Tag Archives: lisbon treaty
Simon Hix: The State of European Democracy After Lisbon
Simon Hix on The State of European Democracy After Lisbon at the IIEA – The Institute of International and European Affairs.
Posted in European Debate, European Union Also tagged democracy, democratic deficit, EU, european democracy, simon hix 8 Comments
The forgotten Trio
Among the institutional changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty, some have been more present in the media and public debate than others. Three months after the Treaty entered into force, we can still read at least a couple of articles a day about the President of the European Council, the High Representative for Foreign [...]
Posted in European Union Also tagged Council of the EU, EU, EU presidency, European Union, Institutional reform, trio, Trio Presidency 5 Comments
Sunday EU geek quiz: What is NLE?
Try to imagine what the Eurocrats have been filling up their days with lately. Well, the Lisbon Treaty has spiced up their boring bureaucratic routines, giving some headaches especially to those working in the Secretariats General and the Legal Services of the institutions.For the rest, of course, all the novelties and how they will impact [...]
Posted in European Union Also tagged code, EU, EU geek quiz, interinstitutional non-legislative procedure, NLE, procedures 8 Comments
The first European Citizens' Initiative is here!
Hooray! Every day some more Lisbon Treaty innovations. Today I came across a campaign for the first European Citizens’ Initiative. (Hat tip: Andrew Burgess) Good news is that it is not an animal rights campaign but a campaign for a “Free Sunday“. Regardless of the idea behind the “free Sunday”, the timing and the execution [...]
Posted in European Debate Also tagged 1 Mio, campaign, Civil Society, ECI, European Citizens's initiative, free sunday, NGO 11 Comments
The animated President of the European Council
Do you remember our little series with the terrible name “How to explain a political process with a video?“ No? Well, today, it is time to revive this category as I found a new animated EU video about the role of the President of the European Council produced by the TV Newsroom of the Council [...]
Posted in History Also tagged animation, European Council, Institutional reform, online video, President of the European Council, video 3 Comments
The new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Yes, this is really the official title of the position that will be created once the Lisbon treaty is in force. Why not “EU Foreign minister” you may ask – well, the British delegation successfully managed to lobby against the title of “EU Foreign Minister” in the negotiations (supported by quite a few others). Strange, [...]
Quotes of the week (VIII)
Foreign Policy: The Top 10 Craziest Things Ever Said During a U.N. Speech David Mitchell: If academic endeavour had always been vetted in advance for practicality, we wouldn’t have the aeroplane or the iPhone, just a better mammoth trap. Richard Laming It is ironic that the people who complain most about the complexity of the [...]
Posted in European Debate, Other Also tagged academia, Berlusconi, Cameron, ECR, Europe, Italy, quotes of the week, REF, UN, United Nations, Vaclav Klaus Leave a comment
President of the European Council: The contenders
Foreign Policy published a rather entertaining list of “European Idols” – aka (rumored) contenders in the race to become the first permanent “President of the European Council”: The categories: First, the president should be, well, boring — like Brussels itself. Politicians have knocked down candidates for being too controversial or too outspoken. Second, he should likely hold [...]
Posted in Brussels, European Union Also tagged candidates, foreign policy, Institutional, President of the European Council 10 Comments
Dear Journalists…
Following the Yes vote on the Lisbon treaty in Ireland the media is full with articles and reports about the EU, the Lisbon treaty and the Irish vote. Unfortunately, journalistic accuracy for EU related topic is not that widespread. At least I get the impression after reading and watching a fair amount of material in [...]
Posted in European Union Also tagged EU, EU reporting, institutions, Ireland, journalism, referendum 13 Comments
Internal decision-making of the European Commission – A quick guide