China has  postponed its 1 December Lyon summit with the EU saying it was unhappy that Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama would be visiting Europe at the same time.  According to the EU, the decision was based “on the fact that the Dalai Lama will be visiting several EU countries and will meet [...]

The EU and Chinese officials prepare for the bilateral summit in Lyon on 1 December with a large black cloud overshadowing them.  It is in the shape of the Dalai Lama.  Beijing deeply resents the attention being paid him by European governments and the European Parliament.  In particular, Nicolas Sarkozy, who will co-chair the summit, [...]

 Like many, I look forward to the Czech Presidency, which begins on 1 January, with some trepidation.  Not because the Czech Republic is a small and new member – Slovenia ran the Presidency in the first half of this year, but because of the attitude of the leaders to the Union itself.  Vaclav Klaus has just [...]

The much heralded G20 Washington meeting of 15 November has come and gone.  Did it live up to its hype?  Was it just a talk shop?  Will it be remembered next year?  Some dust has settled and it is possible to draw preliminary conclusions.The successful holding of a meeting bringing together such an unwieldy group [...]

‘Solidarity’ used to be regarded as a foundation stone of the ECSC, EEC, EC and now EU.  In response to criticism by Nicolas Sarkozy of the proposed siting of the US missile, system, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that it wasn’t Sarkozy’s place to take a stand on missile defence. Tusk said missile defense [...]

The Irish government’s preoccupation with ensuring that it does not lose a Commissioner speaks loudly of its choice of current political priorities.  Declan Ganley, leader of the Libertas group, and a force behind the No vote, says that the declarations discussed by the Irish government on a permanent Commissioner and other issues would not have any [...]

Congratulations on the opening of China’s first Sino-foreign managed law school, the China-EU School of Law (CESL), in Beijing on 24 October.   The CESL is part of the China University of Political Science and Law and jointly operated by 16 Chinese and European universities. The CESL aims to cultivate a new generation of comprehensively trained [...]

Vaclav Klaus’ state visit the Ireland fills one with forboding ahead of the Czech Presidency.  And what happened to diplomacy?  The Czech President is entitled to his views but also expected to conform with protocol.       Klaus met anti-Lisbon group Libertas and its founder, Declan Ganley.  At a joint press conference, the President endorsed Libertas’ [...]

Those entitled to attend this week’s G8 meeting in Washington are its 20 members: France – Germany – Italy – UK – EU (Presidency & ECB) Russia – Turkey Canada – US Argentina – Brazil – Mexico Saudi Arabia – South Africa China – India – Indonesia – Japan – South Korea Australia plus IMF World Bank [...]

The G 20 talks take place in Washington on 15 November.  The EU extraordinary summit agreed on 7 November a set of principles that should guide future talks on the reform of the global financial architecture.  President Sarkozy stated afterwards that the world will have to get used to it that the EU now speaks [...]