Barroso’s Back

President Barroso gives every impression of being the happiest man on Earth and he is rarely seen these days without a huge grin. Certainly everything seems to be going his way; his re-election with a Lisbon-proof mandate, the appointment of a Council President and High Representative who will not outshine him, and now with his [...]

Tajani Goes Green

Commissioner Tajani’s pressure has paid off and the European Commission is creating a DG level working group to coordinate work on decarbonising all transport nodes. Following the lead of the reinvigorated President Barroso, the first meeting is due to take place in early November.
In his ‘Political Guidelines for the Next Commission’, Barroso declared that the [...]

Printing in Tongues

Ever since Johannes Gutenberg started playing around with an olive press and discovered the modern printing process in 1439, Europe has been at the centre of the literary world.
Even today, the UK produces more new titles per year than either the US or China.
The European Commission has decided to capitalise on this literary legacy by [...]

Development: Going, Going, Grants!

Friday the 13th was a lucky day for many NGO’s around the world, when Europe Aid announced a novel idea for financing environmental initiatives, by bringing together nearly 100 approved but unfunded projects and a range of donors such as local authorities, EU member-states as well as private sector foundations.
According to Europe Aid Director, Koos [...]

Part 2: Interview with Commissioner Wallstrom

This is the second and final part of the interview. Also present is Joe Hennon, her Spokesman. Part one is here
Part 2 Interview with Commissioner Wallstrom (31.05, 28.4mb, mp3)
Criticism, the citizens’ right to have a voice, how to tell if a Commissioner is doing a good job, getting rid of jargon, what frustrates her, advice [...]

Letter from Santa

Dear Berlaymonster,

The year started badly, thanks to global warming. We lost several workshops when the ice sheet melted and they drifted off – checked ocean current charts, and they’re due in the Hudson
Bay in 2014. Must put a reminder in my Google calendar about that. Everything is now wet underfoot and I was getting grief [...]

European Patent Office staff on strike

European Patent Office staff demanding for improvement in patent quality demonstrated outside the European Commission office on Thursday.
Patent examiners and other staff of the European Patent Office (EPO) demonstrated outside the European Commission offices Thursday, demanding a thorough re-examination of the EPO.
They claim that the organisation is decentralising and focusing on granting as many patents [...]