April 03, 2008 | Make politics, not war

Reform, debate, protest and professionalism but not hate or rivalry: these are words that can best describe the career of Jens-Peter Bonde during his long tenure at the European Parliament. He was always one of the voices supporting the few and actively opposing the majority, yet this never led to bitter grudges or enmity. In one of his latest articles, Mr Bonde talks about how you can be a friend with the person you disagree with in the plenary session.

April 03, 2008 | New democratic push for the European Union

The European Commission on Wednesday (2 April) presented a new plan aimed at increasing EU citizens' involvement in the decision-making process of the 27 nation bloc, as well as making it more popular. Dubbed "Debate Europe", the initiative is part of the commission's so-called Plan D a concept put forward in 2005 to boost the EU's public image after the No votes to the EU constitution in France and the Netherlands.

April 01, 2008 | Germany opposes EU budget increase

Germany has signalled it will not accept similar increases to the EU budget during the current financial seven year period, which runs to 2013. As the biggest contributor to the bloc's coffers, Berlin argues that farm funds in particular should be strongly cut back in future, a message likely to ruffle feathers in France - the key beneficiary of agricultural support.

March 27, 2008 | Sarkozy charms British MPs

On the first day of his state visit to Britain, French president Nicolas Sarkozy called for closer Franco-British ties and for the UK to take its full place in Europe in order to bring along necessary changes to the bloc.

March 25, 2008 | New agreement between France and UK

The leaders of France and Britain are to hold a joint meeting later this week expected to result in an agreement to promote nuclear power as well as further co-operation on defence, immigration and money markets.

March 24, 2008 | Jens-Peter Bonde leaves the European Parliament

Veteran MEP decides to focus on leading the EUDemocrats: On 9 May this year, the euro deputy who was first elected in 1979 and has been active in the European Parliament ever since, will quit the position in order to focus on building a better European Union. Mr Bonde decided to use his unmatched experience in the affairs of the Parliament for the benefit of the EUDemocrats, a European Political Party he helped found. His parliamentary seat will be taken by Hanne Dahl, leader of the Danish June Movement.

March 21, 2008 | The EU and the Iraq War: after five years

It has been five years since the United States began its military operation dubbed 'Iraqi Freedom'. The war resulted in a deep rift in transatlantic relations, caused a split within the European Union and made Iraqis the single largest group seeking refuge in Europe.

March 19, 2008 | Around Europe with the EUDemocrats

Today we will take a look at the activities of EUD member organizations or politicians inside the European Union. We, at the EUDemocrats, always strive to promote our values for democracy and transparency further. This work is as important at the local level of Member States as it is in the European Institutions. The EUD members everywhere are actively involved in political campaigns and actions that seek to protect and promote the interests of the citizens of each Member State. We take a quick look now at four developing stories and reports in four different countries of the Union.

March 17, 2008 | Mediterranean Union plan has a green light from EU leaders

EU leaders on Thursday (13 March) approved a watered-down version of a plan put forward by French President Nicolas Sarkozy for a grand Mediterranean Union stretching from Morocco to Turkey and aiming to foster cooperation with the EU's southern neighbours.

March 13, 2008 | EU leaders meet in Brussels

EU leaders are gathering in Brussels for what is likely to be unusually conflict-free summit. European Commission proposals on how to turn ambitious green goals into concrete laws, the union's Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs and ways in which to strengthen fragile financial markets are the main topics up for debate.

March 12, 2008 | Summary of the Secret Audit Report of the EP

Last week the EUD revealed some key information on a secret report presented before the Committee on Budgetary Control of the European Parliament. The highlight in this particular document is that it contains proof that unknown MEPs have abused the system by various means. The bottom line is that apparently fraud did happen in the Parliament, more than one time, yet due to the secret nature of the audit report, the public is left in the dark. Furthermore, the document has been secreted away quite fast and is, at the moment, out of reach for anyone. This week we follow this story with more information on the contents of the report as revealed within a summary written by Dutch MEP Paul van Buitenen.

March 12, 2008 | The Irish Referendum will take place in June

The Irish government has indicated that the country's highly anticipated referendum on the EU treaty will take place in the second week of June. Prime Minister Bertie Ahern told parliament on Tuesday (11 March): "The government have more or less signed off on the date. It is really a question about the day of the week".

March 10, 2008 | Zapatero wins general elections in Spain

Spanish socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Sunday won a decisive victory in what was his second general election, increasing his party's vote despite the killing on Friday of a former socialist municipal councillor in the militant-nationalist blighted Basque country.

February 26, 2008 | EUDemocrats reveal secret report

Fraud in the European Parliament! by Jens-Peter Bonde: Tuesday, late afternoon, the Committee on Budget Control voted on whether the question on publishing the internal document should be put at the agenda of the meeting or not. It was rejected by 21 votes to 14. Members from the two biggest groups voted for secrecy, representatives from the smaller groups voted in favour. EPP picked seven-eight German CDU members in the final minute before the vote to change the balance. They won. We - and the taxpayers - lost. Members of the European Parliament can continue to cheat with secretariat allowances until the European elections in 2009. Then, there will come new rules for the next parliament to avoid this question to be discussed with the taxpayers and voters. "I was rumoured today that ther exist an even more secret report which cannot even be seen by the Budget Control Committee Members. This report includes names taken off the report we discussed today. It shows who are under suspicion. This report should be delivered to OLAF and the report without names should be published immediately to regain parliament authority".

February 25, 2008 | Communist elected as president in Cyprus

Promises to renew the unification talks with the Turkish Cypriots as well as a pledge to defend Cyprus's best interests before the EU were elements that helped 61 year old Dimitris Christofias win the presidential run-off. Leading the communist Akel party, he had 53.36% of the votes to Mr Kasoulides 46.64% in the Sunday election. Both men had campaigned strongly against former president Tassos Papadopoulos, who rejected a UN plan for the unification of the island a week before Cyprus accession to the EU. Now Mr Christofias said his first order of business will be to meet with the representatives of the Turkish side and try solving a decades-long struggle that has so far marred Turkey's claim to EU accession.

February 21, 2008 | European Parliament says YES to Lisbon Treaty

After more than two hours of debate on the troublesome piece of paper that has come, after bearing several titles, to be called the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament gathered in Strasbourg has passed a resolution endorsing it with a clear majority. 525 votes were in favour, 115 against and 29 abstentions, showing that the general position of the Parliament over the treaty is highly supportive. Declarations ranged from extremely enthusiastic, like the one made by Mr. Hans-Gert Pattering, President of the European Parliament, to very critical of the report, as for example Ms. Mary Lou McDonald's declaration who, speaking on behalf of the GUE/NGL group, said "this treaty is not about reform or efficiency, it is a carte blanche for further eroding democracy".

February 18, 2008 | Kosovo declares independence: what will the EU do?

On Sunday, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thai, read out loud that "From now onward, Kosovo is proud, independent, sovereign and free". Seeking "the blessing of the world", the Kosovar leadership went on to note that this new state would be democratic and free. This was targeted specifically at the large Serbian population of the province, who were reassured that their rights would be respected in full. However, the enthusiastic celebration that erupted throughout the Albanian parts of Kosovo were not mirrored in Serbia, or in many other parts of the world. Russia called an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting, while the EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss the situation. What the future truly holds for Kosovo seems rather out of the hands of its inhabitants.

October 18, 2007 | Lisbon Conference: Overnight deal struck on new treaty

With this agreement we have managed to get out of stalemate, we will be ready to tackle the world's challenges. It is in these words that Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates announced on Friday at around 02:00 local time the agreement on the text of the new Treaty, describing it as a "victory for Europe". The new treaty will be formally signed by European leaders on 13 December of this year and subsequently go for ratification in all member states with a view to coming into place by mid-2009, ahead of the next European elections.

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