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Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

04.01.08: Smooth switch to euro in Cyprus and Malta - 0 views

  • The European Commission has praised the smooth changeover to the euro in the two newest eurozone member countries, Cyprus and Malta, while the effect on their overall inflation rates is to be evaluated later.
  • In comparison, the 2007 switchover to the euro in Slovenia was followed by higher prices for some services, such as restaurants and cafes. Meanwhile, figures late last year indicated a significant rise in overall consumer price inflation in the ex-Yugoslav country, with the commission predicting an average level of 3.5 percent in 2007 and 3.7 percent in 2008, compared to 2.5 percent in 2006.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

Eurobarometer - 0 views

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    This is the website for the Public Opinion Analysis sector of the European Commission. Since 1973, the European Commission has been monitoring the evolution of public opinion in the Member States, thus helping the preparation of texts, decision-making a
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

Commission: European Neighbourhood Policy Website - 0 views

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    The official European Commission Neighbourhood Policy Website
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

09.03.10: Commission: Icesave doesn't prevent Iceland from starting accession talks - 0 views

  • The issue of whether Iceland should reimburse the UK and the Netherlands €3.9bn lost by British and Dutch savers in the Icesave crash is a bilateral one and should not affect the country's EU accession prospects, Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle told the European Parliament yesterday (8 March).
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

11.08.10: EU's first post-Lisbon Treaty ambassador to US assumes post - 0 views

  • The European Union's new ambassador to the United States has presented his credentials to President Barack Obama in Washington, formally assuming his position in the process.  Joao Vale de Almeida formally became the new European Union ambassador to the United States on Tuesday after handing over his credentials to President Barack Obama in Washington. Vale de Almeida is the first EU ambassador to the US since the reforming Lisbon Treaty came into force on December 1, 2009. The Lisbon Treaty aims to enhance the EU's capacity to operate more effectively and act more cohesively in matters of foreign affairs and security. Prior to the Lisbon Treaty, the position of ambassador to the US was held by the rotating EU presidency, which changed hands every six months. Vale de Almeida's duties will include representing the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy. "I'm the first new type of ambassador for the European Union anywhere in the world," Vale de Almeida told news agency Agence France-Presse after the credentials ceremony at the White House. "I'm supposed to have a wider mandate than my predecessors," he said. "Our delegations now cover a wide spectrum of issues well beyond the economic dimension, trade dimension and regulatory dimension, to cover all policies in the union, including foreign policy and security policy."
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

18.08.10: Brussels backs Kosovo bid to join international bank - 0 views

  • The European Commission has endorsed Kosovo's bid to join the international bank, the EBRD, as Pristina continues to strive for credibility on the world stage.
  • Five out of the 27 EU countries and 22 out of the 63 EBRD member countries do not recognise Kosovo. But if one of the 22 EBRD non-recognisers changed position, it would be enough for Pristina to secure the 75 percent vote needed to join the London-based body. UN membership is for the time being out of the question due to the hostility of Russia, a UN veto-wielding power, in a situation preventing Kosovo from joining other institutions, such as the International Olympic Committee, the football authority FIFA and the Internet top-line domain name authority, ICAAN. Kosovo in 2009 did join the IMF, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank however, in developments touted by its diplomats as proof of progress toward de jure statehood. Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci in a comment for EUobserver earlier this week said the ICJ ruling should open the way for more UN members to switch sides.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

11.12.08: Pan-Europe Libertas Partay launched to fight "anti-democratic" Brussels - 0 views

  • Declan Ganley, the Irish businessman behind the Libertas campaign group, of the key organisations that defeated the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland's referendum on the text in June, has launched Libertas as the first truly pan-European political party. The new Libertas Party, which aims to run candidates in all 27 European Union states for the European Parliament elections in June 2009, says it wants to democratise the European institutions, with an elected commission and a president.
  • "This is a pro-European organisation. There is no future for Euroscepticism. The European Union is necessary," he added. "It is the status quo that if left as it is, will allow euro scepticism to grow." The new party will not partner with other political parties, but rather run all its candidates under the Libertas banner in each of the EU states. Beyond its position on democracy in Europe, Libertas' social and economic positions will be centrist, in order to attract people from across the political spectrum, although Mr Ganley was "not sure about communists."
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

03.09.08: Serbia could become EU candidate in 2009 - 0 views

  • It would be "possible" for Serbia to win the status of an EU candidate country next year, provided that it fulfills the necessary conditions, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday (3 September). "If everything goes according to plan and if all the conditions are met, it would be possible [for Serbia] to have candidate country status in 2009," Mr Barroso told reporters in Brussels at a briefing together with Serbian President Boris Tadic.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

18.11.08: Dublin in talks with EU capitals to retain commissioner - 0 views

  • The Irish foreign minister, Micheal Martin has said that Dublin is in talks with other European capitals to see if the retention of a commissioner for each member state is viable - a key concern of No voters in the June referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
  • The question of Ireland's traditional neutrality, which No campaigners argued was under threat from a growing militarisation of the European Union was one of the main reasons people voted No, according to a post-referendum commission poll. Taxation figured equally prominently according to the Eurobarometer survey, as did the loss of a commissioner. Abortion however did not figure prominently amongst people's concerns, being the reason for casting a ballot against the Lisbon Treaty for just two percent of No voters. The loss of a commissioner Mr Martin highlighted as one of the more significant points of discussion with other member states.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

01.04.08: EP call for mandatory register of Brussels lobbyists - 0 views

  • A European Parliament committee on Tuesday (1 April) called for a mandatory register of the estimated 15-20,000 lobbyists in Brussels that wander the halls of the European institutions aiming to influence legislation.

    In a significant victory for campaigners for transparency in public institutions, a report approved by the parliament's constitutional affairs committee recommends that 'interest representatives' – commonly known as lobbyists – be forced to be listed in a joint register covering the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council – where member states are represented.
  • The inclusion of think-tanks in the proposal was also a major win for transparency campaigners, who argued that the research bodies, which had earlier been excluded from the report, were "a major part of the lobbying community" in Brussels. "By recognising these are key lobbying channels in Brussels, MEPs have closed an important loophole in the proposal," said Luxembourg Green MEP Claude Turmes. These gains were largely the result of oral amendments tabled by Green MEPs, who also managed to win a requirement that lawyers be included in the register not only when their purpose is to influence policy, but also when they give legal advice, which they argued was still a form of lobbying activity.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

11.06.08: Finnish and Estonian parliaments ratify EU treaty - 0 views

  • The Finnish and Estonian parliaments have ratified the EU's Lisbon treaty, just a day before Irish citizens are to cast their vote on the document in a referendum being closely watched across Europe. A large majority of Finnish deputies – 151 out of 200 – on Wednesday (11 June) voted in favour of the document, while 27 opposed it and 21 were absent, according to AFP news agency.
  • A little later on Wednesday afternoon, the Estonian parliament also approved the Lisbon treaty. Its vote was almost unanimous: 91 votes in favour and one against. Nine MPs abstained. In both countries, the presidents now have to sign off the document for ratification to be finalised. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed both votes, saying: "The treaty has now been approved by seventeen member states. The two votes today send a strong signal, confirming the desire for the treaty to be ratified in good time to enter into force by 1 January 2009."
  • In addition, the Greek parliament was expected to vote on the document later in the day.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

02.06.08: EU disturbed by Macedonia violence - 0 views

  • The European Union has voiced deep concerns over the ethnic violence which marked election day in EU-hopeful Macedonia, leaving one person dead and eight wounded. "The European Commission is very concerned about the use of violence during the election in the country," the EU's executive body said following Sunday's polls (1 June), widely seen as a test of Macedonia's democratic credentials.
  • Meanwhile, current prime minister Nikola Gruevski hailed the landslide victory of his centre-right VMRO-DPMNE party, with preliminary results suggesting it secured over 48 percent of the vote. The score is likely to translate to more than 60 seats in the 120-strong parliament, giving the winning party enough power to stir the agenda.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

18.06.08: MEPs in passinate war of words over Irish No - 0 views

  • After the Irish rejection featured in several diverse discussions throughout this week's plenary session in Strasbourg, the assembly held a debate dedicated exclusively to the issue on Wednesday (18 June).
  • With all eyes on the EU leaders' summit in Brussels on Thursday, Janez Lenarcic, secretary of state for European affairs for Slovenia, currently chairing the 27-strong bloc, told MEPs that the continued ratification of the treaty looks likely to be supported by all participants at the top-level meeting. "The presidency has held talks with countries which have not yet ratified the treaty, and it is quite encouraging to see that those countries are ready to continue the ratification process," said Mr Lenarcic. The same approach was advocated by the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who argued that the energy the EU had put in to drawing up its internal reform "cannot go to waste."
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

15.01.08: EU freezes Croatian Phare projects - 0 views

  • ZAGREB -- The European Commission (EC) has temporarily frozen Croatian Phare projects. It has also reduced the funds allocated to the country via the IPA program by EUR 5mn because of weaknesses in creating a decentralized system of management of projects backed by EU funds.
  • In its 2007 progress report on Croatia, the EC said that the country had shown great weaknesses last year in implementing a decentralized system for management of pre-accession assistance, said Nagy and warned that Zagreb had to deal with these weaknesses as soon as possible.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

01.06.07: Brussels warns Poland and UK on EU constitution - 0 views

  • European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has warned both Poland and the UK not to block attempts to agree a new treaty for the European Union. Speaking about Poland with Financial Times Deutschland, Mr Barroso indicated it was time for Warsaw to show the same solidarity it demanded on issues to do with Russia towards solving the EU's internal problems.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

24.05.07: Sarkozy's position concerning constitution and enlargement - 0 views

  • French president Nicolas Sarkozy is to force a debate on Turkey and whether it belongs in the European Union in the coming months, despite visible reluctance by the European Commission to confront the issue.
  • Speaking about the new treaty – to replace the rejected EU constitution - Mr Sarkozy said he believed that leaders are "making headway around the idea of a simplified treaty."
  • Probable future bones of contention include Mr Sarkozy's continued insistence that member states should have more influence in European Central Bank decisions - he said he would come forward with an "economic governance" initiative.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

16.03.07: EU split on fast-track Sebian membership - 0 views

  • Divisions within the European Union on how to deal with Serbia have surfaced. While the Commission and some member states look eager to speed up Belgrade’s membership bid, others are angered by what they see as undue leniency.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

02.03.07: EU and police reform in Bosnia - 0 views

  • Nearly 18 months ago Bosnia's biggest parties signed on to police reform according to three principles spelled out by the European Commission as a condition of further integration into the European Union. Despite their ardent desire to cozy up to the EU and move toward full membership, Bosnia's leaders have made hardly any progress on turning the agreement into tangible change. An attempt by the international community's chief executive in Bosnia, the Office of the High Representative, to move things forward failed last week, with Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) leaders boycotting one round of talks. So why is this particular reform proving so difficult?
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