EU considering special summit on Libya
Updated: 2011-02-28 21:07:25
NEWS OPINION BLOGS AGENDA CONFERENCES BOOKS VIDEOS TWITTER HEADLINE NEWS EU considering special summit on Libya ANDREW RETTMAN 28.02.2011 22:07 CET EUOBSERVER BRUSSELS EU Council chief Herman Van Rompuy is holding talks with member states on a French idea to hold an extraordinary EU summit about Libya and north Africa in Brussels on Thursday 3 March or Friday . Mr Van Rompuy's spokesman , Dirk De Backer told EUobserver on Monday that the summit proposal is under discussion . Van Rompuy : the final decision belongs to the former Belgian PM Photo : Council of the European Union Print Comment article A spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton , Darren Ennis , said she would support the idea and it is her view that if such a summit were to happen , it should happen sooner rather
NEWS OPINION BLOGS AGENDA CONFERENCES BOOKS VIDEOS TWITTER HEADLINE NEWS Lukewarm response to Barroso-Van-Rompuy economic masterplan LEIGH PHILLIPS 28.02.2011 19:34 CET EUOBSERVER BRUSSELS New proposals on joint economic governance put forward by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU Council chief Herman Van Rompuy on Monday 28 February have failed to overcome resistance from some member states . Monday's debate in Brussels was just a step forward , but things for some are still not satisfactory . There was something like a wait-and-see attitude a diplomat from one northern European country said . There definitely wasn't a breakthrough , but it also wasn't a flop either . It's already an old document' Photo : European Commission Print Comment article The
NEWS OPINION BLOGS AGENDA CONFERENCES BOOKS VIDEOS TWITTER HEADLINE NEWS Veteran MEP keeps immunity in tax blunder VALENTINA POP 28.02.2011 18:30 CET EUOBSERVER BRUSSELS MEPs in the legal affairs committee on Monday 28 February voted unanimously against a request by German prosecutors to lift the immunity of centre-right veteran euro-deputy Elmar Brok in a tax blunder . Mr Brok maintains it was a one-off and he has already paid the 2,300 due six years . ago Mr Brok has been a member of the EU legislature since 1980 Photo : European Parliament Print Comment article Our committee members voted unanimously , across the board , against lifting the immunity of Mr Brok , Klaus-Heiner Lehne , the chairman of the legal affairs committee told this website after the meeting which took place behind
: Home News News Eurospeak : Some are more equal than others News Eurospeak : Some are more equal than others 28 02 2011 15:00 webmaster 5 Global Print PDF RSS Feeds By John Bufton MEP Discrimination is a topic that the EU just does not get . In one instance they are doing their utmost to erase it , yet they are also the greatest perpetrators of discriminatory acts . quot Sex discrimination . It seems to have had a bit of a resurgence in recent months . There was the Sian Massey comments which landed Andy Gray and Richard Keys with the sack from Sky as well as a plethora of other rather less than erudite off camera statements made towards female co-presenters There is also an undercurrent of backlash against the increasingly sexualised images of females , especially in pop videos . Perhaps
NEWS OPINION BLOGS AGENDA CONFERENCES BOOKS VIDEOS TWITTER HEADLINE NEWS Comment EU parliament is damaging EU-Israel relations LAIMA ANDRIKIENE 28.02.2011 11:02 CET EUOBSERVER COMMENT Relations with Israel have always been a devisive issue in political debate in Europe . There have always been those who symphatise with Israel and those who take a more critical . stance But when it comes to actual policy vis-a-vis Israel , none of the EU countries assume an overly critical stance and none of them call for a boycott of relations with Israel . On the contrary , most European capitals have embraced Israel as a strong partner and ally . The European Commission , following the prevailing attitudes in the member states , especially the most powerful ones , has also taken a generally
: NEWS OPINION BLOGS AGENDA CONFERENCES BOOKS VIDEOS TWITTER HEADLINE NEWS MEP : Swift secrecy' may hamper new data deals with US VALENTINA POP 28.02.2011 09:29 CET EUOBSERVER BRUSSELS The secrecy in transposing an agreement allowing US investigators to access EU banking data for anti-terrorism purposes has irked MEPs who warn the European Commission and member states they may block other transatlantic data . deals Last year , the so-called Swift agreement was the cause celebre' that made the European Parliament for the first time show up on the Obama administration's radar screen . After they vetoed the deal , in February 2010, MEPs managed to win a number of concessions , including as a specially appointed EU person to oversee the transfer of banking data and a role for the bloc's police
There is, of course, a non-sequitur in the PM’s statement, made in an interview with Al Jazeera (hat-tip, ConHome). He also says he opposes AV, yet he has called a referendum on whether to adopt it. And rightly so: referendums are always and everywhere a good idea, serving to remind politicians that they are our [...]
NEWS OPINION BLOGS AGENDA CONFERENCES BOOKS VIDEOS TWITTER HEADLINE NEWS This WEEK in the European Union ANDREW WILLIS 26.02.2011 00:19 CET EUOBSERVER BRUSSELS Libya is set to dominate the EU agenda again next week 28 February 6 March with member states likely to adopt sanctions against the regime of Moammar Gaddafi . Evacuation efforts are also set to continue , with EU high representative Catherine Ashton among those gathering in Geneva on Monday for a UN Human Rights Council that will focus on the north African state . The EU's has pledged 3 million in humanitarian aid so far . Gaddafi is set to dominate the EU agenda again next week Photo : Flickr Ammar Abd Rabbo Print Comment article On Tuesday , European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso meets the President of Kyrgyzstan Roza
NEWS OPINION BLOGS AGENDA CONFERENCES BOOKS VIDEOS TWITTER HEADLINE NEWS EU assists in Libyan evacuation efforts ANDREW WILLIS 26.02.2011 00:13 CET EUOBSERVER BRUSSELS The EU's Monitoring and Information Centre is supporting member state efforts to evacuate the remaining 2,500 European citizens trapped inside Libya , amid reports of ongoing violence on Friday 25 February Run by the commission , the MIC is a one-stop-shop for the civil protection resources owned by its 31 members EU27, Iceland , Liechtenstein , Norway and Croatia Any country affected by a major disaster , either member or non-member , can apply for assistance under the mechanism . Staff in the Monitoring and Information Centre , Brussels Photo : EUobserver Print Comment article Our role is to identify additional transport
NEWS OPINION BLOGS AGENDA CONFERENCES BOOKS VIDEOS TWITTER HEADLINE NEWS Prague and Bratislava richer than most old EU states ANDREW RETTMAN 25.02.2011 09:22 CET EUOBSERVER BRUSSELS The Prague region in the Czech Republic and the Bratislava region in Slovakia are among the richest in the EU . But by and large , the bloc still suffers from a massive east-west income . gap EU figures out on Thursday 24 February show that people in Prague have a GDP per capita measured in terms of purchasing power for locally-priced goods and services PPS of 43,200 and in Bratislava of 41,800. The Eurovea shopping mall in Bratislava Photo : theodevil Print Comment article The levels are not high compared to Europe's traditional centres of wealth inner London 85,800 Luxembourg 70,000 and Brussels 54,100 But
NEWS OPINION BLOGS AGENDA CONFERENCES BOOKS VIDEOS TWITTER HEADLINE NEWS Africa shock to cause sea change' in EU foreign policy ANDREW WILLIS 24.02.2011 18:11 CET EUOBSERVER BRUSSELS The European Commission has promised a sea change to the European Neighbourhood Policy ENP with critics saying that recent events in north Africa have highlighted its ineffectual nature . Stricter conditionality attached to EU funds and greater differentiation between how much target states receive are two ideas due to come up in a forthcoming review of the policy , a commission spokeswoman said on Thursday 24 February Member states such as France and Spain would like to see more EU funding directed southwards Photo : wonker Print Comment article We do recognise that lessons need to be learnt , Natasha Butler
As the EU Observer reports, the Commission has poured cold water on an “English-only” entrance exam for the EU institutions for the benefit of our cross-channel chums in Britannia, saying it is “illegal”. After all, up to now all candidates have had to demonstrate an ability of at least one other language – fair enough [...]
This blog is five years old today. Thanks to everyone who reads it or posts comments (often two separate categories). In a typical week, it now attracts between 100,000 and 140,000 readers.
Blogging will be light for the rest of the week: it’s half-term, and a different five-year-old demands attention. Full service will resume on Monday.
Robert Sturdy recently hosted a seminar in the European Parliament on the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement; A step in the right direction? It was intended to present the facts regarding these vital talks and highlight the costs and benefits, as well as explaining what this this much needed agreement will mean for the future role [...]
The BBC is sticking to its “Tory cuts” narrative, but most newspapers, including those on the Left, have noticed that some of the councils making the most noise about reducing their services manage, at the same time, to employ dozens of officers on six-figure salaries. Many local authorities, as our most popular daily reports, also [...]
Eastern Region MEP Robert Sturdy has renewed calls to abolish the European Parliament sitting in Strasbourg following research which concluded that 70% of MEPs want to end their enforced visits there. Robert has vigorously campaigned for 17 years against the present system of travelling from Brussels to France at least a dozen times a year [...]
This story appeared in the Montreal Gazette: PARIS — Sealing and oilsands, two issues that have darkened Canada’s image in some sectors of European society, could affect ratification of the proposed Canada-European Union free trade agreement, suggests a report from the House of Commons parliamentary committee on trade. The report, based on a fact-finding mission [...]
An international trade recommendation drafted by Robert Sturdy today won vital EP support. EuropeanVoice.com published the following report: The European Parliament’s international trade committee gave its backing today to the EU’s free-trade agreement with South Korea. The committee endorsed a recommendation to approve the accord with 21 votes for, four against and no abstentions. The [...]
This is a report from The Parliament. MEPs says a parliamentary vote in the Brussels plenary will put an end to the long lasting “banana war.” They endorsed a deal which brings to an end a heated trade battle over bananas between the EU and Latin America.
Under the agreement on banana import tariffs, the EU [...]