Monthly Archives: September 2008

What’s the difference between kiwi fruit and bread?

Sounds like a bad joke, doesn’t it? Well the answer, if you’re the Daily Mail, is that the EU is crazy to have rules standardising the former and crazy to take away rules standardising the latter. Does that make sense to you? I have to admit that I’m baffled. Personally, I think doing away withContinue reading “What’s the difference between kiwi fruit and bread?”

Commission takes measures to protect European citizens from products with melamine-contaminated milk from China

Just so you know where we are on the whole milk question in China. The Commission will adopt safeguard measures to protect European citizens from melamine-contaminated milk products from China. These precautionary measures are in addition to the existing ban on the import of milk and milk products into the EU from China. The EuropeanContinue reading “Commission takes measures to protect European citizens from products with melamine-contaminated milk from China”

Straight back down to earth

Back in the real world after the heady political junkie-ism of Manchester. My appearance on BBC News 24 got bounced to much later in the evening due to Gordon’s speech running over time, so I first went to the reception given by the Irish Ambassador. Met some interesting people there. That was really the pointContinue reading “Straight back down to earth”

Continuing at the conference

You couldn’t do this too often – your liver, waistline and synapses would all suffer from the excess of snack food and alcohol and lack of sleep. But it has certainly been fun. I’ve attended some interesting debates on the fringe, met more useful people in 3 days than in the previous 3 months andContinue reading “Continuing at the conference”

Panic on the streets of London…

Panic on the streets of Manchester… well maybe not panic, actually the atmosphere has been much better than you might have thought. Maybe it was because the sun was shining. It’s gone now, and there is a much more sober feeling to today, though that might have something to do with my slight hangover afterContinue reading “Panic on the streets of London…”

Off on my travels

After a few years of seeing the world with Janez (Japan and Russia on ITER, US for the world’s biggest science gathering, Prague for the Descartes Prize ceremony, Turkey and Macedonia to negotiate their entry to the EU’s science programme) I have come down to Earth with a bump. So now it’s Liverpool and Manchester thatContinue reading “Off on my travels”

Britain in Europe

I went to the launch today of a report by Chatham House on “A British Agenda for Europe“. Whatever your views on the subject, any politics graduate would be excited about being in a room with Shirley Williams and Helen Wallace. Well maybe excited is a bit much, but it was still great. The documentContinue reading “Britain in Europe”

How much do you know about the EU

I mentioned the quiz yesterday. Fancy a shot yourself? 1) What is the source of the EU anthem?        a)      Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony      b)      Mozart’s Magic Flute      c)      Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique     2)      How many stars does the EU flag have?        a)      6 – representing the founding members     Continue reading “How much do you know about the EU”

Kevin is safe

Several papers carried pieces over the weekend about an EU ruling putting small garages out of business, because they won’t be able to get information about cars from the major manufacturers. This is all about something called the “block exemption” which has allowed agreements to have been made between car companies and independent garages. ThereContinue reading “Kevin is safe”