Strengthening the ENP – Conference 3.9.2007

The European Commission is organizing a conference called “Working together – Strengthening the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP)” on 3.9.2007 in Brussels:

This Conference provides a first opportunity for governmental and non-governmental actors, from both partner countries and EU Member States, to exchange views and ideas on how the policy can be further strengthened or how it could better respond to their needs.

The bad news: “For security reasons, participation in this event is by invitation only.”

I haven’t received an invitation yet… and I also highly doubt that someone at the Commission actually considers inviting me (in case you work for the EC: you can contact me here 😉

But the good news is: “The conference will be broadcasted live via webstream” This might be an interesting web event, of course depending on who will participate and provided the EC also streams the ministerial morning sessions…

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The European Dream

Thanks to analyzingEU (somehow the post disappeared in the meantime…) I found this speech by Jeremy Rifkin, the founder of the Foundation of Economic Trends. If you know the stuff by Jeremy Rifkin you know what you get, if you don’t just give it a try! He is a quite influential advisor, a best-selling author and he is certainly a good speaker. However, he is also known to have started many controversial debates. Times magazine once called him “the most hated man in science”. This lecture (wasn’t it the same he delivered at the European Youth Summit in Rome?) is based on Rifkin’s book ‘The European Dream‘ which was published a few years ago.

Unfortunately the quality of the video could be a bit better given that the European Journalism Centre was involved in the production…(But I accept this excuse 😉 )

Welcome back!

The summer break is over. Slowly, the Brussels xpat crowd is coming back from holiday.

I just started deleting blog spam….it is incredible what kind of spam you get these days! It used to be only the obvious things about different medications and various operations, as well as dating opportunities…but now they started making compliments:

• informative post, keep it up.
• dude cool site i like it very much.
• revolutionary. breathtaking. awesome post dude.
• Excellent forum with fantastic references and reading…. well done indeed…
• great site, nice design.
• nice choice of colors.

and my favorite:

• your blog is so important. you are the new media

That should give me indeed enough motivation to go on with my blogging 😉

In case you just returned from your holidays in a remote area without newspapers and Internet connection, you might be interested in what happened during the summer. Here is the ultimate (but incomplete) list of important things you missed:

1. Early elections in Poland! What does this mean for the new EU treaty?

2. European Parliament elections in Romania!

3. Still no government in Belgium! Even summer was cancelled in Brussels this year.

4. The IGC is on the way, Gordon Brown needs strong nerves; and just to make sure: Britain has not lost control of its foreign policy: part 1 and part 2

5. George W. Bush lost Karl Rove and Tony Snow.

6. President Sarkozy is back!! Sarkozy in the US!! A new Iraq strategy?? A deal with Gaddafi!! Cecilia Sarkozy saves Bulgarian hostages (on her own!!)!! Hyperactive president!!

7. Georgia and the mysterious missile; Russia proposes own IMF candidate

8. Germany: Two years of Angie and Italian Mafia in Germany.

9. EU news: EU wants to break up energy giants; The EU and Kosovo

10. Media news: BBC dropped from Russia’s FM waveband; wordpress.com is blocked in Turkey! wordpress.com is still blocked…

11. George Tabori and Ingmar Bergman

In the euroblogosphere two (among many others I have not yet discovered) very interesting new blogs appeared: Brussels Comment and The European Parliament (that wants to find out what Europe has ever done for us).

Bad news for the German speaking blogosphere: The best political blog has decided to call it a day! Good bye Kosmoblog! We will miss you!