Any hope that travelling to the other side of the world would offer some respite from the daily diet of the Eurozone crisis has been rudely dashed. Here am I, blogging from Sydney, Australia, and finding no escape. Globalisation has never seemed more real. The euro is always with us. Australian TV and newspapers have [...]
The triumph of Libya’s National Transitional Council culminating in the death of Colonel Gaddafi owes everything to the support provided by NATO air operations under UN Resolution 1973, yet the UN involvement and the military action which followed would never have happened without the determination of President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister David Cameron. Their [...]
Europe is blind to its longer-term interests in defence and foreign affairs, claim two speeches in London this week. Former NATO Secretary General George Robertson and Douglas Alexander, foreign affairs spokesman for the British Labour Party, both castigate the failure of European policy-makers to look ahead and prepare for impending dangers. US Defense Secretary Robert [...]
The ability of we Europeans to provide for our own defence has been increasingly in doubt since the end of the cold war. I well remember George Robertson, when he was NATO Secretary General, contrasting the size of Europe’s military forces, running into millions, with the inability of European allies to provide just a few [...]
The European Union has hardly covered itself with glory over the Libyan crisis, but as events unfold we may be witnessing a far more effective performance than seemed likely just two weeks ago. One thing has become clear though: hopes of creating a serious EU defence capability for the future have taken a serious knock. [...]
The European Union is continuously forged by the pressure of events. Far more than individual member states the EU is in a state of permanent flux as it changes and adapts to meet new challenges. That’s never been more so than it is today. The turmoil across the Arab world, and particularly the civil war [...]
Watching events unfold in Cairo over the last two weeks, towards the dramatic climax of Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, has been an exciting and moving experience, reminiscent of those days when we watched the collapse of communism and the spread of democracy across central and eastern Europe 20 years ago. But it presents a formidable challenge [...]
So the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee has approved the set-up of Europe’s foreign service, as negotiated in Madrid two weeks ago. Formal agreement is expected in plenary after the holidays, allowing the European External Action Service (EEAS) to be operational by the end of the year. Creation of the EEAS is potentially the most [...]
There’s never been a British general election campaign like this one! With just over a week to go before the May 6 election day it seems from the opinion polls that big changes could be on the way. Here the Brits stand, midway between a Continental tradition of coalition government with multiple parties, and a [...]
Zero GDP growth in the eurozone for the last quarter of 2009 and a feeble recovery in the first quarter of 2010 is not what most of Europe’s finance ministers might wish to hear, but that’s the latest message from the OECD. It just shows what a challenge Europe faces in restoring the strength of [...]
Blogging commentary on current events from the perspective of someone who has been closely involved with the policies, the policy-makers and the whole complex network of people who make the process of European integration so exciting and absorbing. more.
