In 1989 the Soviet empire collapsed and over the next eighteen years the EU got hold of a large chunk of it. In the mindset of the Kremlin, in 2012, it’s the EU that is about to collapse and Russia should have its retribution. And unlike Brussels, one should expect Moscow to act quickly. The [...]

The French voters are probably the political avant-garde of Europe, through thick and thin. They were in the lead on the occasion of the 2005 European Constitution referendum. This time they put François Hollande in charge of leading France – and largely Europe – across the crisis storms, hopefully to safe havens. Probably the biggest [...]

Friends told me they were confused about an advertisement on Dutch TV, mixing Euro 2012, beer and sex. I don’t watch Dutch television, but I easily found the video on YouTube, with key words “Keep him home”. “Keep him home” is he message of the advertisement, by the energy company, Nederlandse Energie Maatschappij, which offers [...]

On Fools day, EurActiv published a spoof titled “Belgians submit Citizens’ Initative to make ‘frites’ their own“. It was EurActiv Publisher Christophe Leclercq’s idea to highlight by an April spoof the European Citizen Initiative, officially launched on the same day 1 April. The story was realistically written by my distinguished colleague Frédéric Simon. Too realistically [...]

(Thank you, Supertramp.) The Commission is already closed and the restaurants in the European quarter are empty. But not because of the crisis, as there is no crisis for Commission officials. It’s because almost everyone is on holidays. And everything was quiet over the last three weeks. Nobody speaks of the eurozone crisis, as if [...]

I’m amazed that the mainstream press ignored the important statements made by Jacques Delors, the long-serving Commission President, seen by many as one of the “Fathers of Europe”. Delors said that EU leaders were “killing Europe”, replacing the community method by inter-governmental solutions and nationalism, with the complicity of the Union’s institutions. He named Nicolas [...]

Apparently, Nicolas Sarkozy wants Greece out of Schengen. And then Bulgaria and Romania would not join, simply because it would be more pragmatic that the border-free EU area would stop at the Hungarian border with Romania. In his high-profile speech at Villepinte yesterday (11 March), candidate for re-election Sarkozy said a country that has difficulties [...]

Take my word for it. The way things are going, the Anonymous, representing a nebula fighting for their rights in internet, could become the largest political group in the European Parliament in 2014. Forget the French elections, where the Anonymous play no role. France is as democratic as Russia, in terms of having only the [...]

Speaking to journalists at the end of the 1-2 March EU summit, Romanian president Traian Băsescu hit back at Dutch arguments, used to block his country from joining the Schengen area. He said the port that is best known for drug smuggling in Europe is Rotterdam and not the Romanian Constanţa port. The Dutch suspect [...]

Apparently, a solution has been found today to unlock Serbia’s EU bid, and also make sure that Kosovo participates in regional forums normally. (Until now agreements have been signed by UNMIK on behalf of Kosovo). “Kosovo*” will be the only denomination to be used, and a footnote attached to the asterisk will read “this designation [...]

French President Sarkozy seeks re-election with the help of a campaign hymn unveiled last Sunday. I won’t comment the artistic value of the piece. Some say it reflects the motto of Sarkozy’s campaign: “La France forte”. Others see it as “similar to the soundtrack of some bad Hollywood movie”. But listen yourselves. There is some [...]

John Lennon remained my role model in mysterious ways even after he was killed on 8 December 1980. One can figure out what John would like or dislike at present times. Last month at the Brussels airport, I was given a glossy Montblanc advertisement brochure, suggesting that John would use and promote this exotically expensive [...]

Three prominent scholars have launched a petition, calling on Europeans and Europe’s institutions to oppose a contagious trend born in Orbán’s Hungary toward a return to national egoisms. Jean-Michel De Waele, Political Science Professor at Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ildikó Szabó, retired Sociology Professor in Debrecen University and Paul Gradvohl, Professor at Université de Lorraine [...]

The Danish EU Presidency has a small problem. Its foreign minister Villy Søvndal doesn’t know where is Transnistria, and probably would find it difficult to locate Moldova on a map of Europe. Sixty six Brussels-based journalist witnessed the embarrassment of the minister, who was asked by a Romanian journalist what about Moldova in the Danish [...]

The Danes said they will conduct a low-cost presidency. I think they made a very good point. Showing up in times of crisis is bad taste. But I think the Danes had one more message to deliver: they wanted to send a message to Sarkozy, the bling-bling President who offers Dupont fountain pens and Hermes [...]