Back in the office after the trip to Liverpool. And what a trip it was! I got up there on time to make sure the cars were there, before the President and his entourage arrived. We drove to Liverpool and once we had all checked in and put our stuff in our rooms, a fewContinue reading “Totally starstruck”
Category Archives: Euonym
Your right to get treatment in another EU country
A crazy day today, with the announcement about the proposal to clarify an individual’s rights to get healthcare in another country. We came in this morning to find it was front page of the Daily Mail – positive EU coverage on the front page of the Mail!! An expert in the issue had come overContinue reading “Your right to get treatment in another EU country”
Pif Paf Pof
It’s in the Scottish papers today that Alyn Smith MEP is starting a campaign for Scotland to have its own entry to the Eurovision song contest. There’s quite a lot to be said for that (ie it might have a chance of doing well!). But actually the first year’s entry is already written – don’tContinue reading “Pif Paf Pof”
Happy birthday booze cruise
Today is the 40th birthday of the Customs Union. One of the things I find when you talk to people about the EU is that some of the benefits have been around for so long that people take them for granted and only look at the immediate (true of anything I suppose). But without theContinue reading “Happy birthday booze cruise”
Hanging around in limbo
I was in Brussels this weekend, to work on getting the house organised and see my friends of course. It was Rachel’s birthday and so we had a lovely brunch outside the Orangerie in Parc d’Egmont on Sunday. Most of my closest friends were there, which was lovely, but it was really strange to haveContinue reading “Hanging around in limbo”
First the cucumbers, now the kiwis
[Sigh] One step forward, two steps back… The redtops are full of a story today about a market trader who is being fined for his kiwis being 1mm smaller than the rules for grade 2 kiwis allow. Of course “Brussels bureaucrats” are getting the blame. Now, there are a number of things here: 1) We doContinue reading “First the cucumbers, now the kiwis”
Headless chicken
It’s been a bit of a bonko day today, with me running around like the proverbial headless chicken. Tuesday is planning day, when we have our regular team meeting, so I spent the morning trying to work out what would be happening in the next week or so, which Commissioners are coming to town andContinue reading “Headless chicken”
London is a village
I’ve already discovered how small London can be due to various overlaps with people – Hannah and the architecture festival, for example. But it was literally a village on Saturday when I met my friend Kathryn and we took her son to the Holy Trinity Fete on Clapham Common. It was all a traditional EnglishContinue reading “London is a village”
Getting a message across
One of the problems I face here in London is a very sophisticated media structure and a very sophisticated audience. You see this immediately if you compare your average UK ad and your average Belgian ad. We in the UK focus much more on humour, or design or innovation. That’s a programme that we haveContinue reading “Getting a message across”
Doing something for consumers
We’ve created a bit of a buzz today with the visit of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Magdalena Kuneva – the FT picked up some of a speech that she’s giving today, where she says she wants to stop on-line retailers being able to limit sales to one country. So if I want to buy an computerContinue reading “Doing something for consumers”