The Daily Telegraph -  a very Eurosceptic English daily newspaper – today published an interesting article under the above banner.
The article conclude that Lady Thatcher of then 1980s might in fact have supported the new Treaty of Lisbon, for the following reasons:
 Ø             The institutional reforms in the Reform Treaty are largely designed to make the [...]

After the heated debate and consultations on the European Transparency Initiative (ETI) we are now in the phase of consultations on its prominent element - the Code of Conduct for interest representatives (consultations close on 15/02/2008). The draft code proposed by the Commission seems fairly minimalist as it quotes very vast principles of “openness, transparency, [...]

Since 1986 the ECPA has been the only organisation to concentrate its efforts on training for Public Affairs excellence. ‘Inside Brussels‘ focuses this experience to help its participants understand and predict the ever-changing patterns of power in the European Union. There is no better way to understand how Europe works than to spend two days [...]

nbsp;Carma.org is an immediate success
Carma stands for Carbon Monitoring for Action. Carma.org is a Web tool on which you can look up the carbon emissions of all of the world’s power plants. Starting from a world map you can zoom in to find the power plant locations, and then you can […]
Original post by Hans De [...]

EU policymakers who are serious about the possibility of a border tax adjustment tariff to penalise countries which do not care about climate change, should have a look at the recent report of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB). The study indicates that such measures can be justified before the World Trade Organisation.
Of [...]

Reducing the environmental impact of consumer products - from the provision of raw materials over the production phase to consumption and disposal - is a challenge the Commission sought to address in its 2003 Integrated Product Policy (IPP) proposal.
This European Business Summit workshop will discuss how Sustainable Consumption in the EU can be brought forward. [...]

Reducing the environmental impact of consumer products - from the provision of raw materials over the production phase to consumption and disposal - is a challenge the Commission sought to address in its 2003 Integrated Product Policy (IPP) proposal.
This European Business Summit workshop will discuss how Sustainable Consumption in the EU can be brought forward. [...]

Scientists and industrialists are breaking their heads to develop newer/better/effecient products/equipments that will produce lesser pollutants into our atmosphere.
One area that fewer people are discussing/investing is in reforestations. Yes, regreening our planet earth.
Trees are just one of NATURE’s product which are very effecient in capturing Carbon products produced by industries not only in the EU, [...]

I received a provocative note from my good friend and colleague, Eberhard Rhein, and with his permission, publish it below:
During their recent visits to Ryadh the French and US Presidents have called on the Saudis to lower  the oil price as it hurts American and French  families. They received a polite but firm answer saying [...]

Although initiatives and legislative measures have been introduced since 1993, a genuinely competitive and genuinely interconnected European market for gas and electricity is still not in place. This workshop at the European Business Summit will deal with this situation, which was recognised by the Energy Council and EU Heads of State in early [...]

Europe is accountable for a large part of the world’s CO2 emissions (More than 15% stem from the EU-27). Action has to be taken to counter global warming. Thus the EU plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth by 2020.
In order to achieve this aim, the EU Commission proposed in January 2008 an [...]

This Workshop ate EBS 2008 will deal with the challenges to the transport sector in the EU, which ranges from urban transport to road transport and includes the rail sector, aviation and maritime transport. The transport sector is responsible for 31% of Community energy consumption and 26% of EU CO2 emissions.
A. Transport in the EU [...]

With the title of this workshop at EBS 2008 we want to highlight the important links between climate change policies, international trade and competitiveness. There have also been calls to use measures at the border to compensate for the competitiveness effects of the EU’s climate change policies. There are concerns about the so-called carbon leakage [...]

One week after it presented its new energy/climate change package (see my post of 23 Jan), the EU is holding its annual Sustainable Energy week. Just as in last week’s proposals, the use of renewable energy will be in the spotlight. Two sessions on Monday will be dealing with the role of renewables in respectively [...]

Something strange has happened with the EU Climate and Energy package. On Monday January 21, when it was previewed in a presentation by no one less than Commissioner Barroso at a conference in London, he said that the goal was 20-20-20 by 2020. Reduction in GHG with 20%, Share of renewable fuels in energy mix [...]

The game of ‘diplomatic whispers’is a reversal of ‘Chinese whispers’ (see endnote).  Diplomatic whispers begin with a given country’s embassy in Ruritania routinely sending to its foreign ministry ‘telegrams’ on the political, economic and social happenings and analyses of their implications.  These reports are often written by diplomats who are relatively new to Ruritania, have [...]

In the Netherlands, on 23-01-2008 a convenant for the built environment has been signed between government (3 ministries: of environment, energy and housing) with energy sector, building sector, installation sector. Representatives of owners- and renters-associations have delivered to work towards the proposed target of 100 PJ reduction of energy use in all buildings. “More with [...]

A new EU Commission takes office on 1 November 2009.  The Lisbon Treaty is expected to come into force officially on 1 January 2009 but this date may slip.  There is talk of a postponement until 1 November, but this would be of doubtful validity.   
This gives rise to an intriguing situation relating to three [...]

23-01-2008: Eu has set european targets for Sustainable Energy.
This is again an important milestone for European energy policy. It shows the commitment to combatting climate change reduction. International agreement and national policies are ‘in place’. Nevertheless, the real world is local and ‘enforcement’. My daily experience with local climate policies is still far away […]
Original [...]

The opening plenary session of the European Business summit (EBS 2008) workshop will feature speakers as diverse as the European Commissioner for Environment, the Director General of the WWF and the President of Microsoft International.
This post sets out the scope of this EBS 2008 plenary (see EBS ‘08 programme). Everyone interested in the topic, whether [...]