As much European chatter these days is about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Pact (TTIP), another trade agreement between Europe and Canada is close to being finalised. While the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) has opponents on both sides of the Atlantic, the new Canadian Liberal government has called it a “gold-standard” agreement. We invited […]
Guest Blog by Philip Eliason There are current and rapid changes in Libya. The arrival of seven of nine members of the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) Presidency Council in Tripoli on 30 March 2016 is the most significant of them. The statement from Tripoli by Martin Kobler, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to […]
Paul Brannen is a Labour Member of European Parliament for the North East of England. Paul is a member of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee and the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee in the European Parliament. Knowing the exact meaning of some words can be a challenge. For example the word ‘literally’ has […]
This week’s “Panama Papers” leak highlighted the activities of notable citizens in many countries. The recent revelations only confirm what everyone (and we mean, everyone) in Malta has been talking about for the past several weeks: Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri both have connections to companies in […]
With writing by BCI and Frank Talbot, of Libya Reverb Project Defying sceptics and bluster of opposition, Libya’s Government of National Accord finally arrived in Tripoli, albeit by sea. Now it begins not just the hard work of winning and building alliances, securing it’s premises, but it must get on with the business of governing […]
For International Women’s Day 2016, we invited Italian Member of the European Parliament, Barbara Matera to share her thoughts on why there is still much to do to reach ‘Planet 50-50’. Today we mark International Women’s Day, an occasion to look back on the past century of the fight for women’s rights and look forward to […]
Written by BCI’s Matthew Lowell, a version of this opinion piece appeared in today’s Times of Malta. It has been reproduced with the permission of the newspaper. British Prime Minister David Cameron is in Brussels this week in an attempt to gain approval from European Union leaders on a reform package for Britain’s membership of […]
Guest post by Lisa Goldman When Donald Trump declared his candidacy for the Republican Party’s nomination in July, policy analysts and media outlets treated the news as a joke. One major digital news site, the Huffington Post, announced it would cover Trump’s campaign in the entertainment section. Six months later, Trump is the leading Republican […]
On Tuesday, January 19, 2016 the European Parliament debated the state of Poland’s democracy. For reporting on the debate, see Politico EU’s coverage. We invited a Polish Member of the European Parliament, Michal Boni, to share his thoughts on this process and the state of Poland’s democracy. The debate in the European Parliament concerning the […]
Guest post by Frank Talbot On December 17th, the much-anticipated Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) was signed in Al-Shkirat, Morocco. The international community congratulated the Libyans involved in the negotiations for their courage and pledged increased support to the nascent Government of National Accord (GNA). The mood back in Libya was much more reserved. Outspoken opponents […]