European Parliament
The EU 2020 Strategy puts the European Social Model at Risk
For social democrats, the principles guiding any crisis exit strategy must be the smooth transition to a model based on sustainability and solidarity. This requires to recognise the social origins of the crisis and to draw the correct policy implications from it. This is not only a political, but also an ideological battle, as recent [...]
New Commission, new European Parliament, new Treaty
The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty at the end of last year, following eight years of institutional introspection, gives rise to mixed feelings for proponents of EU integration – relief and an element of exhaustion. The debate on the Treaty pushed its proponents into a corner, to the point where in the end – to [...]
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 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 Winner is: Democracy!
Habemus Presidentem. With the Lisbon Treaty ratified, the European Council appointed the Belgian Prime Minister Van Rompuy as its President, and Lady Ashton as Vice-President of the European Commission. The echo has been devastating. The Financial Times has called it ‘a colossal failure of ambition’. However, the decisions by the heads of states and governments [...]
Taking Democracy in Europe seriously
Emanuel Barroso has been re-elected President of the European Commission. How strange! Why has the politician, who bears the largest individual responsibility for the steady decline in the efficiency and popular approval of European policies, been endorsed by all EU governments and obtained 382 votes of the 718 MEPs who participated in the election? This [...]
A strong Outcome in Copenhagen is our only Chance
The year 2009 will be crucial for the future of our climate and our environment. In 1992, the Earth Summit and in 1997, the adoption of the Kyoto protocol already laid the basis for this next milestone year. For the Copenhagen Summit from 7th to 18th December 2009, the world’s countries have dedicated themselves to [...]
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 [...]
Nomination of the Commission: left backs the right, and wonders why it has no message
The EP elections, the five year democratic interruption to the Brussels game, are long in the past. Everyone is back from their summer holidays, ready for a bout of jousting and positioning in that depressing and opaque game: how to put together a team of 27 Commissioners. The nomination of José Manuel Barroso as President [...]
Testing the European Parliament
Europe returns from the summer vacation and a busy schedule starts in Brussels. The most important issue is the election of the President of the next Commission: who will it be and how will he be appointed? The two questions are, of course, related. For the moment only the incumbent José Manuel Barroso is an [...]
German Dominance in the new European Parliament – Part II
After a Romanian think tank published a study allegedly showing German over-representation in key positions in the new European Parliament, now it is the French’s turn. EurActiv France reports that French influence in the EP remains modest compared to the German. Well, this is not true if you believe that the Romanians at least got [...]
Is Germany over-represented in Key Positions in the new European Parliament?
The Romanian think tank European Institute for Participative Democracy (Qvorum) has published an influence ranking of the new European Parliament (EP) allocating points for key positions such as group leaders, committee chairmen, heads of delegations, … The researchers’ conclusion: Germany is over-represented in those key positions. The problem I have with this study is not [...]
