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May 3, 2012
Hammond urges Germany to match its economic might with military weight By David Gow Two decades ago, in the wake of reunification, the then German defence minister, Volker Rühe, officially opened the Bendlerblock as the Berlin seat of his ministry. It was a highly symbolic ceremony: the building was the HQ of those brave if… » read more
April 30, 2012
Coming this week to the Eurozone bust-up: Greek and French general elections, local elections in Italy, the Irish referendum campaign, the fallout from the fall of the Dutch Government and a meeting of the European Central Bank. Little wonder that the PM in his Andrew Marr interview yesterday returned to the euro stage to warn… » read more
April 27, 2012
Internal and external EU development funding comes under attack By Matt Lewis Parliament’s International Development Committee today publishes its report on EU development assistance. The Committee of MPs found that over 50% of Europe’s development aid budget is going to “relatively rich” countries like Turkey and Serbia, and warned that this situation “could devalue the… » read more
Austerity risk to not just Spain, but Europe as a whole By David Gow “The figures are terrible for everyone and terrible for the government… Spain is in a crisis of huge proportions…” So said Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo in a radio interview this morning. He might have added: Europe is in a… » read more
By Peter Wilding Yesterday, George Osborne blamed the 0.2% economic contraction on the Eurozone crisis. His senior aide issued this statement: “GDP is -0.2%, so 2 quarters of negative growth is technical recession. Clearly the UK faces a tough situation having built up huge debts, even given falling unemployment last week. George said in the… » read more
By David Seymour – Despite the tens of thousands of words which have been written on Rupert Murdoch’s appearance at the Leveson inquiry (and there is another day of it to come) nothing has been made of what he said about Europe. There may or may not be much significance in his answers about relationships… » read more
Osborne finds few allies still cheerleading austerity By David Gow The UK is officially in recession: Wednseday’s figures show a 0.2% contraction in the first quarter after one of 0.3% in the final three months of 2011. The City and its media acolytes have got egg all over their face after predicting a “bounce-back” of… » read more
April 19, 2012
Whether lazy, or deliberately misleading, Daily Mail piece hinders reform of EU failings By Matt Lewis Yesterday’s Daily Mail piece about the“excesses and waste” of the European Parliament is the usual example of EU Hate Mail…. For once, the factual details are justaccurate enough to prevent a meaningful case, but everything about the piece –… » read more
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English, EU Citizens and Media, EU Institutions, UK in Europe |
April 18, 2012
Can Britain reform the European Court of Human Rights? By Peter Wilding Theresa May headed to the Commons yesterday with good news: the radical cleric, Abu Qatada, had been arrested, a deal had been struck with Jordan and his deportation was “imminent” – the only problem was they may have to wait months for it… » read more
April 17, 2012
Ex-chairman of Goldman Sachs International cheerleads elected commissioners By David Gow “The present crisis is irredeemable without major political changes,” Sir Peter Sutherland, ex-chairman of Goldman Sachs International and of BP, told a Federal Trust/Konrad Adenauer Stiftung discussion group last night (Monday). His solution: a new growth strategy, led by Germany, and a fresh drive… » read more
By Peter Wilding Open Europe’s Christopher Howarthrevives an old idea whose time might now have come. Given the complexity of diplomatic relations with the capitals and institutions of Europe, would it now be wise to appoint a cabinet minister specifically responsible not only for articulating a serious European policy but to win friends and influence… » read more
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English, EU Institutions, EU Priorities 2020, Member States, UK in Europe |
April 16, 2012
Business leaders back euro, despite stream of negative press By David Seymour As Nucleus has mentioned before, in this country we tend to get an unremitting diet of negative stories about Europe and, in particular, the euro. It wasn’t so long ago that we were being told that no one, but no one, now believed… » read more
By Peter Wilding Britain’s EU membership is not an affair of the heart but an accounting exercise, in which economic advantages (above all from membership of the single market) must be weighed against the costs of red tape, lost sovereignty, and taxpayers’ cash paid into the EU budget. So saysBagehot in today’s Economist, repeating baldly… » read more
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English, EU Priorities 2020, Euro & Finance, Member States, UK in Europe |
Life has been treating me well recently (summer is coming, I have a new business venture to concentrate my mind on, several people have commented that I have “lost weight” and family members have recently visited me) and it hard to imagine things being much better (save for a Victoria’s Secret model calling me for… » read more
April 12, 2012
Rajoy defends borrowing in face of criticism By Matthew Lewis Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has rebuked “statements from some European leaders” regarding his country’s borrowing, and warned them to “be cautious in what they say”. Rajoy warned that debt had created a “vicious circle that strangles Spain”, and called for eurozone leaders to focus… » read more
April 11, 2012
The euro is a long way from both collapse and recovery. But no nearer one than the other. By David Seymour If wishing could cause the collapse of the euro, it would have vanished in a puff of smoke long ago. Those who for ideological reasons or simply a belief that they have been right… » read more
April 10, 2012
Hamza and friends to be extradited to the US following European court decision By Matthew Lewis The Council of Europe has gone some way to gaining redemption in the eyes of the British press, with the news that the European Court of Human Rights hasbacked the extradition of Abu Hamzaand four other terror suspects from… » read more
April 5, 2012
There used to be a joke among journalists that the perfect story combined religion, sex and mystery. The Daily Express has its own variation – a combination of immigration, welfare scroungers and Europe. So congratulations to whoever dreamt up yesterday’s story, “£42m benefit bill for children who don’t even live in Britain“. Loosely based on… » read more
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English, EU Citizens and Media, Member States, Social Europe & Jobs, UK in Europe |
By Peter Wilding In a week dominated in the UK by pasties, petrol and pensioners it’s easy to forget that Britain still exercises power and influence outside the fevered shores of Blighty. Isn’t it a shame that the media cannot find a way to interest the public in the actions of the fifth biggest military… » read more
March 28, 2012
By Peter Wilding The British discourse about the euro is pretty much limited to a) shadenfreude and b) what happens when the euro falls apart. There is no serious consideration of what happens if the euro remains intact and the political consequence for the UK. As Stein Ringen says in the FTthis morning economists have… » read more
