Following on from the meeting of the European Council in Brussels last Monday, differing views are being expressed on where the European Union is likely to go next and what Britain's will be role within it. I answer a few questions below contributing to this debate.
What were the main conclusions ...
In statements by some politicians in recent months, one could assume that they had forgotten that we are in the most serious economic position since the 1920s. It cannot be put better than in the Economist, which commented on 10 December that "in 2008 the world dodged a second Depression ...
Once again, debates in Strasbourg this week have highlighted the fast moving agenda in European politics. Speeches on economic governance from the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and from the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, illustrate that there has been a fundamental change in the quality ...
This week, as we remember the sixty million people who gave their lives in the two World Wars of the last century, it is important to take a moment to pause and to think about how far Europe has come since 1945. As I commented in my blog this time ...
Set out below, I have addressed five questions being asked following the European Councils of 23rd and 26th October. In my answers, I have provided links to basic information concerning the result of the last European Council as well as two speeches which were made by the Presidents of the ...
This week, headlines from Brussels to bring stability to the Euro and the European Union have dominated our newspapers. After a marathon meeting of the European Council ending on early Thursday morning, significant steps have now been taken towards dealing with the debt problems in the European Union, at a ...
Passionate pleas have been made in the main hall at the Conservative Party Conference this week to encourage businesses to invest and promote growth in the months ahead. As the Prime Minister said in his closing speech to the Party Conference, high levels of debt, encouraged by the previous Labour ...
Why is it that the Prime Minister David Cameron does not think the time is ripe to have a referendum on British membership of the EU? (see The Telegraph of 7 September). It does not take a moment to look at the current situation to understand why this would be a ...
Following on from my blog last week, the conclusions from Transatlantic Week in Washington D.C pointed towards the need for a strengthened transatlantic partnership in the face of the rise of China. This should entail the emergence of a common agenda on growth and jobs across the Atlantic to provide ...
This week, newspapers have been filled with the Greek debt crisis and the UK's contribution of £4.3 billion to the bailout of Portugal. The Daily Express has been quick to say that it is "utterly wrong" that British money is being "squandered propping up a failing Eurozone". But would it ...
