In Loving Memory of Federica

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Irish Referendum

EurActiv

EU ministers: Treaty 'not dead', 'emergency plan' needed
Published: Tuesday 17 June 2008
The bloc's foreign ministers yesterday (16 June) discussed options to save the Lisbon Treaty despite its rejection in the Irish referendum last Friday, one being to offer Ireland certain assurances of its sovereignty and have it vote again next year.

Halting the ratification process must not be an option, foreign ministers vowed after the meeting, with the only borderline country being the Czech Republic, where the treaty is under review by the court (EurActiv 16/06/08).
However ministers did not agree on a way forward.
"The worst would be for Brussels to impose something on Ireland," Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said after the meeting.
According to him, there were three scenarios which should be categorically avoided: a long period of reflection such as the one following the failure of the constitution, a renegotiation of the Lisbon Treaty, and the suspension of the ratification process.
Three options appear to be currently on the table. Firstly, a small group of the more ambitious countries could move forward in the form of reinforced cooperation. In case no common solution can be found with Ireland, this approach is favoured most notably by Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and is likely to gain the support of Germany and France.
But it is also certain to be opposed by small and new member states, which are against a 'core' or 'two-speed Europe'. Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero dismissed talks on this issue as "premature" at this point.
A second option would be to apply the treaty only to 26 countries, with a special statute for Ireland. This view was voiced by Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier who even considered the option of Ireland temporarily exiting the integration process.
The last option would have Ireland vote again on a revised text after the ratification process is completed in all other member states. This revised text might grant the country certain opt-outs and assurances as was the case for Denmark, which said 'yes' to the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 after an initial referendum had failed.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said he felt a "sense of solidarity" when meeting his EU counterparts, saying all countries had reassured him they would work with Ireland to find a common solution to the problem.
"We don't want to be left behind, we have always been strong supports of deepening the impact of the EU on our lives," Martin pointed out.
However, he conceded that ministers had no 'quick solutions' to rescue the treaty. "We have not considered any options," he said after the meeting.

For more information: http://www.euractiv.com/en/opinion/eu-ministers-treaty-dead-emergency-plan-needed/article-173383

Statement by European Parliament President Pöttering

Statement by European Council President Janša

Statement by Commission President Barroso

birthday

Je viens de regarder la famille Adams à la télé (diffusée sur JETIX). Un peu tôt - 00.10 heure bulgare, mais je me demande quand-même où est notre cher Gomez et que fait-il aujourd'hui...

http://traineescoeu2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/addams-family-welcome-in-our-office.html

"Happy New Year"

New Year's Eve in Vienna

This is for sure: At midnight you will hear famous Pummerin (St. Stephen’s Cathedral) strike! Apart from that, everything can happen during the biggest celebration of the year. You can opt for an open-air party inclusive last minute waltz course all over Vienna’s first district (‘Silvesterpfad’), escape three-four time at various clubs (i.e. WUK, Passage, Flex,…) or celebrate in one of the many pubs at the ‘Gürtel’ (B72, rhiz, Chelsea,…) or at Bermuda triangle (i.e. krah krah, Bermudabräu, Brennerei,…).Just before midnight you can watch the official fireworks, which are supported by considerable private efforts, illuminate the city!You can also start this year’s ball season with a banger, famous ‘Kaiserball’. At the magnificent halls of the ‘Hofburg’ you first enjoy a splendid dinner and then mark the beginning of the new year in three-four time.You mustn’t miss famous ‘Neujahrskonzert’ the day after which is performed by the Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra and is broadcast on TV.

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New Year's Concert - Neujahrskonzert
This concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, known for playing "serious" music, is dedicated to the Strauss family and the Waltz. Since 1939 this annual welcome to the new year has been staged in traditional Musikverein building. It is broadcast live on TV and a very popular international event. It has managed to become part of Austrian tradition, its tickets being sold out for years and its TV broadcast being one of the most successful Austrian shows.

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Georges Prêtre becomes the first French conductor to lead the traditional New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna on January 1, 2008. Prêtre's ties to Vienna and the Vienna Philharmonic go back to 1962, when the State Opera Director at the time, Herbert von Karajan, invited Prêtre to conduct several performances of Richard Strauss' opera "Capriccio". Only a year later, he made his debut in the Philharmonic subscription concert series when he stepped in for the indisposed Hans Knappertsbusch. This year the Austrian Broadcasting Co. will televise the New Year's Concert, one of classical music's major annual events, for the fiftieth time.

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas, dear friends!!!

http://badaboo.free.fr/merryxmas.swf

J - 8

bonne nouvelle, mes chers amis!

J - 4 avant la rencontre des 2 VF (enfin!!!)

Mais aussi...

J - 8 avant la signature du traité de Lisbonne!

"La cérémonie de signature du Traité de Lisbonne, qui se déroulera le 13 décembre 2007 au monastère de «Jerónimos», à Lisbonne, sera diffusée en direct sur le site Web de la présidence portugaise de l'UE - www.eu2007.pt - ainsi que par la chaîne de télévision Euronews.
La cérémonie, qui comptera sur la présence des chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement représentant les 27 Etats membres de l'Union européenne, commence à 11h30. Le président de la Commission européenne, José Manuel Barroso, le président du Parlement européen, Hans-Gert Pöttering, et le président du Conseil européen, José Sócrates, prononceront des discours à cette occasion.
La signature du Traité de Lisbonne est fixée à 12h15. Puis, environ une heure plus tard, les dirigeants européens se rassembleront pour la traditionnelle photo de famille.
La cérémonie s'achèvera par un déjeuner au musée des carrosses (Belém - Lisbonne), à l'invitation du Président de la République du Portugal. Cliquez ici pour en savoir davantage sur cette réunion."

http://www.eu2007.pt/UE/vFR/Noticias_Documentos/20071122tratadolisboa.htm

MARTINNED HOLLANDERMAN!

happy birthday chris

Boldog születésnapot Ditka

Torták, rózsák, égő gyertyák

S néhány szívből jövő kívánság

Ha elmúltál már ennyi meg ennyi

Nem kell azt úgy a szívedre venni!

Boldog születésnapot,

Boldog születésnapot!

Apád húzza a fülcinpádat,

Anyád könnye bőrig eláztat

Ha megetted már annyi meg annyi

Azt már ott is kellene hagyni!

Boldog születésnapot,

Boldog születésnapot!

Rokon, barát körbe, körbe

Rád néz mint egy görbe tükörbe

Elszaladt már ez az idő

Nem rég voltál apró kis csecsemő!

Boldog születésnapot,

Boldog születésnapot!

Na, na, na,na, na, na, na,

Na,na,na,na,na,na,na

Na,na,na,na,na,na,na,na!

"Short Stop Over in Vienna"

Francesco made a short stop over in Vienna and continued to Serbia-Montenegro by plane. We had 2 hours to enjoy "Coffee and Apfelstrudel".

Marija's Defence

L.S.,

This was basically the first time I put my suit back on since leaving Brussels. (Technically, I should have worn tails, but I couldn't be bothered to.) It was my friend and colleague Marija Bockarjova's Ph.D. defence, and I was asked to be one of the paranimphs. As you can see from the pictures, this is a very demanding job, which mainly requires one to know how to tie a necktie and how not to look bored while someone else talks about their research for an hour. The good news is, though, that I still fit into my suit.

This is the introductory presentation. No powerpoint for the defence itself... As you can see, we unfortunately do not have a nice posh theatre for these occasions, so Ph.D. defences always take place in this lecture theatre.


Everybody rise when the committee comes in.


The announcement of the result, after the defence...




There are more pictures here.

Janina in Vienna

Janina and her grandmother made a stop over in Vienna during their cruise on the Danube. We spent a beautiful day together and visited the medieval town and the Museum of Arts. Finally we ended up drinking sparkling wine in one of the traditional Viennese bars called “Heurigen” where the new wine of the season is sold.

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Chris

"Goodbye Germany - Welcome Portugal"

Germany has ended its six-month rotating presidency of the European Union and handed over power to Portugal for the remainder of the year. The symbolic transfer took place in Berlin between German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Portuguese counterpart, Luis Amado. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner extended his country's warm thanks to Germany for its performance at the helm of the EU during the past half-year. During its presidency, Germany got the EU to agree to a 20 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emission by 2020 and prepared the groundwork for a new treaty to overhaul the 27-nation bloc.

Filipe and Ricardo back in POWER!!!

European Council 2007

Surely there must be someone who hase something exciting to share about last weekend's European Council summit. Since I, myself, have yet to reemerge into civilisation, I limited myself to defending the EU, generally, and the deal they made in particular, on I-don't-know-how-many blogs at the same time (like the Wallström blog, the blog by the BBC's EU reporter Mark Mardell, and the special EU constitution blog of the Dutch NRC newspaper.) My favourite so far is this column by the FT's Gideon Rachman. Just a short exerpt:

"The result is almost impossible to read or understand. And that is entirely intentional. Many things happened at the summit. But perhaps the most important was that the EU finally abandoned the idea that it wants ordinary Europeans to understand what it is doing.

The abandonment of “transparency” brings the EU full circle to where it began when the idea of writing a constitution was dreamt up six years ago. Back then it was conventional wisdom that one of the Union’s biggest problems was that European citizens found it so hard to understand. Why not simplify the complex mess of interlocking treaties and incomprehensible language into a single, readable document?

Big mistake. It turned out that once Europeans were told what the EU was really doing, they were often horrified."

But, like I said, if anyone has had any real involvement in the summit, I suggest they post them here before they submerge into their six months of Presidency. I imagine that, if you're working to keep the EU running, while at the same time trying to make a difinitive deal for the Reform Treaty, you wouldn't have time to do much apart from breathe and talk. Even eating would be difficult, except for the fact that fortunately a lot of business gets done over dinner.

Just one request: Much to my disappointment, the Constitutional Treaty had scrapped the phrase about "an ever closer union". Could someome please check and make sure that the original preamble from 1957 will survive this IGC? Please?

All roads lead to ... Brussels

S

o

o

n

e

r

or later each one of us visits Brussels (or officially moves there), so the people actually living there are most lucky in terms of often seeing co-stagiaires :)))

No need ever to fix a meeting point - Place Lux!!! (And don't worry, you end up drinking there with total strangers)

"Networking in Austria"

Putin in Vienna:

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Austria on Wednesday (May 23) for a visit expected to focus on energy issues and to show the Kremlin can rub along with individual European Union members, even if its relationship with the bloc is rocky.

His Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who arrived a day earlier, discussed European security on Wednesday at a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Putin arrived came less than a week after an EU-Russia summit ended in disagreement over Russian democracy, and Moscow's tetchy relations with Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer told a Russian newspaper that energy issues would be high on the agenda of Putin's talks with Austrian leaders.

Austria is a leading participant in the proposed Nabucco pipeline, which would bring gas from the Caspian Sea region to central Europe via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, a route that would bypass Russia. The project is part of EU efforts to diversify energy supplies and supply routes away from Russia. Moscow is keen to hang on to its control and earlier this month signed a deal to lock in Central Asian gas to its own pipeline network. Speaking to journalist during a break in talks at the OSCE headquarters, Lavrov said: "And it is obvious that issues which are very topical these days, the future of the conventional forces in Europe treaty and the future of the missile defence, those issues have direct relevance to the European security, to the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic region. "I think that the comments of my colleagues in the permanent council and in the security forum indicated that they are interested in more presentations, in more analysis and I hope that today's meeting will certainly contribute to the efforts we are undertaking on this score."

Clinton and Stone in Vienna:

Life Ball is Europe's largest AIDS charity event. Begun in 1993, it takes place annually at the city hall in Vienna, Austria. The event is organized by Gery Keszler and it is the only AIDS charity event that takes place in a political building.
Life Ball consists of two parts: a grand opening ceremony including a fashion show performed on a giant catwalk at Rathausplatz, the square in front of the city hall, which is free for everyone, and a fancy dress party inside the city hall hosted by Vienna's mayor, Michael Häupl, for which a limited number of tickets (c. 4,000) is available.
Already in its first year, donations reached € 79,940; in 2006, they peaked at € 1,111,162. Part of the money goes to the Elton John AIDS Foundation; Sir Elton himself is a regular guest at the ball.
At Life Ball 2006, prominent guests included Sharon Stone (in her capacity as chairwoman of the American Foundation for AIDS Research), Catherine Deneuve, Naomi Campbell, Anastacia, and Nina Hagen.
Each year the fashion show highlights the work of a well-known designer, with professional models as well as celebrities on the catwalk. In the past, the latter group has included Til Schweiger, Kylie Minogue and Cyndi Lauper.

upcoming event:

"Women Leaders - Networking for Peace and Security in the Middle East"

At the invitation of Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik a highranking international conference on the Middle East under the title "Women Leaders - Networking for Peace and Security in the Middle East" will be held on 30-31 May in Vienna, which will bring together women holding leading positions in politics, the media, business and civil society.At the centre of the Conference is a Round Table discussion at the Hofburg Palace on 31 May, which will be attended, among others, by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, President of the UN-General Assembly, as well as other committed women from the region.Three workshops to be held on 30 May in the afternoon will provide the necessary input for the Round Table discussion. At the workshops, participants from Europe, the USA, and the Middle East will discuss the role of the media, economic development and the networking of politics and civil society in the Middle East peace process.Within the framework of the Conference, there will also be a meeting of the "Women’s Empowerment Network" on 31 May at the same venue. This network unites female foreign ministers and presidents from all regions, throughout the world.

And who has to organise all this??? ;-) It's me...

greetings to all

Chris