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Nachdem das Parlament im Jahr 2004 einige Kommissionskandidaten abgelehnt hat, dürften sich die Kandidaten aus Rumänien und Bulgarien nun besonders gut auf die Anhörung am 27. November 2006 vorbereiten.

The EU-critical Socialist Party and the anti-immigrant Party for Freedom are the biggest winners of the Dutch elections. Balkenende's Christian-Democrat CDA remains the strongest formation but future coalition talks will be difficult.

Vasile Puscas, university professor and EU chief negotiator has published a study on Romanian accession negotiations and urges the EU to revise its negotiation and communication policy.

LREG is an innovative E-journal, publishing solicited state-of-the-art articles in the field of European governance research that are fully refereed according to highest international standards, and will always be kept up-to-date by their authors.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is yet to reach internal political consensus on its EU path, the head of the European Commission's delegation to the country, Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas, told EurActiv in an interview.

Looking at other Western Balkan countries, could we say that the others are advancing, albeit at different speeds, while there is little or no movement from Bosnia?  I wouldn't say there is no movement forward, but it is very slow, and what is still missing is a consensus among all political forces to keep the political integration away from political infighting. This is what candidate countries in the recent past, including Bulgaria and Romania, have done. There had been an agreement between all political forces to have their differences, but to agree on European integration. This has not happened yet in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Recently, high-ranking Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko was appointed as high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Wasn't this a hint that the international presence will still be needed in the years to come?  Mr. Inzko is the high representative of the international community, but at the same time, he is the EU special representative. He enjoys the full support of the members of the Peace Implementation Council. We had a joint visit of US Vice-President Joe Biden and EU High representative Javier Solana, which was also a very strong indication that we are on the same line and our common aim is to give full ownership to the country, but once the conditions are met. We cannot take the risk of doing it in a premature way. 

The increase in power of the European Parliament, which will grow further if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified by all 27 member states, has failed to increase the House's political legitimacy and runs the risk of compromising its unique position as the EU's 'democratic pillar', according to a new report.

The report, published by CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) research fellows Julia De Clerck-Sachsse and Piotr Maciej Kaczyński, argues that the Parliament's crucial importance as a forum for public debate is on the wane. 

On the positive side, the authors note, enlargement has not destabilised the Parliament's output, nor has it affected the strength of left-right political alignments, which remain cohesive.  In fact, the Parliament's sixth legislature (2004-2009) has boosted the institution's assertiveness, particularly under the co-decision  procedure, where Parliament and the European Council share decision-making powers.  The high cost of efficiency  However, this new assertiveness has come at a price. In its efforts to streamline decision-making and maintain efficiency, the enlarged EU assembly has moved more decisions to committees and cut down the amount of time for debate between MEPs in the plenary chamber.  In particular, the massive increase in first-reading agreements (when a legislative act is passed after only one reading in the chamber) gives the impression that "the bulk of political debate takes place behind closed doors, rather than publicly". In other words, if Parliament "adopts a compromise that is pre-negotiated by the responsible committee, there is little chance of a politicised and controversial debate," which is "crucial to capturing public attention," say the experts. Worse still, it runs the risk of Parliament being perceived as "merely rubber-stamping the Council's decisions". 

GA_googleCreateDomIframe('google_ads_div_nexttocontent' ,'nexttocontent'); GA_googleFillSlot("nexttocontent120x"); GA_googleCreateDomIframe('google_ads_div_nexttocontent120x' ,'nexttocontent120x'); Ljubljana - Slovenia's politicians - the ruling bloc, the opposition and the president - have found a rare occasion to stand united, with everyone stubbornly backing the decision to block the path of neighbouring Croatia into the European Union - despite Brussels' wishes. In a perennial row over where their common sea border meets the Adriatic coast, Slovenia - an EU member since 2004 - has stalled Croatia, which hopes to join in 2011. Most recently, Ljubljana effectively dismissed a proposal by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn to resolve the stalemate by having international arbitration draw up the contested border. Croatia had already agreed to the proposal, but the Slovenian response - though wrapped prettily in diplomatic language - was effectively "no." Slovenia asked for amendments that were flatly rejected not only by Croatia but by the plan's author as well.

Am Ende war es weniger knapp als erwartet: Der tschechische Senat hat den EU-Reformvertrag angenommen. Damit hat das Werk eine große Hürde genommen. Doch die Skepsis in Tschechien, dessen Premier Topolanek den Vertrag einst einen "Haufen Mist" nannte, bleibt. Vor allem bei Präsident Klaus.

Der Senat stimmte für den Vertrag von Lissabon. Mit einem klareren Votum als erwartet: 54 von 79 anwesenden Senatoren stimmten mit Ja. Schon vor der Sitzung hatte sich eine Mehrheit für Lissabon angedeutet

Freilich, so etwa der sozialdemokratische Senator und erste Nachwende-Außenminister Jiri Dienstbier, könne Klaus nur schwerlich ignorieren, dass beide Kammern des Parlaments mit Drei-Fünftel-Mehrheit für den Reformvertrag gestimmt hätten. „Wir müssen aufhören, uns provinziell zu verhalten und Europa als etwas Fremdes anzusehen“, mahnte er. „Wir müssen aufhören zu sagen, Europa sind „die“. Europa sind in Wahrheit wir.“

The minister was responding to a series of questions from euro-deputies in the constitutional committee on how the Lisbon treaty – which faces a referendum in Ireland on 2 October and final approval in three other countries – should function in practice.

EULEX, the EU's mission in Kosovo, is experiencing difficult times as more than 20 of its vehicles were overturned and damaged by ethnic Albanian extremists yesterday (25 August). Moreover, Serbs living in the northern part of the province have demanded the departure of the Union's representatives.

An agreement to be signed between EULEX and Belgrade, designed to help solve a 'visa problem' for Serbian nationals, apparently became an irritant for Albanian extremists, who overturned 28 SUV cars belonging to the EU mission in the capital Pristina.  Many Albanian Kosovars insisted that it was up to Kosovo, not EULEX, to sign any international agreements

The Serbian authorities however have also come under fire of Serbian extremis circles, who claim that its signing the agreement amounts to the recognition of Kosovo by Belgrade. "The only goal of the agreement is to have an adequate exchange of information with EULEX, in the goal of stopping all possible incidents and conflicts in the province," said Goran Bogdanović, Serbian minister for Kosovo. He made clear that the agreement was needed to allow Brussels to lift visa requirements for Serbian nationals, and expressed hope that the document would be signed soon. 

Macedonia's ruling party candidate Gjorge Ivanov won Macedonia's presidential election on Sunday, pledging to resolve its long-standing name dispute with Greece in a bid to show the Balkan state's readiness to join the EU and NATO.

"Our first task will be to resolve the name issue with our southern neighbor Greece," Ivanov told Reuters. "I am sure we can find common interest and compromise." "I am sure Greece will be cooperative on the issue."

Macedonia applied for EU membership in 2005 but has not advanced since then, and Greece has blocked its NATO application in a 17-year-old dispute over Macedonia's name, which it shares with the northernmost Greek province. 

The Czech EU presidency hosted an informal meeting of the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers over the weekend in Hluboká, south Bohemia. Although Czech officials went into the meeting with an ambitious agenda it was the Czech Republic’s own domestic crisis that inevitably drew the most attention. Just days after the fall of the country’s centre-right government EU foreign ministers sought reassurances regarding the Czech EU presidency and the fate of the Lisbon treaty.

Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg said he appreciated the “remarkable solidarity” of his colleagues, but said their support was not needed at the moment as the government of PM Mirek Topolánek remained in place for the time being. Mr Schwarzenberg conceded that it would not be possible to go ahead with EU enlargement without the Lisbon treaty in force, and said that the Czech Republic would not be a hurdle in the process. “This whole meeting here was to serve the noble aim of enlarging Europe. And I don’t think we are a hurdle, and I do think that – if you wish to allude to the ratification process [of the Lisbon treaty] – I am sure that it will be ratified in due time.”

The 29 July early parliamentary elections in Moldova swept Europe’s last ruling Communist party from power by pro-EU opposition parties. With 98.3 percent of votes counted, the Communist Party won 48 seats in the 101-seat Moldovan parliament and the four opposition parties collected 53 seats. The former Soviet republic has been experiencing a political crisis since the April elections that turned into a week of violent demonstrations by young pro-opposition activists in the capital Chisinau, dubbed the “Twitter revolution” (More in my article “Twitter Revolution - Case Moldova” )

Just days after Iceland filed its application to join the European Union, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels today (27 July) are expected to accept it and ask the European Commission to draft an opinion.

Diplomats told EurActiv they were confident that the EU foreign ministers would forward Iceland's application to the Commission for an opinion - a thorough screening of the candidate's credentials based on answers to a questionnaire.  The procedure, which follows Iceland's formal application on 16 July, is progressing much more quickly than with other candidates, diplomats pointed out. 

But the negotiations will not all be plain-sailing for Iceland.  Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen recently said his country would block Iceland's EU accession if the country did not reimburse Dutch victims of a bankrupt Icelandic bank, Icesave, a web-based subsidiary of the Landsbanki bank from which many savers from Britain and the Netherlands are awaiting reimbursement.  But the issue will be part of the Commission's opinion, other diplomats explained, saying that no objections are expected to be raised either by Britain or the Netherlands at this stage.  Also, a diplomat from a country with a long coast warned that fisheries could mean Iceland's accession process takes longer than expected. He referred to positions expressed by the island's foreign minister, Össur Skarphéðinsson, that Reykjavik would not accept a rotten deal with the EU for its powerful fishing industry.  Seafood accounts for almost half of Iceland's exports and 10% of its gross domestic product. 

Abstract Conflict transformation means a change for the better that relates to the conflict object, the parties to the conflict and the way they pursue their antagonistic interests. This article investigates how the prospect of being integrated into the European Union can transform ethno-political conflicts over secession. It sketches out a framework of potential positive and negative impacts and it applies these considerations to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was offered the possibility of membership in 1999. Since 2002, the prospect of integration has furthered conflict transformation through setting incentives to put up with the contested common state, providing the parties to the conflict with a shared vision, and reinforcing the norms of democracy and non-violence. However, the EU could lose its constructive influence, if it ignores that some of its demands serve the interests of one side while they violate these of the other.

Slovenia said Friday it was ready to lift its veto on neighbour Croatia's European Union accession talks immediately, after the two prime ministers agreed on how to solve an 18-year old border dispute."The government will immediately propose (to parliamentary committees) that Slovenia removes restraints for Croatia's EU negotiating process," Slovenia's Prime Minister Borut Pahor said after talks with his Croat counterpart Jadranka Kosor.The two committees met later Friday but said they needed more time to consider the issue. They are expected to decide on whether to allow Slovenia to lift the veto early next week.The news comes as a boost to Zagreb -- whose EU bid has been on ice for almost 10 months -- and other EU hopefuls in the Western Balkans, where bilateral disputes abound.Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating six-month presidency of the EU, welcomed the agreement and said Croatia can now continue EU accession talks.

Slovenia and Croatia yesterday (18 June) shattered hopes that a long-standing border dispute was coming an end, blaming each other for the deadlock and leaving Brussels to deplore the development.

The European Commission said it regretted that Croatia and Slovenia had failed to make progress in talks on the settlement of their border row, underlining that it was a bilateral issue.  The talks had progressed well since January and there remained only a limited number of points to be settled, but the two sides yesterday failed to make progress on those points, says a brief statement issued by Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn’s office. Rehn will now report to the current Czech and future Swedish EU Presidencies, it adds.