Fellow euroblogger Jon Worth has spent some time gathering thoughts and evidence around the coming European Union leadership following the 2014 European Parliament elections, a start of discussions applauded by other bloggers. Jon has listed a number of candidates for the next European Commission President (of the centre-right, the centre left, or the rest), for the next European [...]
The leaders of states and governments of 28 European countries (Croatia included) are able to agree over a long-term budget worth 959 988 000 000 Euros (in commitments) 11 months before this budget period starts. The leader of the directly elected European Parliament involving 754 members from 27 European countries (plus the Croatian observers) is able [...]
It’s not been big news – only New Europe has reported already as far as I can see – but according to this EU Council document dated 19 November, it is agreed that it should be more simple for EU citizens to stand for the 2014 European Parliament elections in EU member states other than their home country. [...]
Maybe it has escaped my attention, but I just saw this European Council Decision dated 2 October plus this document dated 28 September that formally decides that the number of European Commissioners will not be reduced as originally foreseen in the EU Treaties. Instead, a special exception will be used made in concession to the Irish [...]
Ich hab letzte Woche, moderiert durch Cherno Jobatey, mit Jürgen Trittin über Europa diskutiert. Die leider zusammengeschnittene Fassung unsere ca. 45-minütigen Diskussion ist jetzt auf Youtube nachsehbar. Ich bin mir bis heute nicht ganz klar, ob das letztendlich sinnvoll war, und was ich damit meine habe ich auch schon aufgeschrieben. Aber vielleicht doch noch ein [...]
Votewatch.eu has been relaunched on Monday, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s time doing so. Put in very simple terms, it’s a website that takes publicly available information from the European Parliament and the EU Council – in particular everything related to votes – and makes it accessible in a way that both [...]
Ich hab in den letzten Tagen häufiger über Europa reden dürfen, reden müssen. Wenn man das tut, merkt man, dass das mitnichten einfach ist, dass man manchmal viel lieber nichts sagen würde, weil man, obwohl man das Richtige sagen möchte, doch nur das Falsche sagt. Vielleicht ist es besser, wenn man andere sprechen lässt, und [...]
In general, I think that Barroso is not the right EU Commission President in these times of crises. He lacks the profile, the passion, the liveliness to convince citizens across the continent to see the value of a common European project, as flawed as it may be in practice. His only luck is that European [...]
You may wonder: What is the most important, the most pressing, and thus the most recurring problem in EU policy-making for EU member states? The financial and economic crises? The European agriculture? High-speed internet for disconnected regions? Not really. In fact, the most recurring problem is “delegated acts“, a special legal instrument introduced by [...]
A group of 10 EU foreign ministers is meeting to discuss the Future of Europe, proposing some lukewarm reforms of the EU system to save it. But more than that: When you read the interim report of the group, you can see that the reforms proposed are not just lukewarm, the foreign ministers seem to mock [...]