Katinka Barysch of Centre for European Reform explains why EU enlargement is in trouble and there is more from the EU in the roundup…
European Parliament
Czech president shakes up the EU Parliament…
It is now certain that the Czechs encolor the otherwise boring EU politics. His recent speech in the EU Parliament was sensational as the roundup shows.. In the roundup there is more about the EU- as usual…
"a pretty trainee with long legs and blonde hair"
can be a spy, warns the European Commission. I googled for an image of "long legs and blonde hair" just to make this post more attractive but there are many people in the office right now and I could not dare to look at the findings. Have the post without the image, sorry.
European Commission warns staff of ‘pretty blonde spies’
The European Commission says it is being targeted increasingly by spies, who may include a "pretty trainee with long legs and blonde hair".
"Eurostat yearbook 2008 ? Europe in figures
Europe split on how to restore Moscow ties
An EU policy document reveals a vigorous debate under way among member governments about how far, and how quickly, to restore relations with Moscow after Russia’s invasion of Georgia in August
"Why does Beethoven's Ode to Joy upset some Euro MPs?
Why does Beethoven’s Ode to Joy upset some Euro MPs?
A decision to make the EU flag and motto more prominent and play the EU anthem more often angers some British Euro MPs.
"Credit crunch hits European banks……..
Credit crunch hits European banks
Top officials from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the EU held emergency meetings over the weekend to prevent bank and insurance giant Fortis from becoming the eurozone’s first major victim of the global financial crisis.
In defence of Anglo-Saxon capitalism
by Charles Grant
Those who never liked ‘Anglo-Saxon’ capitalism are feeling smug. Marxists, fans of ‘Rhineland’ capitalism and those who simply cannot stand American power are crowing. “The US will lose its status as the superpower of the world financial system,” says Peer Steinbruck, Germany’s finance minister. “Self-regulation is finished, laisser faire is finished, the idea of an all powerful market which is always right is finished,” says France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy. The British academic (and sometime fan of Margaret Thatcher) John Gray proclaims that “in a change as far-reaching in its implications as the fall of the Soviet Union, an entire model of the government and the economy has collapsed.”
Bartholomew's speech in the European Parliament
TO THE PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (Brussels, September 24, 2008) * * * Your Excellency Mr President of the European Parliament, Your Excellencies, Honorable Members of the European Parliament, Distinguished Guests, Dear Friends, First and foremost, we convey to you salutations from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, based for many many centuries in … Read more
"EU Agencies – Whatever you do, we work for you Source: European Commission
EU Agencies – Whatever you do, we work for you
Source: European Commission
From Stockholm to Crete and from Lisbon to Warsaw, 29 agencies provide service, information and know-how to the people of the European Union and beyond. The agencies work within many different fields such as environment,
food safety, transportation, trade marks, education, or fundamental rights.This brochure dedicates a page to each of the agencies, describing their work and giving contact details.
“Don’t buy exotic animal souvenirs.” In Animal souvenirs
"Can the EU win the peace in Georgia?
Can the EU win the peace in Georgia?
The conflict between Georgia and Russia has seen the EU become the main diplomatic mediator between the two and it should use this status to develop peaceful relations in the region, argue Nicu Popescu et al. in an August 2008 commentary for the European Council on Foreign Relations.
USAK Report: Change in Caucasia brings burdens and opportunities for Turkey
Turkey is one of the countries that will be most vulnerable vis-à-vis a new global order triggered by the conflict between Georgia and Russia, a study by the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization (ISRO/ USAK) has noted.
The conflict erupted on Aug. 7-8 when Georgia tried to retake South Ossetia. A Russian counter-offensive pushed into Georgia proper, crossing its east-west highway and nearing a Western-backed oil pipeline. Russia ignored Western demands to remove its remaining troops from Georgia’s heartland, saying the residual troops are peacekeepers needed to avert further bloodshed and to protect the people of Georgia’s separatist, pro-Moscow provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two days after Moscow said it had wrapped up its withdrawal.
"Commission to test free access to EU research
Strasbourg not yet ready for MEPs
The European Parliament’s temporary relocation to Brussels from Strasbourg reignites a row about where it should be based.
found in Small Food Nation
(Pieter Aertsen, Butcher’s Stall with the Flight into Egypt, 1551. Source.)
Commission to test free access to EU research
A pilot project that will give unrestricted online access to EU-funded research results was launched yesterday (20 August), which the Commission claims will ensure better exploitation of scientific studies and guarantee a "fair return" for taxpayers. But specialist publishers are unhappy with the move.
Memories of Czech invasion
Two BBC website readers share their experiences of the Soviet invasion and living under communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
