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Politics

Latest news, analysis and comment on European politics.

Page: 1391

Rising tsar

December 5, 2007 5:00 pm CET

Attention must now turn to structural funds

November 14, 2007 5:00 pm CET

Potocnik plots EU’s energy destiny

November 14, 2007 5:00 pm CET

European champion

November 7, 2007 5:00 pm CET

MEPs open door for a sensible opium strategy

October 30, 2007 6:00 pm CET

Lisbon is EU’s launch pad onto world stage

October 24, 2007 5:00 pm CET
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Cynical play over a referendum

Gordon Brown has – tantalisingly or disquietingly, depending on your perspective – raised the prospect of a referendum in Britain on the reform treaty. It is a cynical, dishonest and damaging ploy.

October 3, 2007 5:00 pm CET

The loyalist

It is not every day that a minister in charge of security and policing admits to smoking drugs. But then Jacqui Smith, the UK home secretary, had already broken a bigger taboo even before she admitted to an occasional puff at university by becoming the first woman to hold the post.

September 19, 2007 5:00 pm CET

Torch-bearer

Placing a woman, Christine Lagarde, at the head of the economy, finance and employment ministry is a first for France. While Lagarde is relatively new to politics her veneration for free-market economics ensures that she will have no qualms defending President Nicolas Sarkozy’s version of “complex-free capitalism”.

August 29, 2007 5:00 pm CET

Movers & Shakers

  • The European Commission has appointed Martine Reicherts as director-general of the publications office. She is currently director of the Commission’s office for infrastructure and logistics in Luxembourg. From 1998-1999, she was spokeswoman for Jacques Santer, the then president of the Commission.

  • The Commission has appointed Gerhard Schumann-Hitzler, currently a head of unit in the transport and energy department, as a director of resources in the department for enlargement.

  • The Commission also appointed Marcel Jortay as a director in its informatics department where he is already acting director.

  • The Commission has appointed Dirk Beckers, who is currently head of the resources unit in the transport and energy department, to be director of the TEN-T executive agency.

  • French socialist MEP Martine Roure has been made a vice-president of the European Parliament, filling the vacancy created by the departure of Pierre Moscovici.

  • The College of Europe has appointed Ewa Osniecka-Tamecka as vice-rector of its Natolin (Warsaw) campus. Dominik Hanf has been named director of studies at Natolin. Paul Demaret, the rector of the College of Europe, has had his term renewed for a further five years.

  • Alison Brimelow has succeeded Alain Pompidou as president of the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. Her term of office is set at three years.

  • Kevin Bradley, who was heading the energy and environment team at Hill & Knowlton’s Brussels office, has moved to the Weinberg Group.

  • Logos Public Affairs has created a senior advisory board and appointed Charles Laroche, who is vice-president, European external affairs with Unilever, to be its first senior advisor.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 5409071

    • July 11, 2007 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • Jeremy Galbraith, chief executive of the Brussels office of Burson-Marsteller, has been appointed chief executive of Burson-Marsteller Europe, in charge of 16 offices, with effect from 1 September. Robert Mack has been promoted to lead the Brussels office and David Earnshaw will become chairman of Burson-Marsteller Brussels.

  • David Coleman has been appointed head of EU affairs for McDonald’s Europe, based in the company’s Brussels office.

  • Christodoulos A. Protopapas, chief executive of HellasSat has been elected chairman of the European Satellite Operators’ Association for 2007-2008, succeeding Michael Butler.

  • Markus Becker is moving at the end of June from the Brussels office of RWE to join GE Energy in Brussels as a European energy policy and market development executive.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to
    [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 540 9071

    • June 27, 2007 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • The European Petroleum Industry Association, EUROPIA, has appointed Isabelle Muller, deputy secretary-general, as its new secretary-general, to take over from Peter Tjan.

  • Hans ten Berge took over from Paul Bulteel as the new secretary-general of EURELECTRIC, the association representing the electricity industry at pan-European level, with effect from 12 June.

  • Elizabeth Morin has joined the ranks of France’s UMP MEPs. She replaces Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin who has become minister for health, youth and sport in the French government.

  • The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) has elected as its new president Arthur J. Higgins, chairman of the board of management of Bayer HealthCare, to succeed Franz B. Humer, chairman and chief executive of Hoffmann-La Roche, who will be EFPIA vice-president together with Jean-François Dehecq, chairman of Sanofi-Aventis SA.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 5409071

    • June 13, 2007 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • Joris Nachtergaele has been appointed public affairs manager for APEAL, the association of European producers of packaging steel, based in Brussels.

  • Ioannis Smyrlis has been elected president of the Youth of the European People’s Party for the next two years. Thomas Schneider has been elected first vice-president and Martin Humer becomes secretary-general.

  • The European Broadcasting Union has appointed as its technical director with effect from September Lieven Vermaele, who joins from Alcatel-Lucent. Before that he worked for six years for the Flemish broadcaster VRT.

  • EuroNews has appointed Jean-Luc Maertens as head of distribution for Africa. He was formerly with Canal France International as head of Africa and the Indian Ocean.

  • Jason Fry has been appointed secretary-general of the international court of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.

  • Monique Goyens has been appointed director-general of BEUC, the European consumers’ organisation to succeed Jim Murray in October. Willemien Bax has been promoted to the new post of deputy director-general.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 5409071

    • May 30, 2007 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • The City of London Corporation has appointed Mike Vercnocke as head of its Brussels office from 1 July. Currently a director at Houston Consulting Europe, he has worked in Brussels since 1995 when he came to work for the European Commission on secondment from the Bank of England. He later worked for the European Banking Federation.

  • Graham Neale has been appointed president of EU soft drinks representatives UNESDA for the next two years. His term as president of the British Soft Drinks Association, BDSA, ends later this year, but he will continue to be vice-president of nutritional healthcare at GlaxoSmithKline.

  • Christopher Burghardt is joining InBev as director corporate affairs on 1 July. He was previously Hill & Knowlton’s vice-president, business development and marketing for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

  • Roberto Cavalieri has been re-elected president of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), a post he has held since June 2005.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 5409071

    • May 23, 2007 5:00 pm CET

    Bolkestein aide reveals life on the inside

    Life of a European mandarin: inside the Commission by Derk-Jan Eppink (Lannoo, 2007), also in Dutch as Europese Mandarijnen: achter de schermen van de Europese Commissie

    April 25, 2007 5:00 pm CET

    The Namesake

    Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, a senior Cabinet minister now for a decade, is a man who wants to be Prime Minister. In fact, he very, very much wants to be prime minister. His ambition, which can sometimes lie only clumsily hidden, may soon come to greater prominence as Ireland begins to consider life after his namesake, but no relation, Bertie Ahern, who has held the top job since 1997.

    April 11, 2007 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has appointed Miklos Hinfner to look after passenger transport at its permanent delegation in Brussels. He was previously secretary-general of MKFE, the Hungarian road transport operator which is a member association of the IRU.

  • The Council of Ministers has approved changes to the membership of the Committee of the Regions for the rest of its current mandate which lasts until 25 January 2010. Emilia Müller, the Bavarian minister for federal and European affairs, has been appointed a member, replacing Eberhard Sinner. Edmund Stoiber, minister president of Bavaria, has been appointed to replace Müller as an alternate member. Uta-Maria Kuder, justice minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, is appointed member, replacing Helmut Holter. For the same German state, Deflef Müller is appointed alternate member, replacing Sylvia Bretschneider. Petru Filip, mayor of Oradea in Romania, is appointed an alternate member, replacing Andrei Chiliman.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 5409071

    • April 11, 2007 5:00 pm CET

    France did a Zidane to EU, says Barrot

    France’s European Commissioner Jacques Barrot has urged the candidates in his country’s presidential elections to stop their “unjustified criticism of Europe” and accused them of “serious economic ignorance”.

    March 28, 2007 5:00 pm CET
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    Movers & Shakers

  • The European Commission has appointed Daniele Smadja, currently director of multilateral relations and human rights in its external relations department, to be head of its delegation in New Delhi, India.

  • Sarah Clarkson has become communications manager of the European region of Airports Council International. She joins from the European Aluminium Association where she was public relations manager.

  • Amar Sinha, who handled trade and economic affairs at India’s embassy in Brussels, has been appointed India’s ambassador to Tajikistan.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 5409071

    • March 14, 2007 6:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • Hubert Weber was elected president of the Court of Auditors for a period of three years. Weber, of Austrian nationality, has been a member of the Luxembourg-based Court of Auditors since March 1995.

  • High Representative for foreign policy Javier Solana appointed Michael Matthiessen as his personal representative for human rights.

    H
  • Ivan Bizjak, the Slovenian minister for justice in 2000-04, has been appointed the new director-general for justice and home affairs in the Council of Ministers. The 49-year-old has previously been ombudsman, minister of the interior and an MP.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 540 9071

    • January 19, 2005 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • MALGORZATA Alterman, head of press and media relations at the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU, has been appointed spokeswoman for the European Defence Agency.

  • STEFAN Vilner is the new chairman of the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA).

  • THE European Cockpit Association (ECA) has appointed Philip von Schöppenthau as its new secretary general. German national von Schöppenthau took up his new post on 3 January.

  • The European Parliament has re-elected Greek Nikiforos Diamandouros as European Ombudsman with 564 votes. His challenger Giuseppe Fortunato received 45 votes.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 540 9071.

    • January 12, 2005 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • BERNARD Damiens, who is strategic and regulatory affairs director at the Belgian De Post/La Poste, is to be chairman of PostEurop, the postal operators group, from 1 January 2005.

  • THE European Commission has appointed Günther Hanreich as the new director-general of Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Commission. The 50-year old Austrian replaces Michel Vanden Abeele, who was appointed in May 2003, when allegations of fraud at Eurostat surfaced.

  • FRANZ Fischler, European commissioner for agriculture until last month, is joining the International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council, a group of 38 independent leaders in food and agricultural trade from 21 developed, developing and least-developed countries.

  • THREE ex-employees of Hill & Knowlton have set up their own public relations company in Brussels, called Aspect. James Hunt and Jerry Baston have teamed up with Frans Green.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 540 9071.

    • December 15, 2004 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • DANIELA Israelachwili has been appointed director-general of the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA). She will take over from Raymond Destin from January. The Italian Israelachwili worked in 1987-2001 for the Brussels-based Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE), as director of the economic and financial affairs department, then deputy and acting secretary-general. In 2002, she returned to Italy to work as a management consultant.

  • MONIKA Heiming has been appointed secretary-general of the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA). She takes over from Klaus Meyer on 1 January.

  • BENEDIKT Weibel, chief executive officer of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), has been reappointed chairman of the International Union of Railways (UIC) for 2005 and 2006. He has been chairman of UIC since January 2003. The Union’s three vice-chairmen for 2004-05 will be Karel Vinck, managing director of the Belgian national railway company (SNCB) and chairman of the Community of European Railways (CER), Jean-Marie Bertrand, CEO of Réseau Ferré de France and president of the European Rail Infrastructures Managers (EIM), and Ravindra Singh, who is also chairman of the World Executive Council of UIC.

  • JOHN Kjaer, the new head of the European Commission’s Representation in East Jerusalem (the Palestinian part), took up his post on 28 November. Kjaer was previously head of the European Commission Representation in Estonia.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 540 9071.

    • December 8, 2004 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • MARK Leonard will join the Centre for European Reform (CER) in early 2005 as director of foreign policy. Leonard’s remit at the CER will include EU foreign policy, transatlantic relations, Middle East reform and EU-China relations. He was previously director of the Foreign Policy Centre.

  • DANE Rasmus Kjeldahl has been elected president of the consumers’ organization BEUC. Kjeldahl is the executive director of the Danish Consumer Council (Forbrugerrådet). At the same time, Slovene Breda Kutin was elected vice-president of Brussels-based BEUC, which represents consumer associations from 27 states.

  • MARIA Sørensen will be the spokesperson for Hungary’s László Kovács, commissioner for taxation and customs.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 540 9071.

    • December 1, 2004 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • STEPHANE Ducable will join Microsoft’s government affairs team in Brussels beginning in December. He will be the director of external affairs and manage overall EU advocacy for the company. Ducable, who is a lawyer trained in French law, comes to Microsoft from Alcatel where he headed up the corporate affairs operation from 1997 onwards.

  • LITHUANIA’S Renaldas Vaisbrodas was elected president of the Youth Forum at the institution’s general assembly held in Madrid on 11-13 November. Vaisbrodas replaces Giacomo Filibeck.

  • UWE Breuer, director of R+V Allgemeine Versicherung AG (Germany), has been appointed the new chairman of the CEA Accident Insurance Committee. Breuer succeeds Jean Royer, AXA director. The CEA is the European insurance federation, consisting of 32 national member associations.

  • INTERNATIONAL Road Federation Geneva’s board of directors has elected Tony Pearce as director-general, Brussels/Geneva. Pearce, 54, had been acting director-general of the platform, which represents the global road sector, since June.

  • Send details of Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on +32/2 540 9071.

    • November 24, 2004 5:00 pm CET

    Movers & Shakers

  • THE European Investment Bank’s board of governors appointed Ivan Pilip to the post of vice-president for a term of three years. Pilip will be responsible for financing operations in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the financing of transport, energy and communication networks and cooperation with the European Commission in the area of co-financing with structural funds.

  • Amador Sanchez Rico replaces Gilles Gantelet as spokesman for Energy and Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. Frenchman Gantelet meanwhile moves on to the post of spokesman for Jacques Barrot, in charge of regional policy, replacing Pierre-Jérôme Henin.

  • Send details for Movers & Shakers to [email protected] or by fax on: 32/2 540 9071.

    • June 16, 2004 5:00 pm CET

    Schulz seeks Socialist succession

    The race to succeed Enrique Barón Crespo as leader of the Socialist group in the European Parliament is hotting up. German MEP Martin Schulz is the front-runner …

    February 25, 2004 5:00 pm CET

    Could Debbie be just the Gül for Abdullah?

    OK, SO she’s American. But Deborah Harry and her band Blondie obviously have important fans across the European Union and would-be member states. After watching a superb, …

    December 3, 2003 5:00 pm CET

    Schulz favourite to lead Socialists in Parliament

    GERMAN deputy Martin Schulz has emerged as an early favourite in the election of a new leader of the socialists in the European Parliament.

    January 22, 2003 5:00 pm CET

    Socialists in turmoil as MEPs defect to hard left

    THE troubled Group of Socialists in the European Parliament this week suffered another blow following the defection of four French members.

    July 17, 2002 5:00 pm CET
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