My name is Gary and I have a MySpace account. There, I’ve said it. In my defence, I haven’t used it for five years and I now forget the password. However, for dozens of our esteemed Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), wandering alone in the social media wilderness we call MySpace is a regular [...]

Doctors from across Europe are gathering in Athens on Saturday for an emergency meeting amid fears that the Greek health system is going into meltdown. The hastily-arranged medical summit, called by the Medical Association of Athens, is due to discuss plans for a new European Medical Network through which doctors could support the ailing health [...]

Three years after it was proposed the EU Information to Patients Directive is in limbo European health ministers have poured cold water on a long-standing EU proposal to allow pharmaceutical companies to provide information on medicines directly to patients. Ministers say the Information to Patients Directive could increase red tape for government agencies and companies [...]

The reality of budget cutbacks is hitting frontline health services across Europe as governments close wards and patients beg for medicines At the turn of the year, the Czech Republic sent a platoon of army doctors to help neighbouring Slovakia keep its hospitals open after a mass walk-out of 1,600 medical staff. A state of [...]

Chronic drug shortages in Greece have left thousands of patients without medicines and paralysed the drug supply chain. The impact of the ongoing financial crisis in Europe is having a deep impact on patients – and that’s before the possible return of the Drachma which could at least double the relative cost of imported medicines. [...]

Tapping a developing country for cash is a lot to ask so we need not be surprised that China wants something in return So it looks like Europe is asking China to contribute more than €100, 000,000,000 to boost its bailout fund and help save Europe’s single currency. The French President has been delegated the [...]

While closer fiscal union can help solve today’s crisis, the public backlash will cause some Member States to pull away over the next decade. Still, it’s better to separate the currency crisis from the political crisis as simultaneous catastrophes would be unbearable. The future remains uncertain but key elements of a plan to end the [...]

Let’s predict the headlines for the next EU summit: – Day before the summit: EU leaders divided ahead of crunch summit This one comes with stories of how impossible it will be to come to any agreement and how Obama has been on the phone screaming at Sarkozy to recapitalise French banks – Night of [...]

When the EU expanded from 15 to 27 countries between 2004 and 2007, it was presumed that the newest members would go the whole hog and join the euro in due course. In fact, it was written into the terms of the accession Treaty they signed at the door on the way in. That was [...]

With Greece on the brink, Brussels is dangerously distracted by efforts to invent new European rules and institutions which will help prevent future sovereign debt crises. After protracted negotiations, MEPs and the European Council – which represents EU Member States – came to an agreement on the so-called “Six Pack” economic governance package. The deal [...]

The draft EU budget is a win for Geoghegan-Quinn but it won’t make her popular at home. The EU’s budget has been the subject of much wrangling of late, with the usual tug-of-war between interest groups from industry, agriculture and the rest. Ireland’s European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, who is responsible for research, innovation and science, [...]

Over the past 18 months, observers have noted the alarming frequency with which things that were once ruled out of hand by EU leaders have become the norm. It began with the mantra-esque refrain of “We won’t bail out Greece”, which ultimately morphed into a commitment to back Athens to whatever extent becomes necessary. This [...]

Fears that Greece could default on its debt tops the EU agenda because it puts the balance sheets of a dozen German and French banks in peril. But Greece has already defaulted on its debts to companies. What is default? EU leaders have been trying to find a way around the fact that Greece cannot [...]

At every turn the euro crisis gets harder to solve. With every emergency meeting; with every short-term fix, a credible solution to the eurozone’s debt mountain becomes less likely. Europeans are sick of living in a state of permacrisis. We have grown numb to the real urgency that surrounds the problem because the news headlines [...]

While thousands of young people are fleeing Ireland as the depression deepens, others who planned to return are stranded overseas. This is my story. Lehman Brothers collapsed the week we landed in Brussels. Two weeks later the Irish government signed a blank cheque guaranteeing the debts of Irish banks. It seemed interesting but incidental to [...]