The EU member States agreed in principle when negotiating in 2000 ‘to reduce the size of the Commission once the Union reached 27 countries. This was in recognition of the reality that there would be insufficient portfolios to go around.’ But now, Commission president Manuel Barroso now says that he would personally support holding on …
Tag Archive: Europe
Sep 25
Greenhorn
Trevor Sargent was in Kilkenny yesterday. The junior minister for food and horticulture spent his day handing out postcards at the Ploughing Championship, in response to complaints from farmers about food labelling regulations. The postcards, addressed to the EU consumer commissioner, carried a simple message: ‘We need to know where our food comes from’. Farmers …
Jul 25
Fences Make Good Neighbours
‘The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.’ So said …
Jun 28
Chill
‘The undetermined and unindicated status of authors and publishers of weblogs causes uncertainties regarding impartiality, reliability, source protection, applicability of ethical codes and the assignment of liability in the event of lawsuits,’ according to a draft report by MEP Marianne Mikko. The MEP wants ‘clarification of the legal status of different categories of weblog authors …