Eric Maurice
EUobserver
Belgium
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Past articles by Eric:
[Interview] Commissioner Cretu: the EU budget is 'very emotional'
Despite Brexit and new priorities, it is important to keep EU funds for all regions - rich and poor - argues the regions commissioner. But more controls, including a link to rule of law issues, are part of the discussion. → Read More
[EUobserved] Juncker, the 'sad and wiser' man of Europe
Despite bold propositions for the EU's future, one could not help feeling the Commission chief's State of the Union address already sounded like a farewell speech. → Read More
2018 State of the European Union speech: Counting Juncker's words
State of the European Union speech It has become a tradition in the EU, inspired by the US president's annual address to Congress. On Wednesday morning (12 September), the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker delivered the State of the European Union speech, also known as SOTEU, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. It was the fourth, and probably the last, time that Juncker… → Read More
Migration is 'mother of all problems', says German interior minister
Horst Seehofer's CSU party took a tough line on migration at its congress and distanced itself from Merkel on foreign policy. → Read More
EU commission proposes US beef talks
EU executive asking member states for mandate to help US producers get a better share of imports of non hormone-treated meat. → Read More
Chemnitz neo-Nazis pose questions for Germany
UN human rights commissioner urged EU leaders to condemn violence that recalled the 1930s, but the local situation in former East Germany does not apply to the whole country. → Read More
Minister's resignation questions Macron's green image
Nicolas Hulot, an environment activist, quit by surprise on Tuesday, saying the French government was not up to the challenges. → Read More
[Analysis] Greece exits bailouts, but difficult path ahead
"Greece's recovery is not an event, it is a process," EU commissioner Pierre Moscovici says. Statistics, and differences of views between the country's creditors, show that the process will not be easy. → Read More
Greek crisis: Athen exits bailout, but no quick recovery ahead
On 20 August, Greece officially exited the three-year EU bailout plan it accepted when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and close to be pushed out of the eurozone. While it marks the end of eight years of financial crisis and austerity, the exit from international aid doesn't mean a quick recovery. → Read More
May on Riviera to seek French softening on Brexit
The British prime minister is meeting French president Macron in his seaside retreat. She will try to convince him that her plans for EU-UK relations are "mutually beneficial". → Read More
Media and commission object to Belgium's EU summit 'fee'
A plan to charge journalists up to €100 a year to cover summits in Brussels has been rejected as a violation of press freedom. "We don't like it," says the EU executive. → Read More
Trump hails Italy's 'bold leadership' on migration
At a meeting with Italian PM Giuseppe Conte, the US president said that other EU countries should adopt the same tough line on migration. → Read More
UK second thoughts unlikely to change Brexit strategy
Despite growing calls for a new referendum, political conditions are not yet there to reverse the Brexit process. → Read More
Puigdemont reclaims Catalonia's leadership
Back in Belgium after Spain lifted a European Arrest Warrant against him, the separatist former leader wants to be the real power behind the region's government and a new push for independence. → Read More
[Analysis] Did Juncker trick Trump?
The EU commission chief agreed to trade talks even if the US president did not lift tariffs on steel and aluminium. But he avoided tariffs on cars and obtained a commitment to refrain from new unilateral moves. → Read More
[Analysis] Macron's first test has come
The French president is seeing his authority weakened by revelations over one of his bodyguards - and this could affect his capacity to reform. → Read More
[Agenda] Juncker White House trip trumps the agenda This WEEK
"Improving transatlantic trade and forging a stronger economic partnership" will be the focus of discussions in the White House. In Brussels, migration will be back on the table. → Read More
Turkey ends state of emergency but continues crackdown
The state of emergency introduced after the failed coup in 2016 ended on Thursday morning - but a new terror bill will maintain some of its measures. → Read More
[Interview] Trump did not misspeak on EU, says commission VP
Trump's anti-EU jibes are not slips of the tongue, but signs of a "conflictual" new century in world affairs, Maros Sefcovic has warned. → Read More
EU and Japan wave light in Trump's 'darkness'
EU leaders and Japanese prime minister signed a series of agreements, including the EU's biggest trade deal ever, designed as an answer to the disruption of the world order by the US president. → Read More