The European Commission will set out its views on EU treaty change by early next year noting that ideas that now seem like "political science fiction" will eventually become reality. The commission will put forward " ...

The rest of the UK should support a 'fast-tracked' application for an independent Scotland to join the EU, according to a report published Wednesday (1 May) by MPs. But the report, drafted by MPs on the House of Commons ...

Brussels is awash with stories about the unhealthy influence of lobbyists on law-makers but as big a scandal, say some experts, is the increasing amount of legislation made with little scrutiny at all. The lack of ...

EU countries are set to share the pain of political job-losses, with 13 countries to lose MEPs at next year's European elections. Deputies on the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee on Tuesday (19 ...

It was just eight years ago. In 2004, Romano Prodi, an Italian economics professor from Bologna, left one of the most powerful posts in Europe. In his five year term as President of the European Commission, he oversaw ...

The EU should have legal mechanisms for countries to leave the euro, says Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. In a letter released on Thursday (31 January) responding to a question in the Dutch Parliament, Rutte and his ...

David Cameron’s London speech (23 January) is the culmination of a long period of in-decision over the position of the Coalition Government towards Europe. Hemmed-in by an increasingly eurosceptic Conservative party on ...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British PM David Cameron on Thursday (24 January) sought common ground on the future of the European Union, one day after he announced a referendum on Britain's EU membership four ...

Other leaders have reacted coolly to Prime Minister David Cameron's speech on Europe, in a reminder that much of what stands on London's EU wishlist is dependent on the goodwill of other member states. "Of course ...

Britain will hold a referendum on whether to stay in the EU by the end of 2017, David Cameron promised on Wednesday (23 January) in a long-delayed speech on Britain's status in Europe. Delivering the speech in London, ...

MEPs have kept alive support for joint liability Eurobonds despite critics describing the plan as "a socialist loonie-land" and a way to create a transfer union by the back door. A majority of deputies backed a report ...

The Obama administration has warned Britain against sidelining itself in the EU as Prime Minister Cameron comes under increasing pressure to hold a membership referendum. "We have a growing relationship with the EU as ...

The EU commission Wednesday published its vision for a "genuine" economic and monetary union (EMU) under which national budgets could be vetoed and a central European budget would allow transfers for troubled countries. ...

Thousands of EU officials will return to Brussels wearier than usual on Friday (26 October) but, on balance, will probably be grateful for a Parliament decision that saved them from another round-trip. The latest act in ...

The EU should have its own "currency commissioner," according to an ambitious new plan set out by German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. Under Schaeuble's plan, which would include further changes to the EU ...

MEPs have dismissed suggestions that a new parliamentary body should be set up solely for eurozone members stating that “no new accountability structures specific to the euro-area must be established.” In an unofficial ...

The Scottish government is facing renewed pressure to reveal legal advice on whether it would remain in the EU if the country votes to leave the United Kingdom. An urgent hearing of the Court of Session in Edinburgh ...

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso used his third annual state of the union speech on Wednesday (12 September) to call for a "federation of nation states." During a 45-minute address to MEPs in the ...

As focus moves from arguments between Greece and its EU partners to a possible bail-out for Spain, it is becoming clear that in efforts to solve the eurozone crisis EU leaders are missing the wood for the trees. There ...

The EU is pressing ahead with talks on further bi-lateral carbon emissions agreements with a deal with Australia just announced. Isaac Valero-Ladron, spokesperson for EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, ...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing for a new EU treaty convention by December, despite opposition from many countries, Der Spiegel reports in its latest print edition on Monday (27 August). Merkel's push for a ...

Last week, Eurogroup leader Jean Claude-Juncker said that a Greek exit from the eurozone could be managed. Why Juncker felt compelled to say this is unclear, especially since there are no indications Greece wants to ...

A new legal challenge filed with the German Constitutional Court on Monday (13 August) calls on judges to further delay their ruling on the eurozone's permanent bailout fund, pending a verdict by the EU's top court. The ...

The prospect of Britain leaving the European Union is increasingly likely according to a leaked strategy paper by banking giant Nomura. The Asian bank, which is drawing up contingency plans for a "Brexit," said that "a ...

The little-loved anti-counterfeit treaty, Acta, has collapsed after MEPs in the European Parliament vetoed it by an overwhelming majority. After comfortably rejecting a request by the centre-right EPP group to postpone ...

The expectations attached to the EU’s new participatory democracy tool are high. The European Citizens Initiative (ECI), allowing citizens to influence EU law-making, is seen as the most significant democratic reform in ...

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said member states must agree to a big common budget, a future banking union and - ultimately - political union in order to save the EU. His speech at the European ...

The Crisis of the European Union: A Response. By Juergen Habermas, translated by Ciaran Cronin. Polity Press, 2012; 140 pages; €19.80 at Wiley After two years of brinkmanship and eurozone firefighting, EU leaders are ...

At the outset there was a clear choice for the Irish electorate, when they went to the polls last Thursday for the 9th time on a European issue since 1973. „Yes to Stability“ or „No to Austerity“. And they delivered a ...

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said he is going to push for an "early" plan for further integration in the eurozone, claiming political momentum is on his side. "The commission will advocate an ...

A draft EU law governing the right to strike is set to be reviewed after complaints by national law-makers that the issue is best dealt with nationally. The so-called Monti II law which attempts to clarify the balance ...

Another European treaty. Another Irish referendum. Once again the main political parties, somewhat battle weary, join forces to argue Yes. Sinn Fein and Declan Ganley, the maverick federalist, campaign for a No. Most ...

Swedish Pirate party MEP Christian Engstrom has little interest in economics or foreign affairs. The former computer engineer is concentrating his energy on stopping the EU parliament from adopting the Acta treaty on ...

The European Commission and national governments are seeking to crack down on the rules granting access to their internal documents despite a ruling by the European Court of Justice calling on them to release legal ...

Conservative MEP Sean Kelly, in favour of the fiscal discipline treaty, goes head to head with Socialist MEP Paul Murphy arguing for a No. Analyst Hugo Brady from the Centre for European Reform says Irish people are ...

Legal challenges in Germany, Ireland and Estonia, as well as political uncertainty in the Netherlands, may delay the setting up of a permanent eurozone bail-out fund at a time when Spain's economic woes require a strong ...

As an Irish legislator and citizen I keep asking myself, would it not be absurd if Irish voters were to vote in the 31 May Fiscal Compact Referendum in favour of imposing austerity rules on ourselves in order to get ...

The ongoing Acta furore has ensured that even average Europeans are now familiar with this "notorious" intellectual property treaty. The uproar has focused on Acta's presumed legislative impact on the rights of average ...

Leaders from 25 EU countries signed the new Fiscal Compact Treaty at a summit in Brussels on 2 March 2012. Watch how the document was printed and sewed together with red ribbon before the signing ceremony.

EU leaders have signed a text designed to stop any prevaricating when it comes to member states taking one another to court for not implementing a rule on balanced budgets - the cornerstone of the newly-signed fiscal ...

Germany's vision of an EU of fiscally prudent states held in check by tight budgetary laws and the threat of legal action came a step closer on Friday (2 March) when 25 leaders signed a new treaty on fiscal discipline. ...

Tasked with approving bail-outs, national budgets and labour market policies which can affect the stability of the eurozone, national parliaments are similar to European institutions, Herman Van Rompuy, EU council ...

Thousands of people gathered around Europe on Saturday (11 February) to protest against the international intellectual property enforcement treaty, ACTA. Protesters feel the law will give too much power to internet ...

Francois Hollande, socialist challenger for the French presidency, has honed his general opposition to the German-led fiscal discipline treaty by outlining the concrete changes he would like to see made to the document. ...

An independent Scotland would be one of the wealthiest parts of Europe, but it would stay out of the euro, deputy first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon tells EUobserver during a visit to Brussels this week.

The European Commission has stepped into the growing row over the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, Acta, as leading MEPs refuse to fast-track parliamentary approval due to bad faith in the talks. Speaking to ...

The Czech Republic's decision to not sign up to a new fiscal discipline treaty given the nod by EU leaders on Monday (30 January) has caused parties in the ruling coalition to lock horns - but the intergovernmental pact ...

The new EU treaty on fiscal discipline will be signed by 25 instead of 26 member states after the Czech Republic on Monday (30 January) joined the UK in staying out of the pact. Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas told ...

Besides a treaty on fiscal discipline, EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Monday will also seek to adopt non-binding measures on employment, in discussions amid what is expected to be a paralysing general strike in the ...