32 thoughts on “De Wednesday Papers

    1. mildred st. meadowlark

      I’m in awe of her. If I wore a tartan suit I’d look like one of those condemned Confirmation pics of the mid 80s.

      1. Frilly Keane

        I’d wear that if I could
        only I’d look like Robbie Coltrane

        and yeah
        she likes her shoes

  1. petey

    “unions call for workers to be protected”
    not “unions call for general strike”
    oh well it’s a post-reagan world …

  2. jimmy russell

    so what if the eu is a bloated monolith that is rotten to the core with corruption and bureaucracy the best way to fix it is from within

    1. sǝɯǝɯʇɐpɐq

      Dear Rimmy Hustle,
      first you must learn their language. Then they will explain to you how they think that they think they can fix it from ‘without’.

      – It’s hard to explain…

      I don’t really think I understand it meself to be honest.
      I used to think they used to think that they had a big brother across the Atlantic, and so did they, but eh…

      Modern rebellion happens online. Then it gets boring after two weeks.
      Nothing really happens.

    2. Deluded

      I agree with you both.
      I read somewhere that there are 30,000 lobbyists in Brussells compared with 33,000 people employed by the entire EU.
      Are the politicians* not there to lobby?
      I am sure that lobbyists cover everything from industry to charity, but the point is we have no problem, apparently, paying for an unelected shadow bureaucracy.

      *We actually elect people to make international agreements for us, to select the committees that shape our policies and I think it has been astoundingly positive… why would leaving such an organisation benefit us?

      1. Rob_G

        30,000 lobbyists (though I am certain it is a bit more than that) doesn’t seem like that many when you consider that there are 743 million people in the living in the EU.

        (disclaimer: have worked as a lobbyist)

        1. DubLoony

          How successful are they?
          EU leads the way on banning GMO, protecting food supply, environmental issues, foreign aid, peaceful resolution of disputes, upholding human rights and generally not being the basket case that it was in first half of 20th century.

          1. Rob_G

            Well, there are groups lobbying for banning GMO, just as there are groups for lobbying for funding for research into growing GMOs; both sides want to put their respective arguments forward, and the most efficient way to do that is probably to hire someone with experience of the EU institutions to do it for them.

            (GMOs aren’t banned in Europe, btw).

        2. Clampers Outside!

          @Rob_G Would you agree that all lobbying should be above board and transparent. And I do mean ‘all’… speaking from your own experience, that is. As Miriam says, a “genuine question”… :)

          1. Rob_G

            I don’t know; I know that MEPs have to sign a register when they meet a tobacco lobbyist. But don’t know if that work for all lobbying activities – I mean, some lobbyists don’t consider themselves ‘lobbyists’ (like if their area is human rights or education or whatever).

            So – I dunno.

      2. Listrade

        It depends how you use the term lobbyist.

        The EC (the European Civil service) is the main bureaucracy and this is where lobbyists feed in the most. However, that is because the EC, its policy and legislation is based on a Social Partnership model. No comment on the pro or con of that, it is just the way it is. But it does mean that you will have various Advisory Committees feeding into the appropriate Directorate depending on the issue. In theory each member state has the right to have a representative on most of these committees. At a minimum you could be looking at 2 from each country (employer and employee representative) on each Committee. All officially recognised and registered with the EC, but not actually based in Brussels and considered lobbyists in a very loose sense.

        It’s a far cry from the Washington DC model of lobbyists and more how the EC works with formal and official Social Partnership. Most of those aren’t fully based in Brussels or Luxembourg, but are on the books as recognised social partners.

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