Schmeuze

Jobs numbers in the US: 120 000 new jobs created. They are extremely unhappy. Growth is only 2.5%. In Europe, they would pop champagne...

FT leaks Commission document: Italy will not rech zero deficit in 2013 due to its stagnant economy. The European Commission refuses to comment...

The agreement on Greece debt was D-Day for the EU. Growth will still take three years to pick up. Hard times are coming.

On 12th of February 2002, Slobodan Milosevic goes on trial at the Hague tribunal, charged with genocide. 

Quote of the day: “I am confident that a solution will be reached next week as this is critically important for Greece and the Greek citizens first and foremost but also for the whole euro area,” he said on the sidelines of an EU-India summit in New Delhi. “I therefore call on the responsibility and the leadership of the Greek leaders and all members of the eurozone so that we can obtain this goal.” (Barroso). 

Le président de l’Eurogroupe, Jean-Claude Juncker, a décidé de convoquer une réunion de l’Eurogroupe le jeudi 9 février 2012, à 18 heures, au bâtiment Justus Lipsius à Bruxelles.

Desperate for limelight, craving for some news headlines and committed to her political party in The Netherlands (the liberals, VVD, who would like a "Super Euro"...), Commissioner Kroes wastes another good occasion to keep silent. "The Euro can live without Greece", "when one member leaves it doesn't mean man overboard". Right time to say it, clever girl!

Barroso will be meeting Jacques Delors: I also asked my grandfather to help me out reprogramming my Macbook.

“I am sure the euro will oblige us to introduce a new set of economic policy instruments. It is politically impossible to propose that now. But some day there will be a crisis and new instruments will be created.” (Romano Prodi, FT, 2001). 

The Commission White Paper on Pensions: something interesting to start a reflection on how many chances we have to actually get them. 

Pierre Sarkozy, son of Nicolas Sarkozy, comes back from Ukraine on a French government jet. In Italy, unemployment amongst people under 30 years old is 33%. Kings and slaves, just like in the middle-age.

The President of the Commission is concerned about youth unemployment. In my opinion, he can just as well resign and give his job to a 30 year old person who actually has some ideas and a way to bring them forward. 

Herman Cain endorses Newt Gingrich: two family men. Each one with a wife and two mistresses. 

EPSO exam, last stage. You're almost entering the golden world of comfortable pensions and high salaries. Wait... You still need to answer the 64 million dollar question: the 27 Commissioners and their portfolios. Right. Raise your hand if you know them all. And don't cheat!

A referendum in Croatia approves EU accession. Good majority, poor turnout. Two thirds of the votes were in favour, but less than half the voters actually showed up at the polls. Pessimism, or lack of interest?

Newt Gingrich, a real conservative who had two wives and several other affaires, won the South Carolina primaries by 9 percentage points - backed by the same Rick Perry who said he hated Washington and its politicians. For the ones who do not know this, Newt has been Speaker of the House in DC for quite a while...

Kristin Schreiber is the new Deputy Head of Cabinet of Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market.

Daniel Calleja is the new Director General for Enterprise. He replaces Heinz Zourek. 

Marcus Winkler will be Martin Schulz's Head of Cabinet. 

Orban to make surprise visit to Strasbourg tomorrow. The Hungarian government insists that there is no political problem ("We don't have an argument with the Commission on basic principles...The debate goes back to the level where it belongs: technicalities and legal arguments."). 

Hannes Swoboda is the new Head of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament. 

Europe wants its own CRAs. Olli Rehn says S&P is an employee of the US speculators. I also did not like the result of the Champions League final: can I ask to change the referee and repeat the match?

France might be downgraded by Standards and Poor's today. 

"It is indeed an unprecedented event in the history of the last 20 years of the Hungarian democracy that a Member of the Hungarian Parliament, who is at the same time a former member of the National Judicial Council, dares to call the judges, whose independence is granted by the law, as "political commissars", and - on the pretext of the safeguard of justice - threatens to hold them responsible". 

It is quite a big challenge to put a website online. Our developers did their best, but in order to overcome the difficulty of delivering a version for Internet Explorer 5, 6, 7, 8.5, 29, they had to take two extra days. Should Microsoft finally get their act together and stop behaving like the lonely schoolchild?

Catherine Trautmann appears to have promised the moon to the Spanish socialists, if they'd voted for her to become President of the Group. But the top candidate is still Swoboda, as Hughes is out of the race and the former mayor of Strasbourg is considered too "lefty". 

Paulo Rangel (Portuguese) might be the successor of Joseph Daul as Head of the EPP Group, or might get the job of Parliament Vice-President. Barroso's move?

It appears that Martin Schulz, who is to become the new President of the European Parliament, has made some moves to promote his cabinet in the Parliament officials hierarchy. However, he could not force the appointment of his dearest friend, Hannes Swoboda, as head of the Socialist & Democrats. Yet. 

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/babes-of-the-bnp

Two current relevant Spanish MEPs from the EPP will join the government of Mr Rajoy, with foreign affairs responsibilities. José Manuel Garcia Margallo (an economist in the ECON Committee of the EP) and Inigo Mendez de Vigo (President of the Administrative Council of the College of Europe) will fly straight to Madrid in the new year. 

It appears that the President of the Commission would like a Portuguese to be in charge of financial services reforms, in the DG Internal Market of the European Commission. Spot on...  

“Writing is what’s important to me, and anything that helps me do that — or enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument and conversation — is worth it to me"...“impossible for me to imagine having my life without going to those parties, without having those late nights, without that second bottle.” (source: the New York Times)

In the Italian delegation of the EPP, there are now seven different political parties. Unconfirmed rumors appear to indicate January 2012 as the date when some of these MEPs will migrate to the ECR group. 
They are not the first ones to add up to the ECR, which is - at the moment - the fourth biggest political party in a European Parliament that appears to have turned right. 

French, Germans and Brits are protesting that there are too many Italians in the Institutions who have power in the financial sectors. They quote Andrea Enrìa, Mario Draghi as being the front people, and rumored new DG Internal Market Directors Ugo Bassi and Mario Nava as the ones “behind the scenes”. As if nationality should account for competence...

He wants to launch an initiative on the separation between the commercial and the financial activities of banks. Will the Parliament slaughter it?

“I will propose you for the role of “Kapo” - said Silvio Berlusconi to him in 2005, when the now former Prime Minister was presenting the Italian Presidency program to the EU Parliament.