The European Commission is calling for a suggested maximum volume to be set on MP3 players, to protect users’ hearing
reports the BBC. One proposal is to have a limit of 85 dB, which can be overridden as far as 100 dB. This is a bit daft for three reasons.
Firstly, it’s a bad idea. If someone [...]

It would appear that Premiers Sarkozy and Merkel are joining with Gordon Brown in wanting a super tax on on bonuses and, perhaps, further action to prevent banking causing a recession such as we are experiencing at the moment again. On 2008 figures, that’s slightly more than fifty per cent of the EU’s GDP1, which [...]

Shortly, white smoke will appear over a building in a European capital and, apparently after having checked that the incumbent has testicles, a new political figure will be anointed with little formal power but great powers of influence and suggestion.
Not habemus papam, but habemus praesidentem consilium europeum1.
As you may be aware, I am not the [...]

There’s a storm brewing over the political positions of Michal Kaminski, particularly regarding his relations to the National Revival of Poland, aka NOP, and the Committee to Defend the Good Name of Jedwabne.
The NOP is now regarded by just about everyone as a nasty bunch of anti-Semites (their manifesto includes a line from Mein [...]

The United Kingdom Independence Party are the largest members of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group in the European Parliament. Amongst their European allies are Dansk Folkeparti (DF or the Danish People’s Party).
DF have published an advert:

After you’ve finished finding the poor photo manipulation (look at the swords…), it’s worth reading the text. In [...]

Just doing some working out for a blog post and I thought this might be useful to record. I believe it’s all right.

Country
Governing Party
Europarty

Austria
SDP
PES

Belgium
CD&V
EPP

Bulgaria
Socialist
PES

Cyprus
Communist
Nordic Green Left

Czech Republic
Civic Platform
EC&R

Denmark
Venstre
ALDE

Estonia
Reform
ALDE

Finland
SDP
PES

France
UMP
EPP

Germany
CDU
EPP

Greece
New Democracy
EPP

Hungary
Ind/Soc
PES

Irish Republic
FF
ALDE

Italy
PdL
EPP

Latvia
NEP
EPP

Lithuania
Ind/Con
PES

Luxembourg
CSV
EPP

Malta
Nationalist
EPP

Netherlands
CDA
EPP

Poland
PiS
EC&R

Portugal
Socialist
PES

Romania
Ind/Popular
EPP

Slovakia
SDP
PES

Slovenia
SDP
PES

Spain
PSOE
PES

Sweden
Moderate
EPP

UK
Labour
PES

The totals are 9 for the Party of European Socialists, 12 for the European People’s Party, 1 for the Nordic Green Left, 2 for the new [...]

Every time there’s an election, there’s a vote-matcher-widgety-hoojamaflit-thingie. Yes, that’s a technical term and the one at EUProfiler.eu is pretty good. According to its outputs, my closest UK party is the LibDems; the main reason it didn’t give me the Labour Party, it would appear, is that I am more liberal on law and order.

Perhaps [...]

Hope Not Hate have set up a page at action.hopenothate.org.uk/eventsnearme so you can find events near you campaigning against the BNP in advance of the Euro and council elections.
There seems to be a real chance that the BNP will gain their first MEP at the forthcoming Euro elections because of the proportional system.
It’s essential that [...]

Via Mr Eugenides, I see that a blog, England Expects, written by a press officer, Gawain Towler, for the European Parliament Independence and Democracy Group, which includes UKIP, has been effectively shut down.
While it appears he may have been in a technical breach of the rules, I would submit that the rules appear to be [...]

With apologies for the awful title, I have a post on Europe after the Irish referendum up at the Wardman Wire.
xD.