Latest blog articles
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Questions surrounding how the EU budget is spent or audited have been, and will always be, of interest to EU citizens. Formally, the responsibility for the implementation of the budget rests with the Commission, but it is well known that the Member States have a crucial role to play, especially in...
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On 4 March 2021, Italy decided to block a shipment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine that was destined for Australia. This remarkable move, notably made in response to AstraZeneca’s delay in providing the agreed doses of vaccines by the set deadlines, is the first of its kind since the...
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Published on MLR blogs. What do documents about negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), oversight of the EU’s Food Safety Authority or Tax-Justice have in common? In order to access these documents, (selected) Members of the European Parliament are requested to...
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We speak of a political dialogue if a National Parliament wants to exchange thoughts with the Commission, or has got objections regarding another substance. From the perspective of the legitimacy of the EU it’s a wonderful thing that National Parliaments exchange thoughts with the Commission and...
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On Tuesday, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union declared the Commission’s US Safe Harbour Decision invalid. The Court’s ruling in Case C-362/14 of the Austrian Internet activist Maximillian Schrems v the Irish Data Protection Commissioner is a milestone in the...
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The EU is negotiating trade agreements in secret because orthodoxy, mysticism and a wishful thinking-based approach to policymaking have returned to power in Europe.
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Last week Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte went on an economic mission to China, accompanied by a delegation of business people representing Dutch corporations. China’s presence as an economic and political power is increasing steadily. Its economic and financial potential is huge, not only in China...