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"In the Lisbon Treaty, foreign policy tasks are not precisely defined. That allows the two presidents to seize every opportunity to compete with each other."

‘Rivalry Michel and Von der Leyen undermines EU’s credibility’

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 28, 2021

‘Rivalry Michel and Von der Leyen undermines EU’s credibility’, Belgian top diplomat Roux wrote recently

The provisional agreement is still subject to approval by the Council and the Parliament before going through the formal steps of the adoption procedure, but the EU can send already a strong signal to the virtual World Leader’s Summit on Climate on April 22, organised and hosted by US President Joe Biden.

EU climate law agreement: Council did not give in

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Last night, the negotiators of the European Parliament and Council reached a provisional political agreement on the objective of a climate-neutral EU by 2050 and a collective net greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990

"Macron finally made ENA’s abolition official while announcing plans to create a new school for France’s elite with a familiar formula: Institut du Service Public."

Macron replaces ENA with new school for French elite

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 14, 2021

In the aftermath of the yellow-vest protest and crisis, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to abolish the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), the cradle of the French elite, that has become a lightning rod for anti-establishment sentiment

The result of the Ankara meeting? The EU leaders let the media know what they told President Erdogan. Nothing new. Only, ‘it is up to Turkey to seize this opportunity in a solid and sustainable manner’.

No success for VDL and Michel in Ankara

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 7, 2021

To restore, in the EU’s strategic interest, a mutually beneficial and positive relationship with Turkey, the European Council asked its President Charles Michel to talk with his Turkish colleague Recep Erdogan and lay out the terms on which such a better relationship could be built

President Biden will be content with the EU’s U-turn. He wants to save NATO; and Turkey is a cornerstone for that organisation given its geographical location and its (certainly by EU standards) impressive armed forces.

EU’s U-turn on Turkey

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Devil Donald Trump is driven out of the White House and Saviour Joe Biden has taken up residence; to the delight of almost all EU leaders and many others

“By acting with our partners, we are sending the clearest message to the Chinese government, that the international community will not turn a blind eye to such serious and systemic violations of basic human rights, and that we will act, in concert, to hold those responsible to account.”

What will happen with Merkel, Von der Leyen and Michel’s landmark trade deal with China?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 24, 2021

The EU joined the U.K., the U.S. and Canada in slapping sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the crackdown on the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang

‘Today we are inviting all Europeans to speak up’.

‘Conference on the Future of Europe’: two years of EU navel-gazing?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 17, 2021

With the usual ‘Brussels’ fanfare, European Commission President von der Leyen, European Parliament President Sassoli and Portuguese Prime Minister Costa for the rotating presidency of the European Council signed, March 10, the Joint Declaration of the Conference on the Future of Europe

The task of the World Health Organisation mission to Wuhan was to shed light on the very beginning of the pandemic.

Serious doubts about WHO mission to Wuhan

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Research by the WHO into the origin of the coronavirus was supposed to stop speculation. But in the ‘best tradition’ of the WHO, the results of the mission seems to be unreliable. The team leader contradicts himself on crucial points

A letter sent to Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary and Sweden highlights the risk of ‘fragmentation and disruptions to free movement and to supply chains’.

Von der Leyen warns Merkel and 5 other EU leaders

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The European Commission has formally warned six EU countries that closing their borders undermines free movement within the EU

"At the moment all signs are that the UK has few, if any, plans to undercut the EU regulatory framework. In most cases, with the possible exception of insurance and hedge funds, new UK laws are unlikely to mean looser regulation."

EU prophets of doom were wrong

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Following the 2016 referendum in the UK there were predictions by EU prophets of doom, like chief-negotiator Barnier, that banks, hedge funds and other financial firms would leave London’s City en-mass

"Switzerland, as a non-EU country, has concluded over the years more than 120 bilateral but loose treaties with ‘Brussels’."

Is Switzerland a ‘victim’ of EU’s Brexit frustration?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, February 17, 2021

As soon as the agreement between the UK and the EU was concluded the end of December, the Swiss analysed the Brexit text for elements negotiated by the UK which Switzerland did not get from the EU

"The 750 billion recovery plan threatens not only to create a hole in finances, but also another hole in confidence in EU politics."

How reliable is the EU recovery plan?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, February 10, 2021

In interviews in the Financial Times, two EU heavyweights, the German Wolfgang Schauble and the French Bruno Le Maire, were very critical of the rollout of the EU 750-billion-euro recovery plan

"The EU vaccine roll-out is in deep trouble. EU countries are openly desperate to get hold of the jabs they have been promised to put in voters’ arms."

Panicking Commission heaps pressure on failing vaccine strategy

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, February 1, 2021

‘Misjudgement’, mismanagement’ ‘blunder’ … and words that were far stronger you could hear from EU insiders about the European Commission’s initial decision on Friday to suspend part of the Brexit deal agreement on Northern Ireland

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, has sent a letter to Dominic Raab with ‘serious concerns’.

The rules are the rules, for English sandwiches and for EU diplomats

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, January 25, 2021

The EU border authorities confiscated English trucker’s homemade bacon sandwiches, completely in accordance with the post-Brexit rules

"PM Conte prefers to put himself and some appointed technocrats in charge of disbursing the funds. Renzi on the other hand demanded strong parliamentary oversight."

‘Brussels’ preference for technocrats instead of democracy

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Matteo Renzi, once the favourite of Brussels eurocrats, withdrew his support from Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s coalition, leaving the Italian government several seats short of a majority in the Senate

A report by an American institute showed that the Green Deal will result in 12% less agricultural production in the EU in 2030.

Will the Green Deal cause food shortages?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, January 13, 2021

The green sustainability plans of the European Commission are increasingly criticised in the European Parliament, who fear that the Green Deal will cause food shortages in the EU

"The faster rate at which the UK, Israel and the US are vaccinating is increasing pressure on EU governments and particularly the European Commission, which is coordinating the joint EU vaccine strategy."

European Commission vaccine competence?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, January 7, 2021

With vaccination campaigns in EU member states stalled because there is not enough of approved vaccines, vaccination in the United Kingdom is going fast, due to the urgence of the situation

Barbel Kofler, Commissioner of Human Rights in Angela Merkel’s government, stated recently: ‘ I am shocked by the large number of judgments against lawyers, journalists and opposition activists in China in recent days’.

Angela ‘schafft es’ again: business is business

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, December 30, 2020

No doubt, the German Presidency will end today (30 December) as Angela Merkel always wanted it to, with an investment treaty between the EU and China

In their search for ’an eminent European personality able to represent the common interest of the three EU institutions ’, Merkel and Macron came to Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

Not Verhofstadt but Thorning-Schmidt President of the EU Future Conference

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have put forward the former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt as President of the Conference on the Future of the EU

"Chancellor Merkel’s days are numbered. Who will be her successor? And will she or he make the same kind of ‘dreamteam’ with President Macron to rule the waves in the EU?"

Angela’s powerplay, with the help of Emmanuel

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, December 15, 2020

An historical agreement! With a budget of 1.800 billion euros and by linking that amount to respect for the rule of law, the EU will have unprecedented resources

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EU Actually

A UK-US deal sounds good but what does it mean

By: N. Peter Kramer

After Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to the White House in February, the UK delegation referred to what was being negotiated as an "economic deal"

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04/2021 2021

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What Le Pen’s sentence means for the rule of law in Europe

Marine Le Pen’s conviction for embezzlement and ban from elected office have sparked accusations from far-right and populist movements of antidemocratic behavior. But the ruling shows that attachment to the rule of law is resilient, and upholding it is the only way to counter claims that the system is rigged

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