European Council 17th June
A very interesting European Council is to be held on June 17, although shorter than usual (the summit of EU leaders). This time the summit will be just a day instead of the usual 2 days. However, it is expected to be much more tense. Not only because the Union is facing much more serious problems than those with the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty or even those with its predecessor - the draft of a European Constitution. This is why the entire team of euinside is in Brussels and we will try and provide you with all the interesting issues and positions.
| © European UnionIceland is opening and closing accession chapters
Precisely two years after it submitted a membership application to the European Union, Iceland has started the real negotiations on June 27 with the opening of four chapters and the closure of two of them. In July 2010 started the screening of Icelandic legislation, which ended on Monday thus cl ...
| © Larus Karl IngasonIceland is no longer certain whether it wants to join the EU
The European Union is living through tough times which again raise the question - is this type of organisation able to withstand global pressure? The question is extremely important not only for the member states themselves but not to a lesser extent for those countries that are somewhere on the ...
| © euinsideOf people and whales ... and of the European Union
As euinside wrote several times so far, one of the major problems facing Iceland's bid for EU membership would be whaling. This problem has been explicitly mentioned in European Parliament's resolution of last week, in which the MEPs called on Iceland to stop whaling. But how serious this matter ...
| © euinsideEP: Iceland's EU membership will help the Union geopolitically
The European Parliament endorsed on Wednesday a resolution, welcoming the decision of the European Council from June 17 giving Iceland a green light to start EU accession negotiations. According to the rapporteur of the resolution, the Romanian MEP Cristian Dan Preda (EPP), Iceland's membership ...
| © European CouncilEP condemnded the lack of control in European Council's conclusions
Members of the European Parliament heavily criticised the conclusions of the June 17 European Council because of a lack of a clear control on non-compliance with budgetary discipline. This happened during a hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels of the president of the European Council H ...
| © DG EnlargementIceland has a green light to start accession negotiations with the EU
It might sound familiar that at the European Council on June 17 in Brussels the news about Iceland being given green light to start EU accession negotiations got lost among the pile of other "more important" issues in EU leaders' agenda. This used to happen quite often to Bulgaria too when the c ...
| © euinsideMEPs: EU leaders have failed the stress-test
Some of the major groups in the European Parliament gave contradictory assessments on the results of the European Council on June 17. The evaluation of the largest group, the European People's Party, is entirely positive. Which is understandable, given that the European Council (and also the Eur ...
| © European CouncilA European stalemate
There is a situation in chess, called stalemate when neither of players wins or loses. This is the situation the European Union has reached after decades of institutional, economic and currency building. And although it might have seemed that Britain was the only winner at last Thursday's Europe ...
| © Ralitsa Kovacheva | www.euinside.euEU : EU - 1 : 1
While we were waiting for EU leaders to appear for the final press conference at the Council, some smart guy from the administration of the building switched the football match between Greece and Nigeria on the large screens in the room. Just in time to see Greece scoring. It is impressive that ...
| © Ralitsa Kovacheva| www.euinside.euThe European Parliament wants a key role in EU governance
The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek was the first politician who met the media during the European Council last Thursday. Buzek defined the Council as "fundamental", because its is on its decisions the future generations will depend life on. The President did not conceal the dis ...
| © euinsideBulgaria is not worried that its budget will be peer reviewed
"No, I am not because, I repeat - currently we have one of the smallest fiscal deficits. When all European countries reach our level of deficit, then it will not be politically difficult to do the necessary cuts, reductions of pensions, if necessary or of social aid, because everyone in Europe w ...
| © Ralitsa Kovacheva | www.euinside.euThe European Council is expected to be short but decisive
There are two theses on the issue why this European Council is different - just one day, in spite of the heavy agenda. One thesis is that a compromise had been agreed already on key issues and it will be just announced officially. The other is that the difficult decisions will be postponed. The ...
| © Downing Street 10