EU roundup: Van Rompuy insulted and more…

20 women who run the EU (blogosphere) by Julien Frisch In the German blogosphere, we have recently seen a controversial debate (started by annalist) about the question why only men were among the so-called “alpha bloggers” in a video series about important bloggers, a debate that has led to the inclusion of female bloggers in … Read more

EP reports on Turkey, nothing more than self-satisfaction for EP MEPs…

YAVUZ BAYDAR – One minute, European Parliament!

from Today’s Zaman by YAVUZ BAYDAR

What do a Turkish and a Greek Cypriot journalist do when meeting over dinner in Marrakech? Without a doubt, risking torment over the subject, they talk about the fate of the settlement talks between the two leaders of the divided island.

Envoys to warn Turkey: Update Constitution or forget EU

Turkey disappointed with EU report on accession progress (People’s Daily)

from Yahoo news
Turkey on Thursday said it was disappointed with a European Union (EU) report on the country’s progress in 2009 in its accession bid to the 27-nation bloc but reiterated commitments to EU membership. The European Parliament (EP) adopted the report on Wednesday, which urged Turkey to start prompt withdrawal of troops from Cyprus, a Mediterranean island divided into the Turkish north and Greek …

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looks like Obama skips Europe…

MAIN FOCUS: The US President skips Europe | 03/02/2010 from euro|topics US President Barack Obama will not be attending the EU-USA summit planned for May. The official explanation given is that he wishes to devote himself to domestic problems. The European press, however, suspects that he doesn’t want to waste time in Europe, which still … Read more

A good read on Euroscepticism (and a Euro roundup)

Nosemonkey interviewed: On euroscepticism from Nosemonkey’s EUtopia Forgot all about this, as the interview was originally conducted back in October, but it?s in the latest issue of Shift Mag, which focusses on Euroscepticism. Have a gander at the whole lot here or, below the fold, check out my responses to the following: To fix the … Read more

Greek woes continue…Euro roundup

Distilled Geography: Europe?s Alcohol Belts from Strange Maps

It matters where we are, for it helps determine who we are. Or, as the quote often attributed to Napoleon states: Geography is destiny. That destiny extends to drink, as demonstrated by this map. Where we are determines to a statistically significant degree what kind of alcohol we prefer. Or is it the other way around: the kind of alcohol preferred is determined by the place where it is produced?…….

And It?s A Bailout?..

from A Fistful Of Euros » A Fistful Of Euros by Edward Hugh

Well, it?s not fully official yet, and all the fine print certainly isn?t written and signed, but the will is now clearly there, and where there?s a will, there?s a way, especially when you have the global financial markets breathing down your necks. The first one out of the box was the Economist?s Charlemagne, earlier this afternoon.

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More tweeting Eurocrats…

Jerzy Buzek is on Twitter: Welcome, Mr (European Parliament) President!

by Julien Frisch

Since today, Jerzy Buzek, European Parliament President, is on Twitter.

At this moment, he has 50 followers, the number is quickly growing. He himself (probably the press team) isn’t following anyone by now – waiting to see how this develops.

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“The Lisbon Treaty and national parliaments…

And a roundup.

The Lisbon Treaty and national parliaments: In practice

from Open Europe blog by Open Europe blog team

The true effect of Lisbon, the practice not the theory, is beginning to come to light and, as some of us warned, it is far from pretty.

The House of Commons’ European Scrutiny Committee, the body charged with sifting through EU legislation and holding the Government to account, has published its annual report today and has some quite interesting things to say about the Lisbon Treaty’s impact on Parliamentary scrutiny of EU proposals – a largely unexciting process but, if it can be effective, one that is key to maintaining a link between our national representatives and the Brussels legislative machine.

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Europe’s agenda: Snow

An ambulance man walks away from the fire station in Hartley ...

An ambulance man walks away from the fire station in Hartley Wintney, in Hampshire, a village 40 miles west of London. Soldiers helped rescue stranded drivers Wednesday as Britain’s most brutal winter in decades caused chaos for travellers, and bitterly cold temperatures cloaked much of Europe.(AFP/Adrian Dennis)

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Adopting scanners; a pretext for more surveillance

Dutch press EU to adopt scanners; Dutch authorities want the EU to make passenger scanners mandatory, saying they might have foiled an airline bomber.

They could foil the attack if intelligence network really worked. It seems that even the father of this moron attacker indeed informed the security services. One cannot help thinking that there is a bit of conspiracy here. There is already a huge flow of intelligence that cannot be processed- that was what also happened in September 11- and but more and more surveillance over citizens wanted by the authorities… 

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Copenhagen Summit and EU agenda roundup

Arrested demonstrators sit on the ground as they are surrounded ...

Arrested demonstrators sit on the ground as they are surrounded by police during a rally outside the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen December 12, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

Hot topic

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition
Climate pressures cloud two-day EU summit

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Copenhagen Climate Summit begins…

I?m sorry, we could have stopped catastrophic climate change #COP15

from Osocio Weblog by Marc

I'm sorry, we could have stopped catastrophic climate change? We didn't

Next monday, dec 7, the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference finally start in Copenhagen. All visitors who came by aeroplane (…) will see these billboards at the Copenhagen Airport. They campaign from Greenpeace shows our world leaders in 2020.
The leaders: Sarkozy (FR), Merkel (Ger), Obama (USA), Tusk (PO), Lula (Br), Zapatero (Es), Brown (UK) and Harper (Can). See them all after the break.

Copenhagen sees pros and cons of host role

from FT.com – World, Europe
As the eyes of the world focus on Copenhagen, there is reputational danger in attaching the Danish capital’s name to a conference that could end in failure

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"EU's Lisbon Treaty comes into force

EU’s Lisbon Treaty comes into force

and more from the European agenda…

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Europe has a religious symbol crisis, too

A crucifix hangs on a wall map of Europe in a school classroom ...

A crucifix hangs on a wall map of Europe in a school classroom in Rome November 3, 2009. The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Italian schools should remove crucifixes from classroom walls, saying their presence could disturb children who were not Christians.The decision is likely to provoke a controversy in Italy, which is deeply attached to its Roman Catholic roots.REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Dissecting Europe’s crucifix conflict

from cafebabel.com by euro topics

On 3 November the European court of human rights ruled that crucifixes in classrooms violate the religious freedom of schoolchildren. Representatives from politics and the church roundly condemn the judgement, while many media welcome the decision. The Iberian, Maltese and Italian press react

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Irish and Lisbon treaty. Part II

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has spent half a million euros ...

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has spent half a million euros fighting for a Yes vote on the Lisbon Treaty. Ireland was voting Friday on the EU’s Lisbon Treaty in a crunch second referendum. (AFPTV)

Fear and anger

Economic slump clouds Irish vote on Lisbon Treaty

A huge round up on the referendum and other news from the EU

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Ms. vs. Mrs and Miss.

I will have to agree with the UK press. Looks like an unnecessary move for political correctness. 

Is that Ms, Miss? EU pamphlet causes ‘outrage’ in UK press

The European Parliament has outlawed the titles Miss and Mrs. But being a Ms isn’t that simple.

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