EuroPol: abide by D&D values or don't post

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Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

quote:

UPDATE

This thread is now the EuroPol thread.

Things under discussion include creaky EU institutions, lazy Greeks, German sadists, and the lazy French and more.

In short:

UPDATE

WELCOME TO THE THUNDERDOME

I thought the EU was run by ~~lizard people~~ faceless Eurocrats who love straight cucumbers ?

As always, the answer to anything to do with EU politics is yes and no:

While the European Commission (them of the cucumbers*) does function as the executive arm (and is the only body that can initiate new legislation), the European Parliament functions like any other Parliament and checks, amends, and finally approves any directives etc. coming out of the European Union.

Of course, this happens in consultation with the EC and Council in rounds called trilogues, which are black-box voodoo machines where directives go in and come out in drag.

Does the Parliament actually matter?

Depends on who you ask :q:

But mostly the answer is YES. Since the Lisbon Treaty there�s been a lot more power granted to the Parliament. The big one is co-decision; the Parliament now cannot be ignored as a full legislative partners. Before this, it was the Council who actually decided and, while it was nice to have the EP along, it did not really need it at the end of the day.

Here�s the co-decision model after the Lisbon Treaty:

Since the Lisbon Treaty, the Parliament has become steadily more influential ~~and irritating~~; it threw out the ACTA Treaty, proposed 7.442 amendments to the Common Agricultural Policy reform, got Edward Snowden to testify over strong American objections and has basically stuck its nose into every corner of Europe�s business.

Is that a good thing? Who knows. For the most part, yes, but the problem resides in that the full (751 member) plenary must in the end decide on what are often complicated matters, and has the tendency to act like an enraged elephant, tacking on items and issues that may needlessly complicate the job of the European Commission and member states to do their job.

Ok, ok, so they�re important. I get it. So why are these elections so special? I�m not gonna vote anyway because ~~I�m a dirty foreigner~~ I don�t care, it�s all irrelevant and distant.

Because they do matter. An incredible amount of legislation, directives etc that are formulated in Brussels end up in your lap.

How about unemployment and the Eurocrisis? Does that affect you? Well, then look closely at the new COM-INCON and COM-CONT (the two parliamentary committees for internal market and budget control) � the boys and girls on these two will have a big impact.

Like the environment? Flowers? Butterflies and honeybees? Well, COM-ENVI and COM-AGRI are the place for you. There�s a good chance that an environmental rights supporter will end up in charge of COM-ENVI, and who knows what she will push through her Committee towards the plenary session.

Like your internet free of spies ~~and porn~~? The EP houses some of the better and more ardent defenders of net neutrality and digital freedom, and they will be very important.

Ok, ok, ok. So who�s running?

Candidates are elected at the national level, so there are 28 member states electing 750 MEPs altogether; the breakdown of which country gets how many is roughly by population. Germany gets to elect 96, but tiny Malta gets only 5 for example.

Every Member State gets to choose how to elect their MEPs; the UK, for example, does it by region, but other do it through a national list ~~and some examine the entrails of a black cat gutted at midnight~~.

While it�s too exhausting to go through it country-by-country, there are happily seven major parliamentary groups. These basically assembly parties from different countries with a similar political view; Christian-democrat, liberal, green, socialist etc. The current groups are, with numbers of seats in the Parliament:

European People's Party (267) � Liberal/Conservative
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (188) � Social Democrat
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (85) � Liberal democrat
European Greens�European Free Alliance (58) � Greens
European Conservatives and Reformists (54) � Conservative right, mostly made up of UK Conservatives
European United Left�Nordic Green Left (34) � Socialists and supergreens
Europe of Freedom and Democracy (35) � Eurosceptics (think Nigel Farage and Lega Nord)
Non-Inscrits (27) - A number of parties who are not part of any of the major groups, and who are thus pretty much pointless (I can get into why that is later if people are interested). The Dutch populist and Muslim-hater Geert Wilders�s PVV party belongs here.

What�s new this year? � The selection of the Commission President!

Under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament will now have a large role in determining who will become the new president after Barroso steps down this year:

the European Parliament shall elect the president of the European Commission on the basis of a proposal made by the European Council, taking into account the European elections (article 17, paragraph 7 of the Treaty on European Union).

The tricky thing, of course, being that bit saying �on the basis of a proposal made by the European Council�, which can be taken to mean that any candidates proposed by the main factions need to be liked and/or endorsed by the Council. However, this would be a pretty blatant disregard for popular will and would infuriate the whole of Parliament.

The President of the European Commission has a huge role in choosing the various Commissioners (all 28 of them, one for each EU member State), who will then give direction and strategy to their whole Directorate-Generals. Commissioners are, or at least can be, real powerhouses in EU policy, so whoever gets to select them is a big loving deal.

So who have those blocks put forward?

European People's Party (EPP)

Jean-Claude Juncker
Luxembourg, liberal and economic free marketer, JCJ has had a long, long, long pro-Europe history and was president of Luxembourg, famed for its banking secrecy, for more nearly 20 years until it turned out that the Luxembourg Secret Service (yes it exists!) was running amok and bugging everyone. Oops.
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats

Martin Schultz.
Germany, social democrat of the New Labour variety, currently serving as President of the European Parliament, a top contender for the crown along with Juncker. Has waffly notions about a more social Europe that is less fixated on austerity, was also called a camp commandant by Berlusconi at one point.
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

Guy Verhofstadt
Belgium, liberal democrat and super-pro-European � he may not be the right man for the moment as Euroscepticism grips the continent, but at least he�s sincere in his long-term ~~plot~~ plan to create a federalised Europe. Used to be Prime Minister of Belgium, which may be the hardest job in Europe which does give him the experience to handle the Commission.
European Greens�European Free Alliance

Ska Keller and Jose Bove

To everyone�s , both were elected to lead EG-EFA, so who knows what the poo poo. However, there�s not even a snowball�s chance in hell that either of them will take the votes to win it.

Ska Keller, Germany, is a relatively new arrival on the scene and thus somewhat unknown, has a long history with the Green movement and seems to be quite clever.

Jose Bove, Destroyer of Macdonalds has a long history of green and small farmers� activism in France and now as an MEP. Lover of Palestine and hater of GMO�s.
European Conservatives and Reformists

NONE. The ECR believes that selecting a candidate would make them part of the move towards European Federalism. Either very clever politics or .
European United Left�Nordic Green Left

Alexis Tsipras.
Greece, new major figure on Europe�s socialist left and nearly the wet dream of LF. Wants to get rid of the austerity politics and get Europe back to socialism. Terrific to have on board in the EP with a larger bloc behind him, but unelectable for the big job.
Europe of Freedom and Democracy

Oh who the hell knows with these people.
The European Pirate�s Party

So now what?

SERIOUSLY, GO OUT AND VOTE. THIS MATTERS. I DON�T CARE WHAT YOU PERSONALLY BELIEVE

Really, it looks like attendance will be at an all-time low and that is A BAD THING. Stuff that happens is Brussels and Strasbourg matters hugely in your Member State, and with the EU-US trade negotiations underway it's even important to 'Muricans and the rest of the world.

*Note that the cucumber story is FALSE. If anything, it was the industry who wanted grading and standards in order to facilitate trading and knowing how many you can stuff into one box.

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 12:22 on Apr 30, 2015

# ¿ Apr 11, 2014 12:20

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 04:54

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Reserved for polls and projections.

quote:

Latest polling data from the European Parliament's own polling centre - CURRENT TO 20/05/2014
[IMG][/IMG]

S&D vs EPP is going to be CLOSE - tactical voters may want to go for S&D at this point

Here is an interesting projection of what the fallout of current polling could look like in the next EP. Written by the Burston Marsteller group of lobbyists, but I find it to be quite a good analysis anyway. This is well worth grabbing at the link, because they've hyperlinked it to bits there.

quote:

Six months away from the European Parliament elections, the first serious set of predictions are being made.

Notre Europe � Jacques Delors Institute, a Paris-based think-tank, has recently published a must-read policy paper in which it predicts that the centre-left Socialists & Democrats Group (S&D) will oust the centre-right European People�s Party Group (EPP) as the largest group in the new Parliament.

And in February, Burson-Marsteller Brussels will support the launch � as part of Europe Decides � of PollWatch, a VoteWatch Europe project that will take an in-depth and regular look at opinion polls and the likely composition of the new assembly.

However, the election results are only part of the story. Post-election horse-trading and haggling plays a key role in determining the final composition of the groups and � significantly this time � the creation of a majority to back the appointment of a new President of the European Commission.

Political positioning and the distribution of key roles (such as committee chairs or group spokespeople) may help sway the decisions of national party delegations on where to sit.

Here�s our first look at how the groups may shape up after the elections:

Group of the European People�s Party EPP

The EPP Group is the currently biggest in the Parliament, and many of its member parties are also in power at a national level.

This �incumbency problem� is likely to trigger a drop in support, notably in Poland, Spain and Italy, which could have a major impact on EPP Group�s numerical strength after the election. As the Notre Europe paper suggests, an expected strong showing for the German Christian Democrats is unlikely to compensate for these losses.

The creation of the pro-EU �The Europeans� list in France � bringing together the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI, whose MEPs currently sit in the EPP Group) and the centrist Democratic Movement (MoDem, represented in the Liberal ALDE Group) � presents a different type of challenge.

Where �The Europeans� sit could determine whether the EPP or S&D is the largest group � and therefore which party�s �common candidate� has the moral right to be frontrunner for the Commission presidency. They could be the �kingmakers�.

To its advantage, the EPP and its parliamentary group have always had broad bases, bringing together conservatives, Christian Democrats and other right-of-centre groups. Past deals with the British Conservatives show the flexibility � and the rewards in terms of positions and funding � that the EPP Group is prepared to offer.

Although the Tories have burnt their bridges, this flexibility on the part of the EPP Group could be a decisive factor with other parties after the election.

Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats S&D

The S&D Group should benefit from the centre-right�s �incumbency problem�, but it is far from a foregone conclusion. A voter backlash may hit in the many countries where socialists and social democrats participate in national governments.

Those most at risk include the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), which is likely to be decimated in Greece. The German Social Democrats may suffer electorally from their probable participation in a grand coalition (the result of a ballot among SPD members should be known on 14-15 December).

While the French Socialists may perform better than in 2009, they start from a low base and are unlikely to make significant gains. The British Labour Party may be the big winner � with the possibility of the UK delegation even doubling � and Labour could even stand a chance of providing the S&D Group leader (probably the only leading EU position that could be occupied by a British national).

Keen to build a �progressive majority�, the S&D Group and the Party of European Socialists (PES) has been looking for support beyond their current member parties.

The Leader of the S&D Group, Hannes Swoboda, for example, has held talks with the head of the Coalition of the Radical Left � Unitary Social Front (Syriza), Alexis Tsipras, and while Syriza is unlikely to join the S&D Group, its support may help build a left-of-centre coalition that backs Martin Schulz for the Commission presidency and cooperates on legislative issues.

Schulz�s nomination by Italy�s Democratic Party (PD) � not a formal member of the PES � would seem to cement the party�s place in the S&D Group.

Polish social democratic MEP Marek Siwiec has joined �Your Movement� in Poland, a party led by Janusz Palikot, who achieved success in the 2011 Polish election. Bringing �Your Movement� into the S&D Group could significantly boost the S&D Group�s Polish contingent. Positive Slovenia (PS) may be wooed by the S&D Group (although the ALDE Group would appear to be a more likely destination).

The key to the S&D Group becoming the Parliament�s largest gathering may be its flexibility towards parties outside the traditional socialist and social democratic family. We may even see this reflected in a greater emphasis being placed on the �Progressive Alliance� part of the Group�s lengthy name.

Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ALDE

The Liberals face a tough election: the German Free Democratic Party (FDP) and British Liberal Democrats delegations, which currently form nearly 30 per cent of the Group�s total membership, are likely to return only a handful of MEPs each. The choice of group by France�s �The Europeans� will also be a key factor in the ALDE Group�s strength.

The Liberals may pick up new support from smaller parties (such as Positive Slovenia) but they also need to secure the backing of restless MEPs from current Liberal parties. The Dutch People�s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is increasingly Eurosceptic, with members requesting the repatriation of powers and former interim party chair Mark Verheijen saying that the ALDE Group leader, Guy Verhofstadt, is more dangerous for Europe than Marine Le Pen.

It is unlikely that VVD MEPs would leave the ALDE Group, but they may demand changes in policies and personnel. The FDP may also back a more cautious line on European integration.

The presence of European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) MEP Derk Jan Eppink on the VVD candidates list, and the close ties between the Dutch VVD prime minister Mark Rutte and his British Conservative counterpart David Cameron, probably present enough of a concern for the VVD to wring concessions out of the ALDE Group leadership.

As ALDE Party President Graham Watson said ahead of the ALDE Congress in London, �In the past the dividing line within the liberal family has tended to be whether you were an economic liberal or social liberal� The major dividing line today is over how fast you want to build Europe�.

Group of the Greens / European Free Alliance G/EFA

The Greens/EFA Group is likely to be hit by losses for the French Ecologists and German Greens in comparison to their success in 2009.

Dissatisfaction with EU national governments may see a rise in the vote for Green alternative and separatist parties, particularly in Belgium, where the likely success of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) in federal and regional elections on 25 May will probably help boost support for the party in the European Parliament election that will be held on the same day.

However, the N-VA � which is separatist, but more rightist in its political programme � has never been a very natural fit for the Greens/EFA Group. The ECR Group may be suitors for the N-VA, even though the Flemish party is more pro-EU than other parties in the Conservative group.

A potential bright spot for the Greens/EFA Group is the likely increase in support for Pirate parties.

Like for the Pirates, the Group could also be the most natural home for MEPs from Italy�s Five-Star Movement (M5S), led by Beppe Grillo. Notre Europe predicts that Grillo�s party will win 15-20 MEPs � which would be a major boost to the Greens/EFA Group.

European Conservatives and Reformists Group ECR

The ECR Group � like the ALDE Group � face a make-or-break election. Two of the Group�s main three parties � the British Conservatives and Czech Civic Democratic Party (ODS) � are set to lose seats. The third � Poland�s Law and Justice (PiS) will probably gain support.

Holding onto the support of the handful of other parties and MEPs that help the Group secure its official status will be of primary importance � especially as some members and parties (such as Derk Jan Eppink of the Dedecker List in Belgium) will depart.

The ECR Group will look to profit from a wave of support for moderate Eurosceptic parties, such the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The pro-European Flemish N-VA and the increasingly Euro-cautious Dutch VVD are other possible targets for membership, with varying levels of probability of them joining.

The ECR Group could, as a result, become a much more diverse set of MEPs, less dominated by the British Conservatives.

Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group EFD

The EFD Group could very well be left out in the cold in the new parliament, unable to gather enough members and/or parties to form an official faction.

While the UK Independence Party (Ukip) of the Group�s current leader, Nigel Farage, is likely to make some gains, other parties in the Group may lose support to more extreme anti-EU parties or decide to join a new group proposed by Marine Le Pen of France�s National Front (FN) and Geert Wilders of the Netherlands� Party for Freedom (PVV).

MEPs from Italy�s Northern League (LN) may hook up with Le Pen and Wilders , a move inspired in part by Farage�s condemnation of racist remarks by an LN MEP. The Finns Party (PS) and Sweden Democrats may also join the new far-right group.

Farage may be left in the middle, caught between extremist anti-EU parties and the more mainstream Eurosceptics in the ECR Group. The widely-expected 2014 European Parliament election victory for Ukip in the UK could, in the end, turn out to be a pyrrhic one.

Confederal Group of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left GUE/NGL

The GUE/NGL Group is likely to profit from a rise in support for the United Left (IU) in Spain, Syriza in Greece, and possibly The Left (Linke) in Germany and radical left-wing groups in France.

Indeed, while much of the focus of media attention is on the anti-EU or anti-establishment parties on the political right, some predictions suggest that those on the left will fare even better.

Notre Europe predicts that the GUE/NGL Group will pick up 47 seats, making it the fifth-largest group in the Parliament, ahead of the Greens/EFA Group.

Whether this happens depends much on the post-election negotiations. With around 15% of all MEPs likely to come from currently non-aligned parties, it is clear that the election results are only the beginning, and that a whole series of party games will follow.

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 15:04 on May 20, 2014

# ¿ Apr 11, 2014 12:20

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

One of the big worries/issues of the elections will be the advance of Eurosceptic / anti-EU groups like the UK's UKIP, Dutch PVV (Geert Wilders), and France's Front National (Marine le Pen).

Here's a good piece on what's up with that:

Euronews posted:

How the European elections could redesign the Eurosceptic landscape

Rising voter frustration over the European project and perceived dwindling national sovereignty is likely to push voters to vote for Eurosceptic parties in the coming EU-wide elections, according to latest opinion polls.

But the results may also modify the balance of forces within the European Parliament.

Old and new political alliances will have to face the consequences of European citizens� votes, adapt to survive as groups, or see their power falter. The Eurosceptic landscape may be modified for years to come.

Current Eurosceptic groups will �suffer�

�At the moment we have two groups catering toward the Eurosceptic,� explains Cas Mudde, whose research focuses on European, populist, radical-right parties.

To form an official group, at least 25 members of parliament must join and they must represent at least seven of the 28 member states of the European Union.

Mudde, who is Dutch but working at the University of Georgia in the US, told euronews: �The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) are the kind of �soft� Eurosceptic, who by and large support the EU, but think it should be predominantly economic.�

The ECR currently has 56 MEPs, 7.3% of the total 766, provided in majority by the British Conservative Party and the Czech Republic�s Civic Democratic Party (ODS).

The future of the ECR does not look bright, according to Mudde. �The ECR will have problems after 2014 as various member parties will not make it back into the EP (such as the Belgian Flemish LDD and the Modern Hungary Movement) and two of the largest parties, the ODS and Conservative Party, will lose a lot of seats.�

For example, the Tories, the best-performing British party in the 2009 European elections with 27.7% of the national vote, now lag in the polls in third place behind UKIP and the Labour Party, with 21% of voter intentions.

Also, some minor parties of the ECR group, Mudde suggests, �might be more attracted to a �harder� Eurosceptic group�.

As a result, the most recent projections for the 2014 European elections, made in collaboration between the European Parliament and TNS Opinion, give the ECR 41 MEPs, 5.46% of the total of 751.

The second alliance catering to Eurosceptics is the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group, Mudde explains, with its �harder� Euro-scepticism doctrine. Thirty three MEPs are currently members of the EFD, equating to 4,3% of all seats in the European Parliament. Britain�s UKIP and Italy�s Lega Nord (Northern league) are its driving forces.

However, despite Nigel Farage and UKIP�s strong momentum in Britain, the EFD �are also going to suffer� in the coming elections, Mudde says

Latest projections give the EFD 3.86%, or 29 seats, after the 2014 European elections.

Other EFD members, Greece�s LAOS and France�s Mouvement pour la France, outshone by other right-wing parties in their respective countries, �will not return to the European Parliament,� Mudde says.

In addition, EFD is poised to lose members to more radical alliances. �The Lega Nord has committed to the European Alliance for Freedom (EAF) and rumour has it that the Slovak National Party will also join EAF,� added Mudde.

Further right, another new group?

The European Alliance for Freedom (EAF) is a pan-European political party, composed of far-right nationalist parties that also include hard Euroscepticism in their manifesto, such as France�s Front National, the Netherlands� PVV and Austria�s FP�.

They hope, Reuters reports, to gain enough momentum to create a political group in the European Parliament of nationalist parties, which would entitle members to more office space and support staff as well as EU funds for meetings and publicity.

Their objective, as stated in a joint press conference of Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen last November, is to liberate Europe from �the European elite, the monster in Brussels.�

A political group would be a crucial asset. �A non-attached MEP is not a real MEP, without means of action,� Ludovic de Danne, EU affairs adviser to Marine Le Pen, told euronews by phone. �a political group will allow us the same weight in debates as everybody else.

De Danne says the name of the prospective group is not �European Alliance for Freedom� but still a work in progress. �It may contain the word �Freedom,� he says. �We are certain to have enough MEPs; and geographically [in terms of countries] we are very confident�

�The goal is to reach 10,� FP� Heinz-Christian Strache told Reuters last December while in Turin, where he said he and Geert Wilders, Dutch nationalist Freedom Party leader, were guests of the Italian anti-immigration Lega Nord.

Currently, according to Reuters, the European Alliance for Freedom has six parties: the Freedom parties of Austria and the Netherlands, the Italian Lega Nord, France�s National Front, Belgium�s Vlaams Belang and Sweden�s Democrats.

However, as Cas Mudde noted on a blog hosted by the Washington Post, the Swedish Democrats chairman Jimmie �kesson �has said that the SD will only consider joining [the new group] after the Swedish parliamentary elections, to be held on 14 September 2014.�

The search for a seventh country to enter Le Pen and Wilders� group may prove arduous. As mentioned by Mudde, the Slovak National Party could be the seventh member but both the Danish People�s Party and UKIP have rejected the idea of joining. In the meantime; the group itself rejects more extreme right-wing parties such as Hungary�s Jobbik or Greece�s Golden Dawn, according to Reuters.

A reshuffle of the Eurosceptic landscape?

The True Finns party, currently an EFD member with ties to both DFP and SD, refused to comment on whether it had been approached to join the EAF group.

However, True Finns Election Coordinator Pekka Sinisalo told euronews �there might be another entirely new Eurosceptic political group� after the European elections which the True Finns were �perhaps� planning to sit with, thus abandoning the EFD.

While that was news to him, the development of this hypothetical new group did not surprise Cas Mudde. His intuition is that �the remnants of the EFD are going to try and create a new group, which is to hold the middle between the ECR and EAF, and will be based largely on The Finns and UKIP (who will have a larger group) and the 1-2 MEPs from the Netherlands and the Danish DFP.�

�They will have a hard time finding MEPs from 7 countries, however, but might pick up single members of idiosyncratic groups or dissidents who split from �soft� Eurosceptic groups,� the scholar explained.

He is also critical of the EAF group�s future. He believes that � due to inner political disagreements, past failures of far-rights groups in the EP and potential personal tensions � �the chances this group will be an important political actor in the next EP are slim to none.�

The arrival of the EAF could nonetheless have the effect of profoundly changing the Eurosceptic landscape in the European parliament.

By Thomas Seymat

So good news/bad news; they will probably have a significant voice, but for them to try to form (and hold together!) a political group for 4 years seems a ridiculous challenge. I personally cannot imagine having people like Bossi, Farage, le Pen, and Wilders in one room longer than 15 minutes before they start bickering like mad.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2014 13:27

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Kurtofan posted:

Going to vote for the Left Front and despair when looking at the actual results

Not necessarily; there's a lot to be said for finding the right national candidate, rather than the right party. Individual MEPs can make a huge difference if they're smart and willing to work for it.

I might post something about that later.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2014 15:20

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Stefu posted:

Stuff about Finland

That's really interesting, thank you!

Mans posted:

Virtually all groups besides the Green and Left alliance believe in austerity and only show concern about austerity because it's not giving economic growth, not because of actual social consequences and the Green and Left groups are mostly useless and believe they can work side by side with the major financial institutions of Europe to crate socialism.

I would suggest that this is sadly true in all EU countries at the national level, from which comes their representation in the EU. I'm not in favour of it, but you can't really blame the EP of being a representative of awful opinions?

Mans posted:

All neoliberal parties will pressure their militants to go vote for their favorite alliances, which they allways do, to create a parliament of privatizing lunatics who even consider sexual education to be propaganda to turn children into gay abortionists. Since people are disillusioned with their lives and national politics, much less European politics, this means they will allways win the elections no matter what.

This I find really depressing; I know so many people who think this way and then go 'feh, so I won't vote!'. With the turnout expected to be so low, you really can't say that your vote won't count - imagine what you could actually do if you found a decent candidate and turned out the vote for her/him? Preferential voting, at least where I'm from, could make a huge different in who you send to the EP.

Simply giving up will for sure guarantee that old people and eurosceptics are the big winners.

As to the thing about the sexual education, yes that was an colossal gently caress you to LGBT and other people. This is, however, exactly why I would argue that you should vote, because otherwise you definitely expect more of the same.

Mans posted:

gently caress this parliament charade, if a national parliament is already composed of a healthy dose of idiocy and corruption i'm sure the solution is an exterior parliament with even wealthier idiots that play pretend politics.

I'll be not giving a single gently caress about these elections but i guess it's good for a thread about it to exist.

The Left Bloc and CDU's picks are quite good, intelligent people so i'm sure they'd do a great work if they were sent to a place that actually mattered

The Left Bloc needs all the support they can get - right now the EPP has a tendency to turn to the ECR for extra votes, which leads to shitshows like the sexual education report refusal. The good news is that GUE-NGL may become bigger than Greens-EFA in the next Parliament, with people like Tsipris and some new German voices. They should be much more powerful in their messaging.

And in my experience, MEPs aren't so much corrupt as they are clueless. They're very adorable little sheep who very often have to vote (full chamber) on stuff they can't possibly completely understand - how could you? When there's votes to be had on financial regulation, complicated environment stuff and transport they are very open to lobbyists of all stripes.

The only lobby that's non-existent or poo poo in the EU is the leftist economic agenda. They're not up to the task of taking on the banks, chambers of commerce etc.

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 14:46 on Apr 14, 2014

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 14:35

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Also, the last plenary sitting of the European Parliament has just begun!

Here's what they will be talking about.

To underline my previous points, here's only a few of the things that will be voted on (you may still be in time to contact them and list your concerns!):

quote:

Alternative fuels infrastructure

Animal health

Framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms

Measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks

Consumer product safety

Incidental catches of cetaceans (a personal favourite)

Honey

Shipments of waste

New psychoactive substances

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 15:33

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

LemonDrizzle posted:

Good OP. The British press has been talking up Helle Thorning-Schmidt as a potential compromise candidate for the presidency of the commission - is she considered plausible elsewhere in Europe?

I've heard some scuttlebutt about it here (I work in Brussels), but the problem is that no-one knows what this means:

quote:

The European Parliament shall elect the president of the European Commission on the basis of a proposal made by the European Council, taking into account the European elections (article 17, paragraph 7 of the Treaty on European Union).

Since she's not elected as the candidate of any EP group (not that there was a requirement to, it was thought up as an idea to give the elections more face and personality than it has had previously), she's not any group's figurehead. I mean, even Barroso was endorsed by the EPP before he got the job, and I don't know if S&D would throw their weight behind her now they have Schultz.

While the Council and EP are at perfect liberty to wipe their asses with their own proposed candidates, I'd say it would be hard to ignore them after we've made such a fuss out of them; doesn't exactly speak wonders for European Democracy if they do, no?

Thorning-Schmidt definitely has the papers for the job, but my money is still on Schultz - I know he wants the job badly.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 15:59

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Yeah, there's gonna be a flood of nutters coming our way, and it will make everyone's job a living hell, whether you wish to be ~~ruled through EU mindcontrol with our Aquinas hub under the Berlaymont building~~ a federal Europe or not.

Note that Labour, although they are part of the S&D group, expressly did not support Schultz because "there were limits to their desire for European Federalism" - they're terrible at their positioning on the EU. I always think that Milliband just wants the EU to go away as an issue. He's been ducking and dodging this whole thing for too long.

The trouble with the crazies (and especially UKIP) is that their anti-stance just makes them inefficient; there's no proposal to end the EU, change its process, or make it more accountable or anything. These people get elected and then spend 4 years throwing an ineffectual tantrum, it's so poo poo. I'm looking at you, Godfrey Bloom (UKIP), with a 24.7% voting attendance record. Jesus.

I'm definitely not a Federalist or a holy believer in the EU, but I think that as an MEP you need to be responsible, especially if you're a regional-vote like the UK has. There were big votes etc. on fishing this last year, from regions where the UKIP currently holds the seat, and they didn't even turn up to the committee meetings to defend their regional interests.

Idiots.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 16:37

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Mans posted:

From my perspective, i can vote for the CDU or Left Bloc since all the other suggestions are neoliberal drones.

On the one hand, the Left Bloc goes so hard from tireless activists against capitalist oppression and exploitation to working alongside PS to actively defending the idea of a "debt pardon" under EU directions, which means still siding with the side that gave us such a beating of austerity in the hopes that the next centrist neoliberal parties won't continue the process of privatizations, money laundering and erosion of the well-fare state, which they will.

On the other hand, CDU's stance of direct opposition to EU institutions is much more agreeable to me because it's clear that the future of the EU is this situation being the status quo with possible signs of becoming much worse with every inevitable crisis. However their stance is so worthless due to their isolation that not even a million Mans voting would matter.

So i can vote for neoliberalism, protesters against neoliberalism but that don't reject neoliberal action in itself or opposition against neoliberalism but that it's clear at first that they'll be alone because they actually oppose EU authority and aren't fascist pieces of poo poo, which seems to be the standards of anyone who opposes the EU outside of the tail of Europe for some reason.

And there's just no way to convince people to vote for this charade. With a system that seems to be built to hide out it actually works so that people are never really sure who has any kind of responsibility in Europe (expect for the lazy south\fascist Merkel), there's just no way to have personal motivation to vote, much less convince people to do so.

I still believe the only change to the EU will happen when the poo poo hits the fan in national elections and the EU flips their poo poo and realize they need to change course.

You really can't have your 'the EU is terrible and neoliberal but I'm not gonna vote in any direction to change or improve it' and eat it too. The only thing that not voting ensures is that the austerians and the fascists have an even bigger say, because the will turn out in droves for the next election.

Besides, there's still a number of MEPs who don't necessarily like the direction of Europe, especially its austerity politics, and who do work hard to change the EU. My MEP, Dennis de Jong is pretty awesome for example.

There is, however, not even the remotest change of abolishing the EU and replacing it with a Marxist Paradise, so I would always opt for improving the system you have.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 09:29

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Redeye Flight posted:

Who're the Left Bloc and the CDU, are those the S&D and the GUE/NGL? Or is one of them the Greens/EFA alliance? I'm assuming the Left Bloc and CDU are local-level equivalents of the federal-level parties.

Left Bloc and CDU are Portuguese national parties, I believe.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 11:20

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Mans posted:

There will be change in the EU when people turn hard enough to give majorities to parties who oppose EU policies in their national elections. Not by choosing which person now deserves a five year vacation in Brussels for 4k euros a month.

I doubt that, but it's especially not true this election.

Hence it might be better to vote for a useless lefty than a useful rightwing austerity hardon ...

# ¿ Apr 16, 2014 19:00

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

LemonDrizzle posted:

The Commission could certainly be made more democratic (maybe by having each commissioner elected within their own country), but that aside it's not bad. The bigger issue is that its workings aren't well understood by the citizens of the member states and there haven't been many well-executed efforts to explain them, so it's easy for eurosceptics to misrepresent things for their own ends.

Making the Commissioners directly electable would guarantee a non-existent turnout, I think; who the hell is going to enthusiastically go out and vote for the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries? Besides; which country gets which Commission post is a huge horse-trade inside the Council. We don't elect the Directors-General of our national departments either, and I'm happy for it to stay that way.

The bigger issue, and you're completely right, is that it's hard to understand what the Commission is doing, and that the EC's PR efforts have been, at best, woeful.

Living in Brussels, however, I've met a lot of Commission people, and I think they're collectively the best and most impressive civil servants that I've met in my life. The stereotype of 10-5 workers with 3 hours wine-soaked lunches is definitely false. It might have been true a few decades ago, but not anymore.

EDIT:

Latest poll update:

Tactical voters at this point may want to switch to S&D parties; preventing EPP from getting Juncker in would be a good idea, to say the least.

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 09:25 on Apr 25, 2014

# ¿ Apr 25, 2014 09:19

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Oh, what do you know, Eurosceptics are terrible, terrible MEPs.

Euractiv posted:

Full article here

As the European election campaign picks up, French politicians are attacking Marine Le Pen for ignoring her parliamentary her responsibilities in Brussels. EurActiv France reports.

Criticising the absenteeism of the National Front in the European Parliament has gone mainstream in the lead up to the European elections in France.

Yannick Jadot, a Green MEP, tweeted that "Marine Le Pen is on the same committee as Karim Delli, but Karim Delli has never seen her."

[...]

According to a survey carried out for Paris Match and Sud Radio on 11 April, Le Pen's party will come out first at the European elections in France, with 24% of voting intentions, followed closely by the centre-right UMP (23%) and the Socialist Party (21%).

[...]

According to statistics from Votewatch, Le Pen failed in her parliamentary work. The far-right MEP recorded a plenary vote participation of 65.6%, much lower than the 83.3% average for French MEPs. By maintaining a presence of above 50%, Marine Le Pen meets the threshold under which MEPs lose half of their daily allowances.

Marine Le Pen wrote three parliamentary questions and made 44 interventions during five years of plenary sessions. She has not written any resolutions or reports, or made any declarations since 2009.

However, she is not the only French MEP to have deserted her seat in the European Parliament. The chronic absenteeism of the other two National Front MEPs, Jean-Marie Le Pen and Bruno Gollnish, is also under attack.

[...]

Martin Schulz reacted by referring to her absence from the European Parliament. "She does not want to debate with an MEP, as she knows she has a bad track record at the European Parliament. She did nothing but sit there for five years," he stated.

"Her participation in the Parliament will remain awful and her track record bad. The National Front has nothing to offer, apart from cushiony allowances for absent representatives at the taxpayer's expense," Schulz claimed.

During a televised debate, it was an UMP candidate from the Paris area, Alain Lamassoure, who confronted Marine Le Pen. "You are part of the committee on employment and social affairs: you attended once in seven years," stated Lamassoure during the debate on France 2, on April 10. "You tell voters: vote for me. I have done nothing for ten years and I want five more!"

[...]

Many of Marine Le Pen's ideas abouts the EU anger her critics, who denounce her recurrent untruths, notably about the monetary union.

"Everyone knows: leaving the euro will increase the cost of living by 20-30%. It would lead to the loss of all France's economic ties. It will not provide a solution," claimed Jos� Bov�, denouncing Marine Le Pen's fabrications on the benefits of leaving the euro.

In the European Parliament, French MEPs also respond with outrage to Le Pen's declarations. In March, left-wing MEP Marie-Christine Vergiat denounced Marine Le Pen's misuse of statistics on immigration numbers published by the European agency Frontex. "M. Le Pen's manipulation of numbers is nothing new. She is increasing fear, and making people turn in on themselves," claimed the MEP.

I'm so

of having more of these clowns to deal with come september.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 10:43

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

NihilismNow posted:

Shouldn't it make your job easier? If they abstain from voting all the time you won' t have to ~~bribe~~convince them to vote however your masters want them to vote.

Unfortunately not, and for three reasons:

1. These people are loving crazy and will just do whatever the hell they want, which is usually what gets them the front page and never mind if makes any sense / has a chance of moving forward. They're not reliable enough to just take a hint/position paper/question and move forward with it.

2. You can't afford to be too close to these people; the big EP groups and important MEPs take a very dim view of those who try to get their stuff in through these people (also see reason 1). If your issues/position is being seen as articulated by the EFD/Non-inscrit crazies, then your issues will also be seen as crazy.

3. They can't/don't have any real influence because they don't know the meaning of negotiation or compromise. While there may be more of them this time round, there's little chance of the cooperating functionally with other MEPs, which means that they can't get poo poo done.

There was a whole piece in the Dutch papers this weekend about people who used to work for Geert Wilders and the PVV who now can't get a job anywhere. People look at their CV and latest position and just go "well, I cannot afford to be associated with that".

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 13:18

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

LemonDrizzle posted:

How much direct interaction do European civil servants have with MEPs?

Pesmerga answered it pretty well, but specifically MEPs now have the right of Questions and Answers (Q&A). To hold the EU institutions accountable, MEPs have the right, as granted by the European Parliament Rules of Procedures 115, 116 and 117, to pose questions to the Commission, Council and other European Union bodies either orally during the Plenary sessions or in a written form.

MEPs can thus ask a whole range of questions, ranging from the banal and stupid to vital questions of security etc., to the European Commission and Council, which are then forced to answer them.

So, theoretically at least, there is full accountability to MEPs. In practice ...

But there are also questions like this:

quote:

The fashion company Louis Vuitton has reportedly set a limit on the number of its products (in particular women�s handbags) that individual customers may purchase in its stores.

Can the Commission confirm that such a practice exists?

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=WQ&reference=E-2013-010209&format=XML&language=EN

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 14:29 on Apr 28, 2014

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 14:09

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

For the two, three of you who follow the elections, EP Presidency candidates debate tonight at 19:00 CET!

In the ring will be Juncker, Schultz, Verhofstad and Keller!

http://www.euronews.com/2014/04/14/what-will-you-ask-the-potential-future-president-of-the-european-commission/

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 14:50

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Deltasquid posted:

Quite irrelevant to the elections as such, but since Junior G-man is pretty open:

Junior G-man, what did you study and how did you become a civil servant for the EU? I'm asking because I'd like to become one too when I graduate any tips for someone who's still early on in his studies at university?

I studied English Literature :haw:

and, to be correct about things, I don't work as an EU civil servant but swim in the murky waters of lobbying/advocacy (there's between 15.000 and 20.000 of us, the highest number globally after Washington D.C.[a good thing or a bad thing, YOU DECIDE]), specifically in the agriculture/environment sector.

To become and EU civil servant is balls-hard. The proper way is the concours of the Commission, has just closed for the year and consists of many many rounds of testing and interviews. To give you an idea, about 30.000 people applied for 138 entry-level jobs this year, and many of those will have one or more master's degrees, speaking 3 languages fluently is pretty much base-line and 1-2 years of experience will help out a lot.

French and English are vital, anything else is gravy.

The better option if you want to start as a full-time employed person is to work as an MEP assistant, and this means you need to start networking your local political party early and often. Very often these positions aren't posted online but through the national party's own network.

Whatever the case though; DO AN INTERNSHIP (if you can afford it). Nearly all non-institution job offers mandate one or more internships, preferably with the Commission or EP. You can find more info here. Beware that there is 6-9 months between applying to Blue Book and actually getting an internship due to the pace of admin, and that it's also competitive as gently caress. However, EP or EC internships are usually obtainable to interested people with good grades; anything international you study, and especially extracurricular stuff (preferably international like an Erasmus exchange etc.) will stand you in good stead. EC internships also pay 1.000 - 1.100 euro per month, which can sustain you in Brussels if you like eating a lot of ramen.

Plus, the internship will help you network and get to know Brussels. This is vital for any further career moves. Brussels is surprisingly small and very 'who do you know' based.

I can talk a bit more about this or what I do if people are interested or have other questions. Though obviously I won't tell you my employer.

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Apr 28, 2014

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 15:53

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

You can always look at doing a master's or other postgraduate at the College of Europe which is supposedly a very good way into sneaking your way in the door. Competitive and expensive though.

quote:

I live near Brussels. Better start getting the networking part under my belt as soon as I can

If you're able, I suggest finding out some conferences/events on whatever interests you in European law or otherwise and just register for them. It's good to know these kinds of events and the language that's spoken there. Usually when you're on a few mailing lists you get auto-invited for more.

Obviously the coffee break is where you would whore yourself out to the ~~lowest~~ highest bidder. "Oh that was such an interesting talk, Mr. speaker, what you think of blah blah". Plus it helps you get used to talking to absolute strangers who may or may not share some interests. You might even consider being weasily enough to make some business cards, but that could be too much.

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Apr 28, 2014

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 16:01

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Pesmerga, are you based in Brussels too?

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 16:08

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Deltasquid posted:

Thanks for that advice, guys! Now might be a bit early, but I'll write this stuff down and remember it for when I'm done with my bachelors degree.

If you want a College of Europe scholarship, you'd better start planning for it now

Also study hard :haw:

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 16:14

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Deltasquid posted:

Precisely why I decided to start asking questions now! The studying part is probably the hardest one, because my grades are good but not top-notch.

Grades aren't everything; good extracurriculars are great. My best advice would be to study abroad, through Erasmus if you can manage it. They're easy to get, a hell of a lot of fun (never seen people sleep around so much as Erasmus students), and a fabulous experience. Anything extra like executive posts / event organisation for anything student-run will help, even more if it's international in nature with external speakers.

Pesmerga: Let me know when you're in Brussels next, we'll go for a drink and talk lobbying

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Apr 28, 2014

# ¿ Apr 28, 2014 16:22

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

floppo posted:

I am curious about jobs in Brussels as well. Though I don't speak French, I have English, German, and a pretty good command of a weird eastern European language. I studied mathematics but work in finance (at one of those evil giant banks you've heard of) and hate it. I guess this makes me stand out from the typical Belgian who studied politics - but do they actually care about recruiting 'different' people?

As far as the institutions go, they definitely care about 'different' people and ensuring that all nations are well-represented.

With your kind of skillset (don't know about your years of experience), it might be worth checking with the financial sections of the Commission and especially the Court of Auditors. The last is based in Luxembourg, but from my limited observations of the financial world, they often seem to be looking for people.

I'd check with EPSO, the Court of Auditors, and especially with your foreign ministry or permanent representation here in Brussels. Usually the ministries have a section or post dedicated to stuffing their own nationalities into the EC etc. The permrep might have a closer vision of what's going on, and are good to have on side any way.

Disclaimer: I work very far away from the financial side of Europe, and anything I say may be wrong.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2014 16:56

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Orange Devil posted:

Hey so I'm a European right, and I just read your OP, and this guy sounds alright. So how do I vote for him?

Oh. Oh right... Well then. It's not really a democracy is it?

You can't! :toot:

It's because the European Left fraction that he's heading doesn't have a member in the Netherlands. You'd think the SP would belong, but they're huddled with Schultz in the S&D.

# ¿ May 1, 2014 17:14

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Nektu posted:

In that vein, is the euro crisis a topic at MEP level at all or is that mess contained at the level of the council/the commission only?

It's definitely a topic, but it's more contained at the Troika/Eurogroup/Council level, so there's less play for MEPs to have a direct say.

# ¿ May 5, 2014 09:48

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

quote:

In the case of the MEPs the information control is more informal. For example new MEPs coming to bruessels dont know what the gently caress and tend to be completely overwhelmed. In the end the lobbyists explain their jobs to them. The same happens regarding technically complex topics (so, all of them ), where the lobbyists have the sovereignty of interpretation because there is noone else that can explain the grisly details.

I can pretty much confirm this part to be true.

Everyone I know is getting ready to receive the newbie MEPs already. They'll be so adorably clueless and receptive to (our) messages :allears:

# ¿ May 19, 2014 09:50

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Latest polls puts the LIEberals in front again.

No socialist Schultzian utopia it seems, although I'm wondering how long it's going to take the Council to knife Juncker out of his EC president candidacy.

Adverbially, thanks for the update, I put it in the OP.

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 15:03 on May 20, 2014

# ¿ May 20, 2014 14:58

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

IceAgeComing posted:

Question: is this saying that EFD is done after this election? I know that a bunch of EFD parties are leaving to form another group, and since a significant number of the EFD members elected will be from UKIP they might not be able to meet the country requirements...

On the EFD flank it's really hard to say what the outcome will be; there's ben a lot of call for an even more anti-EU, xenophobic group to arise. Maybe this would be the one fronted by Wilders and le Pen (although today's classy ebola statements might put a kink in that one), or it would be some other construction.

What with the minimum requirements of countries & MEPs that they'd need, I honestly don't quite know where the gently caress the EFD will land. Besides, it's even more unclear how long any group with (say) UKIP, Lega Nord, True Finns, PVV, and Front National could seriously last without imploding like crazy.

# ¿ May 22, 2014 13:10

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Xoidanor posted:

Then why just not hold the vote on sunday? Am I missing something obvious here?

I'm pretty sure this is because of our Horrible Hardcore Christian fraction - voting on Sunday is against the Bible etc.

# ¿ May 22, 2014 21:29

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Welp, it's looking like Wilders/PVV will end up with -1 seat, not a lot of people who expected that. Including myself.

# ¿ May 22, 2014 23:04

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Mans posted:

The way goons talked about Holland i thought PVV was much bigger and the left was much weaker.

Or is SP against austerity in the same way Hollande's PS was against austerity?

Everyone was expecting the PVV to increase seats, or to at the very least hold stable - it's really interesting that they're weaker now than before. Thank god for it too.

The SP is pretty seriously anti-austerity; the analogy of Hollande's PS is our PvdA (Labour) party, who are entirely gutless and worthless.

# ¿ May 23, 2014 17:26

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

GaussianCopula posted:

My guess would be that Junker gets the job and Schulz get's to keep his as president of the parliament.

I would be pretty, pretty surprised if Juncker actually got the job. Remember, the Lisbon Treaty does not say that the Council must take on board the EP candidate as the new Commission president, they just have to 'take them into account'. Technically the Council members could just read the paper this morning, think "hmm, Juncker ... Nope!" and they'd have done their mandated job.

Besides, with turnout as low as it is, the Council can now claim that they don't need to listen all that close to the EP anyway.

There's more scuttlebutt here around Christine Lagarde, and now I'm starting to hear Pascal Lamy (former WTO head). Two neoliberal austerians. Great news, Europe!

# ¿ May 26, 2014 09:15

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

blowfish posted:

Haven't seen it mentioned yet, but DIE PARTEI, the self described political arm of a satirical magazine, got one of the German seats. This is going to be good

They sound incredible; from the Guardian live blog:

quote:

More perplexing news from my colleague Philip Oltermann in Germany, where a satirical party has won a seat in the European parliament:

Final results confirm that Germany's The Party, a satirical outfit that ran a campaign with nonsense slogans like 'Yes to Europe, No to Europe', will be able to send its first MEP to Brussels.

The organisation run by Martin Sonneborn, a former editor of the satirical magazine Titanic, got about 180,000 votes, roughly 0.6%.

Sonneborn last night announced that he would resign as delegate within a month, and that his successors would follow his lead, so that The Party would have a total of 60 delegates sit in the European parliament between now and 2019.

'We are going to milk the EU like a southern European state,' he said. 'I don't think we are the maddest ones in the European parliament.'

Amazing.

# ¿ May 26, 2014 13:26

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Cat Mattress posted:

Getting eurosceptics in the Parliament is a good thing IMO because it increases the likelihood that the Parliament will reject TAFTA-aka-TTIP.

poo poo-that-wont-happen.txt.

Every time you mention 'TTIP' here in Brussels you get five people going JOBS JOBS TRADING BLOCK COUNTER-CHINA

It will pass, but probably without the agricultural section.

# ¿ May 26, 2014 14:22

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Hahaha, it's staaaaartttiing!

Dutch newspaper is reporting that Merkel asked Hollande to push Christine Lagarde forward as the new EC President.

Bow before your undemocratic, neoliberal overlords.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2014 21:58

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Electronico6 posted:

Britain leaving the EU has been a talking point since, and before, they joined the EEC. There's simply nothing to gain for Britain with it. All those economical treaties and even the special position they hold within the Union serve them quite well. Being out would be far worse than having a drunk Luxembourger in the Commission. Not to mention that the EU wouldn't quite stand for it.

This x 1.000 - there is no upside on earth, except placating some raving Home Counties 'the EU is after my cucumbers raaaaggghh', to the UK leaving the EU. I mean, it would be a mess, but it would be a mess that the continent would get over, but the UK would be hosed.

Electronico6 posted:

If Juncker comes to be, Cameron will be real angry so the British public can see and then just go back to his corner.

Yeah, he can do his dog-and-pony act about the control of the European Commission, go back to the electorate and say 'well, we fought hard but bloody Eurocrats', and then it turns out that having Juncker won't be that much different from having Barrosso.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2014 12:42

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Welp, Cameron just gave his answer to Juncker's imminent crowning; he's switched his Foreign Secretary for a Eurosceptic:

The Guardian posted:

William Hague is to stand down as foreign secretary with immediate effect and will take on the lesser role of leader of the House of Commons as David Cameron embarked on the most far reaching reshuffle of the parliament that was dubbed a new "night of the long knives".

[...]

Philip Hammond, the highly eurosceptic defence secretary, emerged as the leading candidate to replace Hague at the foreign office. Hammond, who said last year that he would vote to leave the EU if it remained in its presence form, would assume the mantle of the cabinet's most senior eurosceptic as foreign secretary.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/14/cabinet-reshuffle-william-hague-tory-government

Also, today will see the election (or not-election) of Juncker by the European Parliament - he'll need a majority and there are abstentions (notably UK Labour) from the S&D bench, who has promised to back him. However, there are enough ALDE and GUE/NGL votes to get him into the seat. After all, the EP outmaneuvered the Council, and they'd be crazy to give that up now.

Now we can get ready for the utterly mad horsetrading that is the appointment of Commissioners :dance:

Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 10:23 on Jul 15, 2014

# ¿ Jul 15, 2014 10:18

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

LemonDrizzle posted:

You must give us trade or internal markets or else we will sulk a lot and make lots of noise about leaving. So there.

That's probably going to work; the UK is too important and too pissed off to give a lovely posting too. They're also losing Ashton as the EU foreign affairs chief, so they're gonna have some vouchers to cash in.

I wonder who's going to get shafted with the shithole DG's like 'consumer rights'.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2014 10:49

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

3peat posted:

IIRC we're getting agriculture, is that an important one?

You being which country? I've heard rumours but no definite answers yet.

Agriculture is sort of middle-rank these days, sorry. The new CAP negotiations, which were the huge thing, are done and dusted so the new guy/girl gets to implement. Which will be a living hell.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2014 11:05

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Cat Mattress posted:

3peat is Romania, apparently.
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/eu-elections-2014/romania-resend-dacian-ciolos-commissioner-303104

Huh, I'd heard he/Romania wanted Committee of the Regions.

Shame, Ciolos was a pretty poo poo agri-commissioner, and 5 more years of him won't make it any better.

Electronico6 posted:

Give the UK the Enlargement job.

If this happened, I would give Juncker my wholehearted support for appreciating cosmic-level irony.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2014 12:45

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 04:54

Junior G-man: Sep 15, 2004; Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

lokicubed posted:

I guess this is the right place for this.

Draft of the Juncker commission leaked. Bit of a strange line up in some areas.

Some portfolios clearly split up and shuffled around. Sceptical about a Commissioner for Internet and Culture. Seems like it got cobbled together out the remains of Digital Agenda and Education/Culture.

http://www.euractiv.com/sections/eu-priorities-2020/exclusive-juncker-team-revealed-308203

Might be real enough. Thank God Ciolos got booted out of agriculture. He was a muppet.

The Belgians got royally hosed hahahahaha "Skills, Youth and Multilingualism� - someone to take it in the neck for the EU's lovely youth employment in 2 years.

PS: SHUT UP ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING

# ¿ Sep 4, 2014 20:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > EuroPol: abide by D&D values or don't post

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