12th September 2012 London, UK
This autumn represents a real challenge to the EU and eurozone to put in place the right measures to ensure a sustainable and long term solution to the eurozone crisis. There have been some really important steps recently in moving towards that solution, such as last week’s announcement of ECB bond buying (or in the […]
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15th August 2012 London, UK
The Olympic medal table has received intense attention from Britain over the last few weeks. I’m sure this was the case across Europe too – with half of the top ten places in the table awarded to European countries; as Simon Kuper in the FT commented ‘European nations are still Olympic powerhouses’. One can’t help […]
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30th July 2012 London, UK
Like many athletes, Majlinda Kelmendi realised a sporting dream by competing at London 2012. But another, perhaps more important, aspiration remains sadly unfulfilled: the ambition to compete at the Olympics for her own country. Whereas every one of Majlinda’s competitors sported uniforms adorned with three letter code that signifies their country of origin, Majlinda did […]
12th July 2012 London, UK
Today the Foreign Secretary launched the review of the balance of EU competences. As he said, now is the right time to take a critical and constructive look at exactly where competence lies, how the EU’s competences, are used and what that means for our national interest. A desire to see significant reform and change […]
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11th July 2012 London, UK
I’ve just returned from my first visit as Minister for Europe to Zagreb. My visit comes just one year before Croatia’s accession to the EU. Everyone I’ve met has that on their minds. I’ve been looking at three ways I think we can strengthen our friendship: We need to look at areas of common interest […]
29th June 2012 London, UK
I’ve been thinking about how Pakistan is another area where EU collective action and UK foreign policy complement each other in a country that matters to us. As the world’s largest single market, diplomacy based on trade is a major strength for the EU. As a block formed of 27 states, the EU is able […]
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20th June 2012 London, UK
Last week the UK secured agreement from EU Fisheries Ministers on much needed reforms to the broken Common Fisheries Policy. Following 24 hours of tense negotiations at the EU Fisheries Council held in Luxemburg, Ministers agreed to end ineffective micro-management by Brussels and to a ban on the discarding of dead fish – an issue […]
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15th June 2012 London, UK
The UK and the Netherlands have always been close, not least since the Revolution of 1688 when William III, Prince of Orange, and his wife Mary were invited to ascend the English throne as King William III and Queen Mary. The links continue to this day – with the Netherlands being one of the UK’s […]
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14th May 2012 London, UK
After a week of change in Europe, it was no surprise what was on the minds of many of my contacts in the US this week. Both in Boston and in Washington I was quizzed about the new French President, Greek efforts to form a coalition, and most importantly – how all this was going […]
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11th May 2012 London, UK
Yesterday Lord Howell introduced the European Union (Approval of Treaty Amendment Decision) Bill to Parliament, as outlined in Her Majesty’s Speech earlier this week. The purpose of the Bill is very straightforward. It simply provides for Parliamentary approval of a Treaty change which makes explicit the ability of eurozone countries to set up a European […]