Gary Titley
Gary Titley is the former Leader of the British Labour Party in the European Parliament.
An EU Budget for the 21st Century
The publication last week of the European Commission’s 2020 paper marks a return to normal service for the EU. We can now get back to proper political debate about Europe’s future rather than be distracted by institutional navel gazing.
Welcome as the Commission’s proposals are though, they reveal a worrying faith in and reliance on the [...]
Why Obama snubbed the EU/US Summit
My mother was fond of telling me that ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’. I was reminded of her words when I read about Obama’s ‘snub’ of the EU in declining to attend the EU/USA summit in May.
It is alleged that Obama declined because he could not face having to go down the wedding line [...]
2010 will be the Year of Parliaments
2010 will be the year when democratic accountability takes a front seat in the European Union. That is because the Lisbon Treaty gives bigger roles to the European Parliament, national parliaments and to civil society.
The big winner from the Lisbon Treaty is undoubtedly the European Parliament. It has fully become an equal lawmaker with the [...]
The very real Powers of the European Parliament
As 2009 draws to a close, a new European order is taking shape, although admittedly with a whimper rather than a bang. The Lisbon Treaty has finally staggered into life. The member state governments have chosen the first ever full time Council President and a new and more powerful High Representative for Foreign and Security [...]
The Tories’ European Policy Mess
When will we Brits ever learn? The EU is made up of 27 member states, the majority of whom and indeed, sometimes the totality have to agree on anything it does. The EU is not made up of the UK and 26 supporting acts. Most people would regard that as a statement of the [...]
Tony Blair for President of the European Council
So the Irish voted “yes” and barring any last minute grandstanding from Vaclav Klaus, we will finally get the Lisbon Treaty. The debate now is about who will get the big jobs, starting with the full-time Presidency of the Council. Tony Blair is the hot favourite and would, in my view, be excellent for [...]
The Rollercoaster of EU Politics
It’s time to take our seats on the thrilling rollercoaster ride that is European Union politics. The next three months will be one long white knuckle ride with political careers being made, broken and in some cases smashed to smithereens. By Christmas the EU could be forging ahead with new dynamism and confidence or it [...]