European Political News

Gordon Brown’s cabinet is taking shape and overall it looks fine - I’m especially happy to see David Miliband as Foreign Secretary. But there are 2 matters of concern. Firstly the Minister of State for Europe (most recently Geoff Hoon under Blair) had been entitled to attend cabinet, and that has been dropped by Brown. Secondly, Shaun Woodward has made it into cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary (unpaid). I’ve always found Woodward to be very smug and this has been underlined by Lance Price in The Spin Doctor’s Diary (my post here, more here). I understand that Brown wants a broad-based cabinet, but did he really need Shaun Woodward?

There’s a nasty conference centre that belongs to the European Commission in Brussels called the Albert Borschette building. It’s close to Place Jourdan and is a 1970s construction. But the story behind its name is an intriguing one.

Albert Borschette was a Luxembourg diplomat who rose to the position of Permanent Representative to the European Communities in the 1960s, and eventually found himself as a member of the European Commission for Competition and Regional Policy in the Malfatti, Mansholt and finally the Ortoli Commissions. He died of a heart attack on 8th December 1976 while still in office, and hence the decision to name the building after him.

At this time John Prescott was a member of the European Parliament - MEPs were not elected in 1976 but were nominated by national parliaments. It is said that John launched an unprecedented verbal attack on Mr Borschette while questioning him in a Parliament Committee meeting about payments made to the Italian government by the oil sector. Borschette then went home and promptly died.

Now, despite plenty of Google searches I have no verification that this story is true except for a short paragraph on Tory MEP Caroline Jackson’s website (scroll to the bottom). We know that John can get a bit angry - remember 2 Jabs (if not see the News Story from the BBC or the YouTube video). You could probably also argue that the European Commission needs a damned good questioning sometimes. I wonder whether anyone reading this can verify the accuracy of the story?

I’ve been away in Sweden for Midsommar, but have been reflecting on the Treaty compromise while sat on the plane back to London. Overall the actual result could have been a lot worse - the main elements of the Constitution have been maintained. But I do wonder the price that will be paid for this agreement. The Poles backed down on voting weights, but the new system will happen from 2014 (rather than 2009). The British stuck in their heels over JHA matters and the Charter of Fundamental Rights (why do the Brits refuse rights for their citizens?), and could proclaim a ‘victory’. France managed to water down the text that stated a goal of the EU was free competition. The position of an EU Foreign Minister will effectively be created, but not in name. The EU will have a flag and an anthem, and its laws will still be supreme over national laws, but the Treaty will not say this.

In short we’re back to what we know and dislike: horse-trading deals akin to the negotiations over the Treaty of Nice. Everyone has a sour taste in their mouth after the negotiations are agreed, people (like me) who work with EU matters for a living get to grips with ever more complex procedures and exemptions, and the general population is left confused or angst-ridden, wondering what the hell is going on. Bring back Giscard and his Convention - all is forgiven.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!