30th September 2011
The UK Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, made an important speech during the Eastern Partnership in Warsaw on 29 September. Key sections include: “It is in the EU’s clear interests to offer meaningful integration to [our Eastern] neighbours, including through full EU membership, where the criteria are rigorously met… So the UK is clear: ‘no’ […]
27th September 2011
Negotiations at a summit later this week will revolve around the question of “how European is Ukraine”? It sounds a bit academic, since anyone looking at a map can see that Ukraine is a European country. But negotiations at the Eastern Partnership Summit on 29-30 September will revolve around the question not of geography but […]
20th September 2011
The tiger is gigantic, looming against a glowing golden background. Behind it, cubs frolic. Near the work, Tiger Club by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, Ukrainian and foreign politicians including President Victor Yanukovych, Israeli President Shimon Peres and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair engage at the 8th annual Yalta European Strategy Forum (YES) “Ukraine and […]
18th July 2011
Who said the following? – “Ukraine knows that it can count on Britain as its friend in the European Union. We are, and will remain, enthusiastic advocates of Ukraine’s closer integration with the rest of Europe”; and – “It is the responsibility of true friends to speak honestly when they see something which concerns them”. […]
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11th July 2011
It’s easy to see international cooperation in black and white terms: either you’re “in” a particular body or organisation or you’re “out”. This is often tied to “zero-sum” thinking, which argues that something which is good for one person or country has to be bad for another. In reality, however, international relations includes a vast […]
1st July 2011
It’s almost two years since I arrived out here in DC in the summer of 2009. The weather’s the same – hot and humid. But trade politics have got a lot more exciting. Many eyes are avidly watching what is happening on the Hill concerning the pending US FTAs with Korea, Colombia and Panama. It’s […]
30th June 2011
At the end of the Hungarian EU Presidency, and since I started this blog specifically to cover this period, I should say something about Hungary’s performance in this role. When I focus in on the business agenda, and ignore some of the media coverage that has happened, the Hungarian Presidency has gone well. It hasn’t […]
29th June 2011
How important is it that Ukraine clears away a major source of corruption? An apparently obscure piece of legislation offers a useful insight into the challenges facing the way Ukraine’s system of governance works; and a good indication of whether Ukrainian governance is improving. The Ukrainian government agreed in 2010 to adopt a public procurement […]
27th June 2011 Bucharest, Romania
European leaders meeting in Brussels last week agreed that the regulatory burden on SMEs needs to be further reduced, something that the UK has very strongly argued for in its agenda for growth. The European Commission will therefore undertake to assess the impact of future regulations on micro enterprises and to screen the acquis to […]
25th June 2011
When President Basescu and David Cameron met in Downing Street on 6 June they agreed to work together to promote new growth in the European economy, including by reducing the regulatory burden on business. We took the first steps to implement this agenda at the European Council yesterday. Romania and the UK worked together to […]