I recently participated in the Commission’s visit to China with focus on Sustainable Development and Climate Change. Although we arrived there at a sensitive time it was also a good time. Strategic partnership between the EU and China does not mean that we agree on everything or that we do not clearly recognize the differences [...]
I had to check my calendar today to make sure it that it is St. George’s Day and not April 1st. No less than three UK newspapers have a story about an EU plot to wipe Britain off the map. “REVEALED: EU’S SECRET PLOT TO ABOLISH BRITAIN” trumpets the Daily Express. “Britain is set to be [...]
Gdybym tylko, oprócz wra?e? wyra?anych w s?owach, mog?a przes?a? Ci wszystkie zapachy, smaki i d?wi?ki z Warszawy… W Polsce nie sposób oprze? si?: 1. poczuciu humoru Polaków (= byli?my najweselszym barakiem w obozie komunistycznym (ha - ha?) i, czy chcesz w to wierzy? czy nie, po powa?nych dwustronnych rozmowach z marsza?kiem Sejmu, ka?de z nas zademonstrowa?o swoj? [...]
I’m delighted to say that all recipients of European Union agricultural and rural development payments will be published in detail on the internet by the end of April next year. By 30 April, 2009, the full name, municipality and - where available - postal code of every recipient will be published on nationally-managed websites with a [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/fischer-boel/opening-farm-subsidies-to-public-
Queremos felicitar a Don José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero por ser el primer Jefe de Gobierno español que dirige un gabinete con mayoría de mujeres. Pero todavía hay más. Por primera vez una mujer, Carme Chacón, es Ministra de Defensa, un hecho más llamativo aún si cabe si tenemos en cuenta que está embarazada de siete [...]
I’ve never made any secret of the fact that my personal opinion is that it might make sense for each country to keep a Commissioner. I think it is intellectually honest to say so. However, the issue has been debated and discussed and a decision was taken in Nice which I accept. That’s the nature [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/wallstrom/selective-quotes-jets-and-palaces/
It is shameful when Member States agree to generous commitments and then don’t fulfil them. I don’t want to see any more ambitious agendas, pompous promises or grandiose words. The only thing that counts is action. You can read our press release from yesterday which says it all. I read with interest all the comments on my [...]
J’ai retrouvé à Paris jeudi dernier mon ami de la Commission Prodi, Michel Barnier. Je n’oublierai jamais notre voyage en Bretagne après la marée noire causée par le Prestige… Autres temps, autres défis, il est maintenant Ministre de l’Agriculture et de la Pêche. La reste de la soirée prouvera qu’il est toujours un fervent défenseur [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/wallstrom/qui-sera-le-premier-a-organiser-un-s
Yesterday I went with my whole team to visit a Belgian NGO called “Convivial”. It was an inspiring experience. Convivial responds to the basic needs of refugees and asylum seekers in Belgium. It helps them in dealing with what are often fairly complicated administrative procedures. It assists them in finding somewhere to live and provides [...]
Yesterday the Commission decided on the follow-up to Plan D by adopting a paper called ”Debate Europe – building on the experience of Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate”. Plan D was proposed to stimulate a wider debate between the European Union’s democratic institutions and citizens. We regarded it as a starting point for [...]
Yesterday I took part in the “Officials back to school” project. An important project which allows high school students to find out about the European Union in a special way – from the personal experience of the people who shape and help develop European policy. The project organised under the patronage of my close colleague [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/potocnik/theme-of-the-week-back-to-school/
When I read the comments on my blog and in the debate section of the press, my impression of public opinion on the CAP is a bit of a patchwork. Some people passionately denounce the very idea of reform; with equal passion, others yell at us to go faster. However, at the end of the [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/fischer-boel/cap-performing-well-says-silent-m
Tibet is again on our TV screens and on the front pages of our newspapers. We had a small taste of it here in Brussels yesterday when a group of demonstrators braced themselves against the cold wind outside the Council of Ministers. We discussed Tibet in the Commission meeting this morning. We urge the Chinese authorities [...]
When it comes to buying books I have to be protected against myself… the house is full of them, I carry books around in all my bags, my bedside table carries heaps of them – still I can not pass by a book store without buying more! Can I recommend to the Swedish readers “Fjärilen [...]
Yesterday I attended a Conference in Brussels which brought together more than 50 international women leaders, including female heads of states, ministers, heads of international organisations, business leaders, and civil society activists to discuss security and women’s empowerment. These included people such as Condoleezza Rice, Yulia Tymoshenko, Suzanne Mubarak and Ana Palacio, Vice President of [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/wallstrom/international-womens-day-8-march/
Dustin, where were you?! I was in Dublin for two whole days and while everyone talked about you, you never appeared. How disappointing! I always feel at home in Ireland: like Sweden, a small and beautiful European country which suffered a big exodus to America in the nineteenth century, and with a staple diet of potatoes. [...]
I’m back in my office now after a really interesting trip to Mexico and the United States. In Mexico I visited labs working on issues as diverse as corn genomics and pure mathematics. On the initiative of the Mexicans we also met with ministers of science from across Central America, who seemed to be really [...]
