Euroland

  • Tonio in Europe

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    Tuesday is Tonio Borg’s big day. He faces what increasingly promises to be a grilling before a European parliament committee that is tasked to metaphorically expose the worst traits of potential Commissioners to be. They don’t always work, these grillings. Had someone in the committee bothered to ask John Dalli his opinion on having intermediaries…

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  • Dalligate… avec du recul – part I (European Lobbying)

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    I did say yesterday that the (ex) Commissioner Dalli case smacks of the surreal. With a little less than twenty-four hours time for reflection and with a flurry of statements and press conferences to look at (not to mention the early-worm analysis) we can safely conclude that the case is less surreal and more multi-dimensional.…

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  • The vote abroad

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    The Bill to amend the General Elections Act gets its first reading on Monday. Among the most “innovative” of measures is the introduction of a “rolling register” allowing persons who turn 18 on the eve of an election to vote. What is conspicuous in its absence is any improvement with regard to the status of…

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  • April’s Democratic Fool

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    Some smart alec at the European Commission decided that the best day to launch the European Citizen’s Initiative would be the first of April. As far as I know the April Fool tradition permeates most EU countries and if there are any which do not ‘celebrate’ it then they must surely have heard of it…

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  • That Intergovernmental Feeling

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        So we have the first results out from the latest round of talks to “save the Euro” and “tackle the crisis”. You have probably read about the UK’s latest “opt-out”, about how this means that there will be further “deepening” between the euro-zone 17 + (probably) 8 others while the UK, Sweden and…

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  • AAA

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    Luxembourg is hanging onto its triple-A rating by the skin of its teeth. A string of the “well-to-do” nations in Europe wake up every Monday nowadays dreading the much-feared Standard & Poors downgrade from AAA to AA. Many still live in the land of make believe where they think that a downgrade is nigh impossible…

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