A lecture by William Wallace at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin on “Britain’s complicated relationships with its European neighbours and with the EU“: A lecture by William Wallace at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin on "Britain’s complicated relationships with its European neighbours and with the [...]

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Comparing health care systems

by Kosmopolit in EU politics

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There seems to be a health care hysteria in the USA. It is one of President Obama’s most prestigious projects and one of his central election promises. So it is not surprising that health care is back in the US news. But this time with a rare transatlantic twist (at least for a few days…). [...]

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Stephen Fry: Call my Euro-bluff

by Kosmopolit in EU politics

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(hat-tip: Stephen Spillane) Update:  It seems that the video is not available anymore. What a shame! Why did the BBC remove this video but not the other 2000 Stephen Fry/QI videos on youtube? So, if you find the clip again somewhere please let me know! Update 2: Video is available again. Thanks for uploading it! [...]

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Quotes of the week (IV)

by Kosmopolit in EU politics

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Poul Nyrup Rasmussen: In 2004 Barroso was a compromise candidate, in 2009 he is a compromised candidate. Daily Mail’s Chief Leader Writer We couldn’t report on what is going on in Europe, and no paper can because the readers won’t wear it. It is simply not conceivable that we would cover, for example, the European [...]

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What have we learnt this week? Poul Nyrup Rasmussen: I would have preferred the PES to have a candidate for the President of the European Commission, but we do not, and we will not before the elections. Andrew Moravcsik: Final anecdote: On my way back out to Heathrow I quizzed the cabby about the European [...]

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As many of you know, I recently moved to the UK to start a PhD. (that is also the reason why this blog has been a bit silent recently).  Everyone that has ever moved abroad knows that it is quite a mess especially in the first couple of weeks. In my case I had to settle down [...]

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Cameron vs. Brown

by Kosmopolit in EU politics

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Interesting how Gordon Brown defends the EU and the Lisbon Treaty: Conviction or tactics? Interesting how Gordon Brown defends the EU and the Lisbon Treaty: Conviction or tactics? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uVFkzzLkL0]

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So finally, after seven months in office British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to visit the European Institutions for the first time… well, it is about time! Read the story here. So finally, after seven months in office British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to visit the European Institutions for the first time… well, it [...]

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EU forces iTunes UK to cut prices

by Kosmopolit in EU politics

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Even though I am not a big fan of iTunes this is good news for consumers in the UK: Apple is ditching its policy of charging UK consumers more than other Europeans when they buy songs from its iTunes service, following an EU antitrust investigation. The computing giant announced this morning that it will cut [...]

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Welcome back!

by Kosmopolit in EU politics, International Politics

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The summer break is over. Slowly, the Brussels xpat crowd is coming back from holiday. I just started deleting blog spam….it is incredible what kind of spam you get these days! It used to be only the obvious things about different medications and various operations, as well as dating opportunities…but now they started making compliments: [...]

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