Strasbourg report, September 2010 How could the French make the ridiculous travelling circus to Strasbourg any less appealing? Yep, you guessed it, the have put the whole of the French transport system on strike – and on the final day of the plenary session no less! Isn’t that nice of them? I won’t dwell on [...]
It is often the case that the plenary sessions in Strasbourg before the European Parliament’s summer recess are extremely busy, and last week was no exception. Frequently the negotiation process between the different political groups and between MEPs and the other institutions leads to delays and postponements, causing a hurry to get through all the [...]
View from Strasbourg, March 2010 Returning to Strasbourg for a sitting made me reflect about how the European Union started, and where we are now. A young Dutch Liberal initiated a debate regarding the Strasbourg seat, arguing that it was time to do away with the current arrangement and to conduct business full time from [...]
Strasbourg report, February 2010 Sometimes I despair of politicians, I really do. I have always been a believer in simple, reasonable and sensible policies. So my confidence in my fellow MEPs was really shaken by some recent new developments. You may remember the farcical “bendy bananas” and “curvy cucumber” rules dreamt up by Brussels bureaucrats [...]
View from Strasbourg, November 2009 In the end it was all a bit of a damp squib. After weeks of feverous speculation in which just about everyone short of Shergar was mentioned, Baroness Ashton was appointed Foreign Minister and former Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy (much to the delight of headline writers at The [...]
24 September 2009 This was the first meeting of the Parliament since the summer break. While it was lovely to catch up with several friends in Strasbourg, it was catching up that could have been done just as easily in Brussels! Still, while it was a bad week for those unconvinced by the need for [...]
