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Latest Articles in 'Europe'
- We are all sceptics now - 22/11/2012An interesting debate unfolds about how Labour should square its support for the European Union with its criticism of many of the most important EU policies. Its recent support for...
- By John Parry Review of “The Council of Europe” by Martyn Bond (Routledge Global Institutions Series, price £75 hardback) It was summer 1949. In the village of Le Hohwald, tucked...
- If you’re not at the table, you’re part of the menu - 22/02/2012By Patrick Mc Nally Is it so radical? January 2012, another European Summit and yet another treaty. A treaty that Germany wants but the other 26 countries do not. The...
Latest Blog Entries
- Proved right on press regulation - 18/03/2013This blog has not expected to be proved right so quickly on press regulation, but that’s what happened today. At the end of last year, when the Leveson commission published...
- Trade war over gambling - 30/01/2013International trade disputes often shine a light on odd behaviour, and the dispute between the United States and the tiny Caribbean island country Antigua and Barbuda is no exception. Originally...
- The wrong conclusion on welfare reform - 24/01/2013In his speech on Europe yesterday, David Cameron observed that Europe, with seven per cent of the world’s population and 25 per cent of world GDP, accounts for 50 per...
Lisbon treaty Archive
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A deal with the Czechs
Posted on 03/11/2009 | 2 CommentsSo, a deal was struck with the Czech Republic to get the Lisbon treaty through. An opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, along Polish and British lines, was added to the treaty, and that was enough to satisfy the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus. (Read... -
Let’s reduce the cost of Europe
Posted on 29/10/2009 | No CommentsEUOBSERVER / COMMENT – Back in the 1980s, an important piece of research by Paolo Cecchini looked at the benefits that would be gained by creating the single market, dubbed the “cost of non-Europe”. The French national audit office has published figures this week that... -
Writing history
Posted on 15/10/2009 | No CommentsBy Richard Laming EUOBSERVER / COMMENT – Czech president Vaclav Klaus wants to write his name in the history books. But is he choosing to make the right kind of history? Read the whole article here 091015euobserver -
What happens to the Lisbon treaty now?
Posted on 06/10/2009 | No CommentsThe vote in Ireland last Friday, or more accurately the result last Saturday, has cleared away the biggest obstacle facing the ratification of the Lisbon treaty. The only member states that are still to complete ratification are Poland and the Czech Republic, in each of... -
Making assumptions about other countries
Posted on 05/10/2009 | No CommentsNow that the Irish have proved that they remain the nation of Molly Bloom, the eyes of Europe return to the Conservative party. Tory front bencher Michael Gove was on the radio this morning, explaining his party’s refusal to confirm what it will do is... -
The Irish vote today
Posted on 02/10/2009 | 1 CommentThe Irish people vote on the fate of the Lisbon treaty today: British eyes are looking west to see what they will decide. One of the founding principles of the European Union is that it is for each country to decide for itself whether it... -
Home truths about abroad
Posted on 01/07/2009 | 1 CommentThe judgment by the German constitutional court approving of the Lisbon treaty has been broadly welcomed by pro-Europeans in Germany. (See a commentary by Hans-Jürgen Schlamp on Speigel Online here.) One exception to this general rule, though, is that there has been some concern expressed... -
The Socialists should oppose the nomination of Barroso
Posted on 30/06/2009 | No CommentsBy Richard Laming Published in EUobserver, 30 June 2009 Commission president José Manuel Barroso’s campaign for re-election cleared its latest hurdle at the end of presidency European Council meeting earlier this month. Mr Barroso was unanimously, if provisionally, nominated by the assembled heads of state and... -
Parliaments strengthened by the Lisbon treaty
Posted on 30/06/2009 | No CommentsAnother hurdle in the ratification of the Lisbon treaty was overcome today with the judgment of the German constitutional court that it is not incompatible with the German Basic Law. Some Eurosceptics had placed a lot of hope in the possibility that the courts in... -
No call for a general election
Posted on 16/06/2009 | No CommentsGordon Brown seems to have weathered the storm over his leadership of the Labour party, which has a positive consequence for the future of the Lisbon treaty. (Or rather, it avoids a negative consequence.) Specifically, the Conservatives have said that if they win a general...
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