I always thought diplomats were naturally discreet and uncontroversial because of the importance of the their jobs, but now I’m starting to wonder whether assuming power in the form of the six-month rotating presidency has gone to the head of the Belgian diplomats.

I say this as the row erupts over comments made by Jean De Ruyt, the head of the Belgian Permanent Representation to the EU, who in an interview with the Belgian paper De Tijd said that the European Parliament represented the "biggest stumbling block" to the Belgian EU council presidency.

"The biggest stumbling blocks for the Belgian presidency are with the European Parliament, an incalculable and badly organised partner,” he said.

“You don't know whether the opinion of the MEPs is being decided by the content of a matter or by the wish to be visible and show its own power. In some matters they don't even know that themselves."

Now, Mr De Ruyt, left, is supposedly considered one of Belgium's most experienced diplomats having previously served as the ambassador to Poland, to Italy, as well as the Permanent Representative of Belgium to NATO and to the UN in New York.

But he seems to have forgotten how important the Parliament has become thanks to the new powers it has gained through the Lisbon Treaty. It now enjoys new powers in several key areas, including budgetary matters and for the first time, MEPs have their say with member states on the entire EU budget.

It is therefore undeniable that MEPs are keen to 'flex their muscles', and demonstrated this in February when they rejected the Swift deal earlier this year between the EU and US.

Responding to the criticism, Jo Leinen (S&D, DE), who is the Chairman of the Parliament’s Environment Committee, is quoted by theparliament.com as saying, "For someone in his position to make such comments really is quite astonishing. Clearly, the problem is that some people have still not come to terms with the new powers now enjoyed by parliament under the Lisbon treaty.”

"This is something that appears to be more of a problem for diplomats rather than politicians. Some people have to realise that parliament's new position is a reality,” he said.

"These comments are very unhelpful, particularly at the start of a presidency."

In addition, the former leader of the ALDE group and my local MEP, Graham Watson, said rather wisely that "the European Parliament exists, the Belgian government does not. The Belgians should get their own house in order before they criticise others."

I simply cannot believe that with such an ambitious agenda outlined, Belgium can afford its diplomats making such comments that will surely now come back to haunt them as they try to promote their bills through the Parliament.

Labels: Graham Watson

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Interim President Bronislaw Komorowski appears to have narrowly won victory in Poland's presidential election run-off by defeating former Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczynski, the twin brother of the deceased former President.

With only 95% of the ballots counted so far, Mr Komorowski, left, has obtained 52.6% of the votes, and his opponent Mr Kaczynski, who surprised many polling some 47% of the vote, accepted defeat soon after three different exit polls were published last night showing him in second place.

Mr Komorowski, from the ruling Civic Platform party, will become Poland's fourth democratically elected president since the fall of Communism in 1989.

Dubbed the “EU's dream candidate”, his election was welcomed by Wilfried Martens, the President of the EPP group to which his party belongs, who said “Komorowski has the leadership qualities and political gravitas to bring Poland forward”.

"With President Komorowski and PM Donald Tusk, Poland has the credibility and confidence to play a leading role in the EU".

The official result is expected later today.

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Frankly I have no idea how I managed to miss this gem earlier in the week but an MEP has submitted a written declaration to the European Parliament which calls on it to push for the creation of a European centre to study UFOs.

Italian MEP Mario Borghezio, who sits in the same EFD group as UKIP in the European Parliament, is pursuing his interest in the subject and invoking Article 123 in the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure allowing him to “submit a written declaration of not more than 200 words on a matter falling within the competence of the European Union which does not cover issues that are the subject of an ongoing legislative process.”

And so, in the written declaration (0057/2010), printed and distributed in the official languages, it calls for "public archives on UFOs to be opened up and for records to be declassified by the Member States, thus providing the public and the mass media with access to the full range of documentation on the subject".

Mr Borghezio, left, “considers it essential to set up a scientific centre for the analysis and dissemination of the scientific data gathered to date by various European bodies and governments,” it reads.

Bit it is actually not the first time UFOs have been a topic of discussion in the European Parliament: following a number of sightings in Belgium in 1990, Belgian MEP (now leader of the Belgian Socialist Party) Elio Di Rupo proposed a European UFO Observation Centre. Another MEP, the Italian physicist Tullio Regge, relaunched Di Rupo's initiative in 1993 and suggested that the French National Centre for Space Research become the official UFO information hub.

But now, Mr Borghezio is the latest MEP to attempt to unite the EU members in a mutual UFO crusade. Some governments have actually opened up their files on UFOs, including the French and notably the British who have ceased collecting reports as they felt there was no value in them.

But amazingly this isn’t the only bizarre declaration made to the Parliament this month – Italian MEPs Giancarlo Scottà (EFD) and Sergio Silvestris (EPP) have called for the establishment of European Home-Made Ice Cream Day to be celebrated on 24th March each year “to contribute to the growth of this industry” (0047/2010).

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The senior official quoted yesterday by the Daily Telegraph is either hopelessly optimistic or knows something that a lot of us in Britain cannot even imagine. Throughout his party's campaign for election David Cameron, now PM, vowed to restrict all future transfer of powers to Brussels and has repeated this pledge countless times since entering No. 10.

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Well it certainly appears Mr Herman van Rompuy is indeed going to play a figurehead role in his countries' six-month rotating presidency of the European Union in the absence of a new coalition government - his image appears alone on the presentation sheet of the special edition postage stamps that have been specially produced as is custom for such occasions.

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There was a particularly interesting subject address today by William Hague in his first major speech as Foreign Secretary in which he laid bare the new blueprint for Britain's foreign policy - the subject of the number of British national working as EU officials.

Despite the UK representing 12% of the EU population, he revealed that just 1.8% of entry-level jobs in the European Commission are held by British citizens and to this said "it is mystifying to us that the previous [Labour] Government failed to give due weight to the exercise of British influence in the EU.”

"They neglected to ensure that sufficient numbers of bright British officials entered EU institutions, and so we now face a generation gap developing in the British presence in parts of the EU,” he said.

"As a new Government, we are determined to put this right."

Mr Hague, left, clearly wants to boost the numbers of Brits working for the EU and this ‘recruitment drive’ will form part of a “new approach to foreign policy designed to extend British global reach and influence”.

He then disclosed the number of British officials at director level in the European Commission had fallen by one-third since 2007, and the number of UK posts by 205 overall, but it remains unclear how the government can 'put this right'; especially when you consider the widespread euroscepticism of this country, and the linguistic barrier that forms one of the EU’s recruitment requirements.

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You may, like myself, have received a text message from your network provider stating it had lowered the cost of using your mobile phone from abroad – but don’t be fooled: this is all thanks to the European Union.

Mobile networks would happily like to continue ‘overcharging’ customers for using their mobile abroad, but the EU’s roaming regulation which sharply cuts and limits the charges for using your mobile abroad came into force today (1st July) across Europe.

Members of the European Parliament strongly backed the regulation when it came before them at plenary in April last year, and now it is in effect. The new tariff limits apply to all operators in all 27 countries in the EU.

So what does this mean in real terms?

First of all, there is now a maximum tariff of €0.39 per minute for calls made and €0.15 per minute for calls received on your mobile phone if made/received.

Secondly, there is now a €50 per month cut-off limit to protect people from shocks at high bills they may have got through surfing the internet on their laptops whilst in another country.

Thirdly, mobile operators are now obliged to send users a warning when they reach 80% of their data-roaming bill limit, so that they are forewarned of the danger they will exceed the limit and incur huge costs.

Furthermore, the maximum prices for data roaming will fall from €1 to €0.80 per megabyte and receiving a voice mail message while roaming will become absolutely free of charge.

So now you can relax and enjoy your holiday safe in the knowledge you can use your existing phone and not be faced with a huge bill when you return.

This was not bought in by the mobile networks, but the EU, so enjoy the holidays and spread the word – why not via a text message or phone call from abroad?

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She may have enjoyed the weekend's World Cup result, but back at home German Chancellor Angela Merkel has problems. On Tuesday she faced another scare but at the end of the day was able to break a relieved smile as her preferred candidate Christian Wulff was elected as the country’s new federal president.

While the job is essentially a ceremonial one, if Mr Wulff, the conservative (CDU) premier of the state of Lower Saxony in north-western Germany, had been defeated it would send another blow to Ms Merkel’s centre-right government who despite winning a clear victory in previous national elections has seen its approval ratings plunge ever since.

In Germany, the president is a largely ceremonial head of state, but also has limited powers to block legislation and dissolve parliament. The post's present importance is mainly as a litmus test of whether Ms Merkel can control her ranks.

In the event, Ms Merkel must have been sweating buckets of nervous sweat as her candidate Mr Wulff had to go three rounds to secure the vote by the Federal Convention (Bundesversammlung, pictured left) during the nine-hour marathon after not managing to secure an absolute majority to win election.

Mr Wulff won 600 votes (out of a possible 1244) in the first round and 615 in the second, as a number of members made their voice heard and voted against the party whip for rival candidates.

The Linke (left) party then withdrew its candidate, Luc Jochimsen, from the third round, in a move the party hoped would pave the way for its members to vote for the main opposition candidate, Joachim Gauck, but instead they abstained.

As a result, Mr Wulff scraped 625 in the third and final round. Mr Gauck, secured 494 votes, and according to the Guardian had to fight back tears as the result was announced before he then received a standing ovation from the opposition who had backed him.

Following his election, Mr Wulff said he was "extraordinarily willing" to accept the office and thanked Mr Gauck for what he called a "fair competition". His inauguration will take place this Friday.

But even though Ms Merkel’s candidate won, the members of her government that made their feelings clear by voting against the whip have made their message known and many in Germany believe that the damage to Ms Merkel’s credibility may prove to be irreversible.

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Belgium, home of course to the EU institutions, today (1st July) assumes the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.

Taking the reins off the back of its recent national elections, Belgium is in the unusual position of acquiring this status with only a caretaker government and so without neither a confirmed Prime Minister at the helm nor a coalition agreement in place to guide its agenda for the EU's priorities. Indeed, the negotiations on forming a new government are not expected to come to a conclusion until September or early October at the earliest...

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