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 [...]
How can you trust a country to have a serious vote when its citizens have recently voted to have a puppet turkey represent it in the Eurovision song contest?! I joke of course…
Tomorrow and Friday I will be in Ireland where I have been invited to speak at the National Forum on Europe. I will [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/wallstrom/ireland-debate-radio-and-turkeys/
My attempt to get at least a light sun tan from my skiing experience in Austria failed miserably. Not a cloud. Sunshine every day. Lots of snow to reflect it. Outdoor activities from 9 am to 4 pm. Then I received an sms from a friend asking why I looked so pale in the photos [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/wallstrom/skiing-lisbon-treaty-and-the-eurosce
I prefer cross country skiing but going downhill in the Austrian Alps this week was fabulous. Sunny blue skies and a few degrees below zero. But a cruel reality reached even the small municipality here where the mayor was poisoned with strychnine injected into a piece of chocolate and a [...]
Is truth stranger than fiction, as the old saying tells us? Not always. Nevertheless, we live in an age when many things which used to belong to the realm of writers’ and film-makers’ imaginations are becoming reality.
One of these is the cloning of animals to produce meat and milk.
This has been possible for some time. [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/fischer-boel/cloning-breeding-animals-must-not
On 20th November, I put my ideas on the table on how to further improve, modernise and streamline the Common Agricultural Policy.
The Health Check is a chance to build on the reforms introduced since 2003 and prepare both the CAP and farmers for new challenges and opportunities.
And here I don’t only mean market opportunities, although [...]
blogs.ec.europa.eu/fischer-boel/the-cap-health-check-your-thought
