations between landlocked Switzerland and the surrounding European Union are special in many respects. Trade, transport, free movement including migration and cross-border work, banking (secrecy) and tax (evasion) are highly visible ingredients. Here are a few background notes in the form of earlier blog posts and an evaluation of what the EU institutions currently offer interested businesses and citizens.
Battered Sarkozy finds temporary refuge in world affairs
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