As we move into spring time, we can look back and assess how fortunate the Western world has been to survive the worst financial crisis in the past sixty years, but without the massive increases in unemployment which took place in the 1930s. The political emphasis in the UK, and ...
Listening to the debate last week in the European Parliament concerning Turkey's progress report towards joining the European Union, I began to think, as others did, that little progress was being made towards this ultimate objective. And more substantively, I began to ask the fundamental question of what was now ...
On my return to the European Parliament in Brussels following the Christmas break, I picked up by chance a letter addressed to the Editor of the Daily Express, Peter W. Hill, who is running a vigorous 'Get Britain Out of the EU' campaign. It was written in response to the ...
As the Christmas break approaches, what are the main challenges likely to be in 2011? As I see it, three important themes from a European outlook are stabilising the Euro and achieving sustained economic growth, budgetary debates on the post-2013 Financial Perspective, and developing strategic thinking for EU decision-making.
1. Stabilising ...
Is it truly imaginable that 60 million people lost their lives in the two World Wars of the last century? Or that on the first day of the Somme the British lost more than 19,000 men in the first day of battle and there were more than 420,000 British and ...
Nov
05
As celebrations have been held in recent weeks to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and the heroic acts of those pilots who fought in the battle, we can be thankful that those who died, did not do so in vain. We live in peace with our ...
Last week I referred to the results of the latest Eurobarometer poll about the feelings of people towards the European Union, a point I would like to return to today - in particular the poll which shows 49% of Europe's citizens believe EU Membership for their country is a good ...
Writing this blog from Seattle on America's West Coast, while visiting the Microsoft campus to discuss some strategic issues concerning long-term trends, I am once again struck by how quickly the world is changing as it adapts to new circumstances and fast moving information technology.
The US has been in the ...
As the European Parliament moves towards summer recess, and Members move into holiday mode - its a good moment to look back over the past six months to understand why politicians feel relieved that they have survived the unexpectedly tumultuous times through which they have lived (next week's blog will ...
