Horrifically busy in the real world, hence the longest break in blogging on this site in more than six years. I am, however, still commenting away about the EU (among other things) in 140 characters or less on Twitter on a daily basis – that’s the best place to find me these days. You can get an RSS feed of my Twitter ramblings here – just be warned that it’s not all politics related, some of it’s personal, some of it’s very silly, and some of it’s very sweary.

Twitter has a wonderful ability to suddenly introduce you to new people – a 140 character limit meaning that you can read hundreds of different people’s opinions every day in a way that simply isn’t possible in long-form. If also means I’ve been coming across more ridiculous nonsense than I have in several years, as I keep getting alerted to stories and blog posts from sources I’d never normally come across by myself.

When these are EU-related, they’re normally incredibly familiar – the usual stories that get repeated year after year. Having, as I do, fairly extensive archives, I keep finding myself using old posts to rebut “new” stories – be it over the EU budget, the EU’s role in guaranteeing British freedom, the concept of an EU superstate. Along the way, I’ve got into arguments with anti-EU campaigners from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, the Bruges Group, OpenEurope and more.

It’s all great fun. A bit like blogging in the good old days, when I actually had time to read and comment on other blogs.

Having said that, I’m planning to start blogging again soon. I’m writing less and less in the day job these days (unless you count innumerable emails, Powerpoint presentations and planning documents), and am starting to get rusty.

There’s still a question of precisely what to write *about*, though. I’ve covered many of the broad EU issues – often several times. I have no time for party politics or the “personalities” of the Brussels bubble (something I’ve never been a part of anyway). I usually haven’t got the time – or expertise – for detailed policy analysis. And as entertaining as arguing with eurosceptics can be on Twitter, I prefer to keep the blog for considered argument and polite debate – turning the focus back to pointing out the flaws of eurosceptic arguments tends to attract the kind of responses I have no interest in dealing with.

And in any case, these days there are plenty of other EU bloggers to do that sort of thing – you can find them via Bloggingportal. (I remember when this here EUblogosphere were all fields – just me, EU Referendum (sadly increasingly shrill in its anti-EU vehemence these days), A Fistful of Euros, and a handful of others, now long since departed.)

So, back properly soon. Hopefully. At which point I’ll hopefully also find time to give this place a spring clean – some of the site’s code has broken, and a redesign is long overdue to make the text more readable. The only trouble is I’ve lost my FTP details, so can’t get in to change anything…

Jon Stewart’s take on the European Parliament is, it must be said, pretty much spot on…

A European elections follow-up from me, over at the Guardian.

I’ve been asked to give this a plug – the deadline’s 31st May, the age limit is 17-35, and the prize (of which there is one for every EU member state) is a trip to Berlin in August/September (just in time for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall). Over to the PR guy:

Applicants can write an article with their views on EU Enlargement and submit it on our website – it does not have to be long, it can be much less than the maximum 2,000 words. It can also be about Europhobia, we don’t mind! I am hoping that some of your members/writers might be able to share their views! Would it be possible to contact some of your writers or friends to let them know about the event? All national winners will be given an all expenses paid trip to Berlin where they can partake in an exciting conference with EU officials and the other international winners.

I’m not sure that there has ever been such a thing as an “exciting” conference with EU officials, but still. Berlin’s meant to be fun (I’ve still never been – perhaps I should enter…), so why not, eh?

I’m off to for a few days to stroll about Geneva, throw snowballs at skiers in the French Alps, wander round vineyards (well, their cellars at least) and eat lots of melted cheese while moaning about the exchange rate. So this time I’ve got an excuse other than laziness for lack of posts – dilettantism.

In the meantime, I’ve updated the Nosemonkey’s EUtopia Netvibes Universe with some new feeds of blogs that aren’t currently in the EU Blog Directory (but will be soon, honest!) – so check out the new additions, and let me know if I’m missing any. That should keep you going.

A few bits and bobs that have caught my eye over the last week or so:

Robert Amsterdam on Donald Rumsfeld’s legacy to Europe:

he was the original master artist of disaggregation – a man who saw and skillfully exploited the very fissures of the contemporary European Union which today threaten its purpose and continued existence as an alliance of nations… And this week, the Rumsfeldian conception of “old and new Europe” is making a comeback in the debate over how to handle Moscow’s threat to put missiles in Kaliningrad”

It’s not just over Russian missiles – old vs. new Europe seems to be an emerging theme in the ongoing confusion over how to tackle the growing economic storm, according to Eurozine:

Even if a common set of regulations and measures were to be reached, differences would be manifest between member states, and above all between West and East: unemployment, inflation, budgetary deficits would affect each country differently. The problem is that a recession would have more severe consequences in the fragile and unpredictable eastern European countries, including at the political level.

Also on the economy, Obsolete is (as ever) really rather good on the bizarre collapse of the Tory poll lead during the current crisis:

The man who promised an end to Tory boom and bust has succeeded in abolishing boom, while the prospects for the bust look increasingly ominous. The economy which he boasted was among the best placed to deal with the global downturn is in actual fact one of the worst placed to deal with it, according to the IMF and the European Union. Unrelenting, the Labour party believes that the solution is to borrow more to fund the tax cuts to stimulate the economy. As Larry Elliot has pointed out, this is a direct contradiction of what Gordon Brown formerly believed. At the weekend the same man attended a conference which he claimed would back up his solution to the downturn; it did nothing of the sort, and predictably only agreed to more or less meet again. Gordon Brown, by rights, ought to be finished.

Elsewhere, Jon Worth asks do you think Barroso is rubbish? With more in a similar vein from Jean Quatremer:

Si, jusqu’à présent, les voix critiques étaient rares, elles commencent à se faire entendre, ce qui montre que la campagne pour le renouvellement de la Commission a bel et bien commencé.

Complementing Quatremer’s overview, the Financial Times’s (new look) Brussels Blog asks

why are political parties of the left in such poor shape across much of Europe? It’s the worst financial crisis since the early 1930s, the worst economic recession since the early 1990s, if not the 1970s – and where is the left?

And finally, a very promising signal from the European Parliament:

MEPs today overwhelmingly backed calls to strengthen the EU’s anti-fraud unit OLAF to enable it to tackle fraud more effectively…

[report author Ingeborg Grässle MEP] said that the Parliament’s zeal to strengthen OLAF and how it worked was not shared by the member states. “The Council [of Ministers] doesn’t want to strengthen OLAF,” she said… She said the Council did not want awkward discussions about the fight against fraud.

Once again, one of the EU’s biggest problems and PR disasters can be blamed nice and neatly on the reluctance of the Council of Ministers – on the governments of the member states – to press ahead with reforms to increase both efficiency and transparency.

Busy and knackered, sorry… Should have something for you tomorrow. In the meantime, don’t forget the Nosemonkey Netvibes Universe – all kinds of European bloggy goodness, with a number of new additions over the last week or so.

And in case that doesn’t keep you going, some highlights from blogs and the press from the last couple of days, worthy of more attention/discussion:

Deutsche Welle – Making the Case for a Multi-Speed Europe
Deutsche Welle – EU Should Become Union of European Regions, Expert Says
Coulisses de Bruxelles – Commission: Barroso for ever?
Julien Frisch – Will the Euro become the leading global currency?
Financial Times – Reforms that would help euro punch its weight
Certain Ideas of Europe – Why do some Belgians want to become French?
Ironies Too – Belgium split threatens Europe not just the EU and the Lisbon Treaty!
EU Observer – Business favours Blair as EU president
Open Europe Blog – Why did the Doha talks collapse?
Centre for European Reform Blog – Should Europeans care about Doha?
International Herald Tribune – Berlusconi sends troops to back police
EurActiv – Roma MEP defends Italy’s fingerprinting measures
Spiegel Online – France and Other States Experiment with Direct Democracy
Publius – Réforme constitutionnelle et Europe

It’s about time I updated the EU Blog Directory, so here are the latest additions – some new, some merely new discoveries, all worth checking out. If I’m still missing any, please do let me know…

The 8th Circle
- “Corruption, democracy, and Eastern European politics.” Welcome addition to the world of Eastern European blogs, covering the region – and its relations with the rest of the EU – with rare insight and intelligence.

Alphasources
- Focussing primarily on European (and occasionally Japanese) macroeconomics, this is a handy addition to any reading list for those of us still struggling to get to grips with the complex interrelations of the European economies.

Blogging from Brussels
- Yes, that’s right – an EU politics blog written by a GIRL! Or, alternatively, a left(ish) leaning Swedish media officer at an unnamed Brussels-based think-tank, looking at European politics in the widest possible sense.

Brussels Media
- “A blog about the EU media landscape in Brussels” with an emphasis on the role the internet is starting to play in the EU public sphere.

EU Corruption
- “Despite appearances this isn’t a eurosceptic blog. But transparent and honest government is good government.” Critical and often insightful, it can only be hoped that it keeps going – we need more of this sort of thing.

Euro Watch
- Has been going for years (since 2002, in fact) and is a stupidly handy resource, packed full of in-depth yet easy-to-understand economic analysis and data – and with sub-blogs on the economies of France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain. Essential reading.
europa-eu-audience
- “The Institutions of the European Union endeavour to be transparent, open and accessible. They want to be seen in the best possible light by the public at large. We share this objective, and intend to contribute to its achievement.” – focussing primarily on EU politics on the web.

European Avenue
- EU news linklog, mostly rounding up EU content from the UK broadsheet press.

Ironies Too
- “A continuing chronicle of how democracy is being destroyed across the entire Euopean Union” – unsurprisingly, this is another eurosceptic blog, albeit one that’s readable, regular and interesting for a change. Worth a look, and long-running.

Julien Frisch
- Only launched in July 2008, even in its first few weeks this blog managed to attract attention for its frequent, eclectic and insightful posts on all things EU-related. If the same rate of posting is kept up, it could soon become one of the big boys…

Yellow Stars Blog
- “Christian Democrat and Pro European Union blog in support of a European world order!” Irregular posting (averaging just 4/5 a month) on eclectic European subjects, but well worth a look when new content appears.

Stanley’s Blog
- The first blog from the Blogactiv stable to merit its own listing – regular, informative and insightful, and already deserving of a place on the “must read” list.

The Tap
- From EU Referendum’s “Umbrella Blog” stable, little wonder this is another British eurosceptic. But despite a tendency to repeat many of the anti-EU/centre-right memes, there are nuggets of unexpected insight and better analysis than we have come to expect from the majority of anti-EU British blogs.

The Turko File
- “Blogging Turkey’s road to membership in the European Union” – we need more of this sort of thing: blogs analysing specific countries’ relationships with the EU. We’re inundated with British eurosceptics doing this sort of thing, and there’s a moderate number of French ones, but outside these two they’re surprisingly rare. Yet they’re also essential to understanding how and why the EU is doing what it’s doing.

Whitebull
- Blog spin-off of EU video news YouTube channel EUX.TV, there’s some good stuff here, as well as all their latest videos. Launched in May 2008, fingers crossed they keep the blog going.

Check out the rest on the EU Blog Directory.

Three things that have caught my eye this morning, in ascending order of importance:

1) Following a fun article on the impact a Tory victory in the next UK general election may have on the EU in this week’s Economist, there’s an interesting round-up of Conservative European election posters from the last couple of decades over at the Open Europe blog – a perfect illustration of the fundamental shift in Tory thinking on the EEC/EU that’s taken place over the last 30 years or so.

2) As EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson issues a stark warning about the need for unity over WTO talks, I stumble across EU Trade Policy: Approaching a Crossroads – a handy (mercifully short) briefing paper from Chatham House on the continued lack of a breakthrough in EU trade negotiations as we rumble towards the end of the Cotonou agreement and squabbles with the likes of Russia and China continue. Short version: it doesn’t look promising.

3) Medvedev Criticizes West in Tough Foreign Policy Speech – the usual Russian posturing, or the start of something new? Either way, “The EU and US have been warned”, apparently. Thanks for that, Dmitry! Meanwhile, the Financial Times urges standing up to Russia over Georgia – a much-ignored new Caucasian crisis that’s hardly getting any better, and Europe’s World has an article (promising-looking, but I haven’t had a chance to read in full just yet) on The EU, Russia and the crisis of the post-Cold War European order. From what I’ve seen so far, this looks like essential reading:

“The EU today cannot be described anymore as federalist state in the making – it is something much more complex and undefined. It resembles something closer to post-colonial India, with its mixture of languages, legal regimes, traditions and sensitivities, than it does post-War Germany or France. In the powerful metaphor of Jan Zielonka the post-enlargement EU is not a kind of Westphalia federation; it is more a kind of neo-medieval empire. There is no European demos and there probably never will be – but there is kind of European public. There are no final borders but moving borders and variable geometries. And it was Count Sergei Witte, Prime Minister under Nicholas II, who said there was no such thing as Russia, but only a Russian empire.”

Catching up on various blogs (and as part of my drive to post more frequently here, even if they are shorter pieces), a couple of interesting pieces from Cicero’s Songs – seemingly one of the few left(ish) liberal British political bloggers to have noticed the Irish Lisbon Treaty referendum result (perhaps because left(ish) liberal British political bloggers rarely seem to notice the EU – a bit of an elephant in the room, than…). In any case, both posts are well worth a read, whether you agree with them or not:

Where does the EU go from here?
“To my mind, the problem remains one of identity and legitimacy. The European Union has failed to justify, or even explain, its purpose… The EU used to define its purpose as creating ‘an ever closer union’ – in other words it had an open-ended commitment to increasing its role and the scope of its activities. The time has come for the EU to do the reverse and set the limits of its activities.”

Outvoting democracy
“As a Liberal commentary this blog believes that setting the limits to state power is a fundamental basis of freedom. The EU has been trying to change tack from ‘ever closer union’ towards more limited policy goals for some time. However the compromises embedded in the Constitutional treaty and the Lisbon treaty are simply too many and too complicated. The idea of comprehensive reform must be shelved- we can not bring either the majority of the states or the majority of the population to agreement at this point- and it is dangerous to try.

“The EU can only reconnect with the citizen if it can demonstrate that it serves a valuable purpose. Instead of the high-falutin’ words of Giscard d’Estaing’s Federalism, we should return to the practical usefulness of Functionalism.”

• The Lisbon Treaty – 6 questions
  “My confusion exists on a whole bunch of levels. So bear with me as I try to disentangle them and lay them before you in a discrete manner, as opposed to the Escher-designed gordian knot made entirely of pan-dimensional moebius strips in which they curren
  (tags: EU Ireland)
• Interesting interview with a pro-multi-tier Barroso
  Spun to make it sound nasty and capture attention from the Eurosceptics whose eyes are now all on Ireland (“Irish veto could be ignored!” etc.), but it’s more interesting for confirmation that the EU is heading towards a multi-speed system
  (tags: EU Ireland)
• Cherie Blair’s firm hired to stop EU treaty
  Yawn… Maybe I should hire a lawyer to take the government to court for not implementing any number of other manifesto pledges? A pointless waste of time with no chance of success. Why do rich people waste taxpayers money on such things?
  (tags: EU Euroscepticism)
• Putin’s affair with a woman young enough to be his daughter: the newspaper that broke the story is shut down
  Well THERE’s a surprise.
  (tags: Russia)
• Brown deal bars Blair from top EU job
  Ah! Petty personal rivalries between grown men! Don’t you just love ‘em?
  (tags: Britain EU)
• Breaking the grip of Gazprom
  Nicely balanced, short and snappy overview of the single biggest challenge currently facing the European Union – Russia’s ever-growing dominance of European gas supplies. Read. Now.
  (tags: Russia EU energy)
• Serbia’s Tadic says he would choose Kosovo over EU membership
  Why are people such idiots? A tiny region with no economic worth vs. access to one of the world’s most successful markets. Can someone please explain?
  (tags: Serbia Kosovo idiocy)

• Coolest thing ever
  Not least because one of the engineers has the gloriously Pynchonian name Wayco Scroggin… (Yes US army prototype-Gundam robosuits have nothing to do with the EU, but I want one.)
  (tags: Random)
• EU parliament under fire for lack of transparency
  “If the two largest political groups oppose enhanced transparency arrangements it must be because they have something to hide”. Nice one, MEPs. Way to inspire confidence.
  (tags: EU)
• National positions on EU budget reform
  It’s up there with the CAP (largely because of the CAP) as one of the most difficult areas of the EU to reform, so what’s the current thinking on the way forward, and is there any chance of agreement?
  (tags: EU)
• Council of Europe Declares Unlimited Abortion an Unconditional Right for all of Europe
  At least, so claims an anti-abortion Christian group. Doubtless not quite that simple – but would be an important and overdue step in the right direction, towards overturning the outmoded dominance of medievalist Catholic doctrine
  (tags: Religion Civil_Liberties)
• Russia Expands Support for Breakaway Regions in Georgia
  Ah.. The Kosovo precedent! Looks like politics is being played in the Caucasus with South Ossetia and Abkhazia gaining support from Moscow – but Russian eyes are firmly on the Balkans and the planned new gas pipeline through Serbia
  (tags: Russia Georgia Serbia Kosovo Energy)
• How Will Berlusconi’s Return Affect EU, NATO, Trans-Atlantic Relations?
  Is Silvio planning to cozy up to Russia? It rather looks like it, what with Putin being the first foreign leader Berlusconi’s meeting with (today) since regaining the office of Prime Minister. A potentially very interesting development…
  (tags: Italy Russia)

• Irish MEP assaulted after Lisbon Treaty meeting
  It seems tempers are starting to flare in Ireland ahead of their referendum on the treaty. It seems I should look westwards for a change – especially as I’ve got a book review to do on the thing for the TLS by the end of the month…
  (tags: Ireland EU)
• Welcome to Berlusconi’s Italy
  “Let’s set up camps for jobless foreigners. You know, to concentrate them in one place so we can keep tabs on them. What would be a snappy name for such camps for concentration, I wonder?”
  (tags: Italy)
• And so the Barroso Commission starts to disband
  Yep – Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini, former Italian Foreign Minister during Berlusconi’s last government, looks set to head home as the Commission enters its final 18 months and they all start giving up on the thing.
  (tags: Italy EU)
• An appeal to slow down on biofuel
  I neither know nor care much about this, but it does strike me as silly to be burning food and encouraging deforestation in an effort to save the environment.
  (tags: EU environment)
• Even pro-EU federalists hate the CAP
  You know why? Because it’s the single most God-awful, indefensible part of the European Union, with so few redeeming features as to make it worthy of little beyond wholesale abolition.
  (tags: EU CAP)
• Russia: The New And Improved Single-Party State
  “Unified Russia is more than just a ruling party. It is the single reservoir of the country’s political, business, and bureaucratic elite.”
  (tags: Russia)
• More on the official confirmation of Putin’s new job, yesterday
  “Putin, 55, is set to become Russia’s most powerful prime minister ever, undercutting the presidency three weeks before he hands over”
  (tags: Russia)
• Deal to ease EU reliance on Russian gas
  Ah – now this is a promising first step. Even if it does mean having to rely on Turkmenistan. And even if we don’t yet have the pipelines to get the gas to us…
  (tags: EU energy Central_Asia)

• “The most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world” – maybe not
  “the picture for the EU is quite terrible. Bulgaria ranks lowest of the EU 27 – 68th place, below… El Salvador, Uruguay, Barbados, Tunisia, Egypt and Costa Rica” – what IS Bulgaria doing in the EU?
  (tags: EU Bulgaria)
• Could Slovakia screw the Lisbon Treaty’s chances?
  The vote’s already been delayed once… The Slovak government needs a 3/5ths majority (on a quorum, I believe) to pass the treaty – and the opposition are threatening to abstain en masse. Which would mean no ratification.
  (tags: EU Slovakia)
• Central Asia: EU Sees ‘Huge Scope For Cooperation’
  Interview with EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner on what the EU’s plans are for the strategically vital – yet decidedly dodgy – Central Asian region. Read between the lines, there’s some interesting clues.
  (tags: EU Central_Asia)
• Consolidated EU Lisbon Treaty
  Finally – the official consolidated treaty will be available from 15th April. This post from GrahLaw provides handy links to a bunch of other existing versions in various languages.
  (tags: EU)