Jens Gieseke gets back on his bike. He is starting his fundraising tour for Ukraine for the third time. Cycling in pleasant weather conditions or with the support of an electric motor are out of the question for the CDU MP from Emsland. He loves a tough ride. Once again, he is cycling to Parliament […]
Finally, she made her way home by car. On Nov. 30, Margrethe Vestager drove from Brussels to Copenhagen after ten years as Europe’s top competition watchdog. There may not be much of her style of competition policy left in Brussels in the coming years. Vestager insisted on healthy competition between companies. Commission President Ursula von […]
The journalists’ expectations were high. Less blah blah blah, more useful answers. Less lecturing, more respect. Less top-down, more dialog. It was the hope of a break with the outdated practices of the spokesperson’s service that had recently made the EU Commission’s “Midday Briefing“ difficult to bear.At first, everything looked quite good. Paula Pinho, the […]
For EPP leader Manfred Weber, the matter is clear: Giorgia Meloni is a reliable partner in Europe, as is the ECR Group, of which Meloni’s party is the largest member. Compared to the MEPs to their right in the European Parliament, the Fratelli d’Italia may give the impression of being a moderate political force.But to […]
Péter Szijjártó speaks fluent English, but the Hungarian Foreign Minister preferred to hold the press conference following yesterday’s meeting of trade ministers in his native language. This was probably also due to the fact that the appearance was aimed more at the domestic audience than the assembled journalists in Brussels.In any case, Szijjártó did not speak […]
The EU received an inglorious prize at COP29. It is the Fossil of the Day. The “Fossil of the Day” award is traditionally presented on each COP day by the civil society organizations of the Climate Action Network (CAN) to the biggest polluters, users of fossil fuels and blockers of ambitious climate policy.After the G7, […]
At the College of Commissioners level, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has not managed to achieve her goal of gender parity. With her, there are eleven women compared to 16 male colleagues. The President of the Commission had no control over who the governments nominated. However, she was able to take countermeasures with regard […]
Anyone who wanted to follow the hearings for the Commission candidates last week needed stamina and plenty of caffeine. For three hours each, the Commissioners-designate practiced repeating the same content of the mission letters they had received from the Commission President.Some Commissioners-designate thankfully spiced up their answers with examples and anecdotes. However, the listeners mostly […]
Lovers of absurd humor can rejoice: the fourth season of the satirical series “Parliament” is here. The main character Samy, whose career in Brussels is the subject of the series, has arrived in the Commission. He takes over – not entirely voluntarily – the chairmanship of a committee with delegates from all 27 member states. […]
The current EU parliamentary session is just three weeks old and there are already signs of how the tone could change as the far-right political groups grow. Three political groups stand out for their frequent misuse of so-called Blue Cards. MEPs from the ECR, PfE and ESN are exercising their right to ask questions to […]