Comments on: PES is not backing Barroso, but is not backing anyone. Confused?

By: Stephen Spillane - PES Name Change?

Stephen Spillane - PES Name Change? — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:37:24 +0000

[...] PES is not backing Barroso, but is not backing anyone. Confused? (jonworth.eu) // Share this Post[?] [...]

By: Stephen Spillane - It finally gets interesting: Barroso Vs Verhofstadt

Stephen Spillane - It finally gets interesting: Barroso Vs Verhofstadt — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:42:53 +0000

[...] PES is not backing Barroso, but is not backing anyone. Confused? (jonworth.eu) // Share this Post[?] [...]

By: The PES can’t hide their lack of leadership anymore : Jan’s EUblog

The PES can’t hide their lack of leadership anymore : Jan’s EUblog — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:14:53 +0000

[...] The other day I have received an email from Jeremy Cliffe, the PES’s focal point for bloggers. He was linking up to a recent blog entry by Nyrup Rasmussen in which he declares that the PES is working towards a new majority to stop Barroso. – What a surprise I thought… as if this is not the logic of pluralist political party systems in which parties actually compete for leadership. However, this logic has not really got through to the PES leaders who have been incapable of agreeing on a candidate for the job of Commission President. Given that the PES is (still?) by far the second biggest grouping in EU politics, such a lack of responsibility is the biggest farce in democratic politics I have seen for quite a while (more on the reasons for PES cacophony in Jon Worth’s recent blog entry). [...]

By: Peter Meyers

Peter Meyers — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:07:12 +0000

Andy, where did Rasmussen say that? Do you have that in written?

By: Erika Mann Office

Erika Mann Office — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:04:54 +0000

MTB: http://blog.erikamann.com/2009/05/news-digest-sozialisten-suchen-gegenkandidat-fur-kommissionsprasident-barroso-streit-um-mobile-internettelefonie/

By: Andy Carling

Andy Carling — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:19:46 +0000

Yesterday Rasmussen said they did have a candidate, but he wouldn’t name them. Don’t you just love it.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:03:23 +0000

@Peter – sorry, should have made it clear: from a personal point of view I have no problem with 2 danes, or 2 people of whatever nationality. I nevertheless think that the 2 Danes argument will be cited by governments against Poul Nyrup.

By: french derek

french derek — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:48:23 +0000

Thanks for the link, Brusselsblogger. However, for me it doesn’t seem to advance things very much. There is still too much scope for “wheeling and dealing” behind closed doors.

What is there to stop us, ordinary electors, from having two ballot papers at the EU election: one for EMPs, another for EU President?

At present, we are allowed (ie are directed/restricted by the media) to very little information on candidates, manifestos, etc. If someone agrees to have their name put forward for election as EU President – however elected – they must be expect that they will need to explain how they would see their role, and would be expected to fight to have their message put over more directly to us. We would pay their salary, so we would want to know what our money was buying.

We need more than an anti-Barroso campaign, we need a campaign for more democracy.