Fri, Feb 10 2012
A sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
In the overture to its new five-year term, the European Parliament will be briefed by Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on his country’s priorities for its EU presidency, and will elect an EP President – but a vote on a second term for EC chief Jose Barroso is months away.
Heads of state and government of the European Union formally endorse EC President Jose Barroso for a second term, but opposition and misgivings from socialist, Green and liberal parties could continue.
Countries backpedal on support for a second term for European Commission President Jose Barroso in apparent attempts to make gains in bids for EC portfolios.
June 4 to 7 saw the simultaneous conducting of national political surveys rather than a single election.
Opposition parties stuck in talks on joint candidates who could be the answer to their prayers.
While the centre-right victories in the European Parliament elections were a boost for Jose Barroso’s bid for a second term as European Commission President, a working coalition of socialists and Greens is moving against him – and proposals to delay a decision could trip him up, too.
Central Election Commission says Borissov’s party gets five seats. The Blue Coalition, with one seat, will get two if the Lisbon Treaty comes into force.
European Commission President says Europe owes it to voters to show that it can deliver; around the EU, a new political reality emerges with shifts to the right – and the far-right.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has let it be known he would like a second term in office. He has his backers, but his detractors too
Foreign ministries criticise website that calls on visitors to lodge complaints against immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe.
‘I am delighted we managed to identify and attract some of the brightest and best people from Bulgaria and Romania to come and work at the European Commission,’ EC Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said.
The current ‘negative Arctic Oscillation’ – a weather phenomenon which leads to cold conditions in Europe and relatively warmer conditions in the Arctic – should shift into a more neutral pattern within the next two to three weeks.
The extreme cold has been blamed for almost 400 deaths across Europe. In Ukraine, where temperatures have fallen below minus 30 degrees Celsius, the cold is blamed for at least 122 deaths. Many of the victims were homeless.
At the end of Q3 2011, the highest government debt to GDP ratio was in Greece, at 159.1 per cent.