EU geek. Passionate about psychology, philosophy and history. Advocate for peace, democracy, trade and the accountability of elites.
Jun 20, 2019 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
A quick thread..
..as EU countries meet this week to designate––behind closed doors––the new presidents of the EU Commission, EU Council, EU Parliament, EU Central Bank and the new EU Foreign Minister..
..on the history of those appointments and which countries normally win:
13 men have presided over the European Commission and its previous incarnations.
Incredibly, more Luxembourgish politicians have held that post than any other nationality:
Jean-Claude Juncker 🇱🇺 2014-19
José Manuel Barroso 🇵🇹 2004-14
Romano Prodi 🇮🇹 1999-2004
cont..
May 16, 2019 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Quick thread - The final paragraph of this BBC piece on last night’s EU election debates shows how misunderstood power plays in Brussels are, even by senior journalists.
“The days after the European elections will see a race for control of the process that will pit the European political parties against EU leaders, who will discuss the issue at a special summit on 28 May.”
Feb 15, 2019 • 27 tweets • 24 min read
THREAD..
..on the biggest and baddest lobbyists in EU town
..the huge influence they have on EU lawmaking
..and how many represent interests from outside the EU.
/1
According to Transparency International @TI_EU, the lobby organisation that has held the most high-level meetings at the European Commission between 2014 and 2018 is @BusinessEurope.
