Tag archive for ‘European Parliament’
New Priorities for the EU Institutions
The priorities must be formulated, as always, in a manner that takes into account both form and content. I shall accordingly deal with both aspects, while placing greater emphasis on the latter. A first priority will be to ensure that the new institutional balance resulting from the Lisbon Treaty can be made to work. The [...]
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 [...]
Some not so unpleasant demographic arithmetic
At a recent presentation in Brussels a European Commission representative asserted that the costs of ageing implied huge problems of sustainability and a rising burden on the – smaller – working population in the future. Based on the analysis in a recent major report on the sustainability of public finances, he stated that, if policies [...]
The Future of Social Democracy: A Spanish Vision
To solve our current problems realist and practical policies are required, but they must also always retain a social-democratic ethos.
The European election of July 2009 showed an interesting paradox: despite the fact that, according to data from the European Election Study (1986-2004), 58 per cent of European citizens position themselves as centre-left or left, 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 [...]
What now for Social Democracy in Europe?
The reality is more complex than a simple story of social democracy in inevitable decline.
On the face of it these are testing times for left-of-centre, social-democratic movements in Europe. The results of the June 2009 European parliamentary elections served to stress the point that in spite of the economic meltdown, social-democratic parties have been largely [...]
Is Progressive Populism still possible?
Especially in the post-communist countries, social democrats must rediscover their populist and internationalist roots.
The recent predicament of progressive politics has been best described by Thomas Franks in his book ‘What’s the matter with Kansas?’ (2004): the poor and unprivileged classes seem to vote against their own best interests, and progressive populism has been replaced by [...]
Down, but (definitely) not out
Social democrats need to work more closely together in Europe to reassert a policy agenda reflective of their values.
Social-democratic parties are not dominating decision-making in Europe. The recent gain in Greece was matched with losses in Germany and Bulgaria, and in Portugal we retained control but lost absolute majority. This decline was reflected in June’s [...]
Does Europe’s Social Democracy still have a Future?
Social democracy will only be able to sustain a social Europe through strengthening European democratic institutions.
German Social Democrats are lucky. Although in September they received their lowest vote in a federal election since the war– 23 per cent – things could have been worse. The result was still three percentage points more than they received [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 official [...]