Spain’s communist Government – unfortunately the current holders of European Union’s rotating presidency, want the EU to go forward with improving relations with communist Cuba, despite a row after Havana’s refusal to grant entry to a Spanish member of the European Parliament.
“Isolation, blockage and embargo (against Cuba) do not lead to anything. They have not given any results in 50 years,” Spain’s Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said, according to monstersandcritics.com.
Moratinos made the comments …

Serious doubts over the viability of the scheme to track people in and out of the country emerged today after the Government gave way to pressure from the European Commission over the collection of travellers’ personal information, The Times reports.
The Home Office offered a series of concessions to ensure the £1.2 billion electronic borders scheme would not fall foul of EU rules, but the concessions to the European Commission threaten to undermine the whole reason …

European Union foreign ministers have rejected a Swedish proposal to declare eastern Jerusalem as the capital of a future Arab state, but called for virtually the same result through “negotiations”, Arutz 7 reports.
Although the EU dropped a reference that defined a future Arab state as including eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, they stated: “The EU will not recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including those with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed to …

French President Nicolas Sarkozy gloated at the appointment of Frenchman Michel Barnier as European Commissioner for the Single Market, saying that France is in charge of the City of London now.
Sarkozy’s glee at the appointment of Barnier took on an edge of menace yesterday when he said that unfettered City practices must end, The Times reports. “Do you know what it means for me to see for the first time in 50 years …

The EU’s first President, Herman van Rompuy, officially took office today as the bloc’s reforming Lisbon Treaty entered into force, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Baroness Catherine Ashton at the same time became the European Union’s foreign policy chief – a post dubbed “EU foreign minister”.
The 27 EU heads of state and government chose van Rompuy, who was the serving Belgian Prime Minister, for the top jobs at a summit this month after much behind-the-scenes horse-trading. The …

President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso today unveiled his new Cabinet.
The members of the new European Commission are:
Jose Manuel Barroso – Portugal – President.
Joaquín Almunia – Spain – Competition, Vice-President of the Commission.
László Andor – Hungary – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.
Baroness Catherine Ashton – the United Kingdom – High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security and Vice-President of the Commission.
Michel Barnier – France – Internal Market and Services.
Dacian Ciolos …

The little-known Labour peer, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, who emerged as the surprise choice to be Europe’s first foreign minister, declared today that she was determined to prove she was the best person for the job, the Daily Mail reports.
Cathrine Ashton, the EU trade commissioner who has never held elected office, said she was “humbled” to have been picked by EU leaders for the new post of High Representative.
Lady Ashton acknowledged that there had been …

Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy, a little-know federalist, has been elected European Union’s first President by the member states of the Union.
According to the Daily Telegraph, van Rompuy is a poetry-writing economist almost entirely unknown outside Belgium until he emerged as EU leaders’ choice for a President who could not possibly overshadow national leaders.
A staunch advocate of European integration, he has backed policies including a European-wide tax on all financial transactions to fund EU …

Labour peer Baroness Ashton has been selected as the European Union’s high representative of foreign affairs and security, the BBC reports.
Cathrine Ashton, currently EU’s trade commissioner, was chosen for the new post by the leaders of the EU’s 27 member states at a meeting in Brussels.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown backed her for the role after accepting that former Prime Minister Tony Blair could not become European Council president.
Baroness Ashton, 53, emerged as a surprise candidate …

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair tonight bowed out of the race to become the first President of the European Council when it became clear that centre-right leaders, who dominate the EU, are determined that the post should go to their group, the Guardian reports.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown abandoned his support for Blair shortly before a dinner of EU leaders at an emergency summit in Brussels tonight, but he appears likely to secure for his former …

The European Union are pushing to upgrade their status at the UN to put them on a par with quasi-states such as the Vatican, The Times reports.
EU officials are discussing a plan to seek a controversial UN General Assembly resolution that would recognise the 27-nation bloc’s new unified foreign policy envisaged in the Lisbon Treaty. The resolution, if adopted, would give the EU their own seat and nameplate in UN General Assembly chamber and committees …

European Union leaders will gather in Brussels today to select their first full-time president and foreign affairs high representative, the BBC reports.
The heads of the 27 EU member nations are divided over which candidates to choose, and after-dinner negotiations are expected to last into the night.
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair had been an early favourite for president, but France and Germany look set to back a less prominent figure, the Belgian Prime Minister Herman …

To my surprise, the readers of The Empire Chronicles have voted former Prime Minister Tony Blair as their favourite candidate for the EU presidency, despite the fact that his chances to nail the post are slimmer than ever.
42 per cent of the respondents – 620 people – said that Blair would be the best candidate to become the European Union’s first President. Former Czech President Vaclav Havel came in second with 22% support – 329 …

Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini proposes the creation of a European army after the “new Europe” takes shape at this week’s EU summit following the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, The Times reports.
Frattini said that the Lisbon Treaty had established “that if some countries want to enter into reinforced co-operation between themselves they can do so”. This was already the case with the euro and the Schengen accords on frontier-free travel, and could now be …

Latvia’s former President and the country’s candidate for European Union’s first President, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, said that the appointment is being conducted with Soviet-style secrecy and contempt for the public, the Daily Telegraph reports.
71-year-old Vike-Freiberga attacked the EU for operating in “darkness and behind closed doors”.
“The European Union should stop working like the former Soviet Union,” she said.
She is the only person to have openly declared herself as in the running to become EU President, a …

Latvia and Finland are theoretically prepared to support Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves for the President of the European Union, Estonian media reports.
Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said that Ilves is an honourable candidate for the unelected EU presidency.
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said today that Finland is ready to support Ilves as the EU President.