The appointment of Donald Tusk as President of the European Commission, sees Ewa Kopacz become the second female Polish Prime Minister. She has promoted Schelyna, the speaker of Parliament to Foreign Minister ; this despite his limited experience in the area. A dissatisfied Schelyna, who was Tusk’s main opponent within the Civic Platform, is calling …
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Far Right Gains Ground
Hearings by Parliament are scheduled from the 29th, with three hours provided for each of the 26 new Commissioners. The vote on the appointment of the full Commission is set for the 22nd October. MEPs called on the nominated Energy Commissioner to sell his Spanish oil company shares, which he has now done. The Spanish …
The Team Togs Out
Juncker presented his Commission line up of 19 men and 9 women. His approach to portfolios and management has the appearance of freshness. He appointed six Vice Presidents along with Mogherini the Foreign Policy chief, who is an automatic VP since her appointment by the heads of state. These seven will now, in effect be …
Juncker’s Choice
Following the appointment of Donald Tusk to replace Herman Van Rompuy as President of the Council, Federica Mogherini the 41 year old Italian as VP and Foreign Policy chief, Jean Claude Juncker is now set to announce the line out of his Commission team. There is considerable talent amongst the new commission. Our own Phil …
Policies Under Pressure
With a leading authority on unemployment describing Eurozone polices as “stunningly destructive’, some noted world economists have again expressed concerns that the recovery, if any, is not long term and that recession in Europe may last well into the future. The French economy is experiencing zero growth, and Germany’s has contracted in the last quarter, …
So, The Summer Ploughs On
Jean-Claude Juncker still struggles to put shape on his Commission. His task is to deploy those nominated to the best advantage, while meeting the expectations (demands) of their nominating States. To add to his difficulty, five nominees are still awaited. It appears that at best, there will only be eight females amongst the twenty eight …
EU Must Act On Ukraine
The downing of flight MH 17, with the loss of all 298 people on board brought the events in Ukraine into shocking focus for us all. The manner in which the crash site was dealt with let us see how little humanity exists in these war zones. This crisis in Ukraine seems set to continue …
Europe Can’t Decide
Prime Ministers from across the EU convened last week to agree the appointments of the President of their Council, and that of High Representative, who will become a VP of the Commission and responsible for foreign relations. Mrs Merkel, celebrating her sixtieth birthday, said that it was logical that the position should go to a …
Irish MEP Elected To Top Post
Midland’s North West MEP Mairead McGuinness, has been voted in as one of the new Vice Presidents of the European Parliament. McGuinness was elected as one of the 14 Vice Presidents of the European Parliament last week. First elected to the Parliament in 2004 she represents the Midland’s North West constituency for Fine Gael who …
Shaping Europe
The trade-off of positions continues. Martin Schulz P&S was elected President of the Parliament, for the next two and half years, with the support of the EPP and ALDE groups. Jean Claude Juncker (EPP) is due to be elected President of the Commission next week and will take up office in November. The UK appears …