January 18, 2007
by Nosemonkey
3 Comments
Barely has the new far-right European Parliament group “Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty” managed to form than it is starting to fracture. What is it about these nationalist types that makes them so prone to infighting? (As if we didn’t know…) And … Continue reading
January 17, 2007
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
Finally, someone with some influence is calling for something I’ve reckoned is a (the?) way forward for the [tag]EU[/tag] for a while (and some other loosely pro-EU types agree): a complete re-think of the [tag]European Union[/tag], reformulating it along a … Continue reading
January 16, 2007
by Nosemonkey
10 Comments
It is, it must be said, a great shame when the one democratic part of the [tag]European Union[/tag] starts trying to act undemocratically. No matter what your opinion of the newly-formed group [tag]Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty[/tag] – made up of assorted … Continue reading
January 15, 2007
by Nosemonkey
3 Comments
…France? Is it April Fools Day already? “Formerly secret documents unearthed from the National Archives have showed Britain and France considered a ‘union’ in the 1950s.” Not only that, but this supposedly happened – after an approach by the then … Continue reading
January 14, 2007
by Nosemonkey
2 Comments
An intriguing story in the Torygraph today claims that only 7% of the £80 billion [tag]EU budget[/tag] is spent “correctly” – as, apparently, revealed to the [tag]European Parliament[/tag]’s budgetary control committee by the [tag]European Court of Auditors[/tag]. 93% of [tag]EU[/tag] … Continue reading
January 13, 2007
by Nosemonkey
Comments Off on A weekend European roundup
The Economist’s Edward Lucas’s [tag]central Europe[/tag]an diary is well worth a read: “it is odd that Poland gets so much mockery. There is a kind of snobbish disdain for Europe’s east rooted very deeply in the British psyche. Before writing … Continue reading
January 12, 2007
by Nosemonkey
1 Comment
Looks like it’s just a single rocket-propelled grenade fired over the wall of the [tag]US Embassy[/tag] in [tag]Athens[/tag] just before 6am (local time) this morning – and most likely by a home-grown lefty group of nutters, rather than the beardy … Continue reading
January 12, 2007
by Nosemonkey
1 Comment
Over at European Tribune, courtesy of Jerome (who seems to know his stuff in this area), there’s a handy summary of reactions to the [tag]EU[/tag]’s new energy plans (documents here). He’s particularly handy explaining the conflict between [tag]environment[/tag]al concerns and … Continue reading
January 11, 2007
by Nosemonkey
2 Comments
Rather busy today, so have a couple of links to two posts from last week which I was originally planning to follow up in more detail, both from the rather good [tag]Eurozone[/tag] Watch blog: The Euro economy in 2007 and … Continue reading
January 10, 2007
by Nosemonkey
Comments Off on More on the EU and gas
Via La Russophobe, new(ish) blog Opinionist.com has more on [tag]Europe,/tag]’s dependence on [tag]Russian gas[/tag], noting that “[tag]Russia[/tag] has an almost perfect monopoly over Europe – [tag]EU[/tag] members and former-Soviet nations – as the sole provider of [tag]Natural Gas[/tag].” If that … Continue reading
January 9, 2007
by Nosemonkey
1 Comment
Because our nutty neighbours [tag]Russia[/tag] and [tag]Belarus[/tag] are playing up again, energy disputes are in the spotlight once again. If the [tag]EU[/tag]’s largest economy’s being hit, guess what? Yep – a major overhaul of EU [tag]energy policy[/tag] is on the … Continue reading
January 8, 2007
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
A couple of responses to my lengthy, deliberately pretentiously-titled explanation of my attitude towards the [tag]EU[/tag]. First from a fellow [tag]pro-EU[/tag] type, Nanne of DJ Nozem, who has a slightly different – yet broadly similar – take, and argues “The … Continue reading
January 3, 2007
by Nosemonkey
13 Comments
Even with the reduced readership brought by the recent switch to a new address, two largely contradictory posts on the [tag]EU[/tag] within the space of a few days have caused some concern. Personally, I’d have called them cynical and idealistic … Continue reading
January 1, 2007
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
A New Year, and the [tag]Eurozone[/tag] expands to 13 members (with [tag]Slovenia[/tag] joining), and the [tag]EU[/tag] itself to 27 (with [tag]Bulgaria[/tag] and [tag]Romania[/tag]). Over at Fistful Tobias has a quick overview, noting “that the countries’ accession has caused almost no … Continue reading