EU energy
THE ROCKETING price of energy this winter has concentrated the minds of politicians throughout Europe. The issue has not just been the price and availability of oil from the Middle
Budgets and blame
FOR THE 11th successive year, the European Court of Auditors has refused to sign off the EU Accounts. Eighty per cent of the dodgy claims come from member states, yet
Questions, no answers
ONE OF the most cherished traditions of the European Parliament is Question Time. MEPs have the opportunity to question the Commission and the Council for separate full hour sessions 12
EU bonfires
BACK IN March of this year there was a big buildup in the press saying that MEPs could soon expect a major announcement from the European Commission. We were told
The China syndrome
PETER MANDELSON has been an EU Commissioner for a mere 10 months, but already the knives are out. In January, as part of world trade negotiations, export quotas were lifted
A touch of sun
THE EUROPEAN Parliament has now closed for the summer break and most sensible people have been spending their holiday trying to soak up the sun. But when MEPs return, sunlight
The first law of politics
FOR TWO months running, headlines in French newspapers have made depressing reading – for the French. The negative news began with the shock result of the French referendum, when the
“Europe is the issue”
NOW THAT the dust has settled on the UK election, it is interesting to look back at three of the stranger results. The first is that the Conservatives actually polled
Various votes
APRIL AND May see a number of key elections across Europe. Two of the most important will have taken place on the continent: one in France and the other in
A tale of two budgets
IN THE UK, the Chancellor has produced his latest budget. Given its various sweeteners, there could just be a General Election soon… Meanwhile, across the Channel, a different budget is