If blog posts could kill, Bruxelles2's latest article on eurobaroness Ashton would have been her coup de grace.
But I'm afraid she is doomed to live...
Showing posts with label Ashton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ashton. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
The joke - updated
She told the joke like this:
The Secretary of State of the United States goes to the President and says:I had read or heard this one before, but since the moderator mentioned ex-MEP and Finnish foreign minister Alexander Stubb as the origin of the joke and Cathy Ashton wasn't aware of that, I did a little research to check that claim.
"Mr President, finally an answer to the question that Henry Kissinger raised. Which is: 'We want to talk to Europe - whose number do we ring?' We have one phone number; let's ring the number and see what happens."
They ring the number and my [Catherine Ashton's; JF] voice mail is answering: "Welcome to Europe! For the French Position press 1, for the German position press 2..."
According to the New York Times, it was indeed Stubb who told the joke at a NATO reform conference in early March (although we don't know whether he invented it himself).
The version reported in the NYT goes like this:
"President Obama learns with interest that Europe now has a phone number. He’s told that, responding at last to Henry Kissinger’s famous jibe, the European Union has appointed a President named Herman Van Rompuy from Belgium and given him a 24/7 phone line.While the punch line is the same in both versions, there is an interesting difference: In Cathy's version, she is called by the the Secretary of State and the President of the USA, in the version reported from Stubb it is European Council President van Rompuy.
So, Obama decides to try out Europe’s phone number. Henry will be tickled. But the president forgets about the time difference and gets an answering machine:
“Good Evening, you’ve reached the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy speaking. We are closed for tonight. Please select from the following options. Press one for the French view, two for the German view, three for the British view, four for the Polish view, five for the Italian view, six for the Romanian view. ...”
Obama hangs up in dismay."
The question is: Which version of the joke will prevail, the one with Ashton or the other with van Rompuy...?
Update: According to Alex Stubb, he is not the one who invented the joke.
Picture: © european_parliament / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
An honest voice: Kristalina Georgieva's blog
It is not natural that high level politicians keep their natural voice, but the new EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva seems to prove the contrary in her new blog.
Georgieva has served as World Bank vice president before being nominated as EU Commissioner last month after her colleague Jeleva was rejected by the European Parliament.
She has only written three post so far, reporting from her visit to Haiti, but she has clearly chosen a very human tone. Georgieva doesn't ignore the politico-organisational questions that are part of her job but her posts don't sound like masked press releases.
Here are two quotes from the latest post, in which she explains the humanitarian action on the ground while keeping an eye on the human beings around her:
And maybe Catherine Ashton can learn something from this kind of communication in order to get out of her partially self-made bad publicity...
Georgieva has served as World Bank vice president before being nominated as EU Commissioner last month after her colleague Jeleva was rejected by the European Parliament.
She has only written three post so far, reporting from her visit to Haiti, but she has clearly chosen a very human tone. Georgieva doesn't ignore the politico-organisational questions that are part of her job but her posts don't sound like masked press releases.
Here are two quotes from the latest post, in which she explains the humanitarian action on the ground while keeping an eye on the human beings around her:
The humanitarian action in Haiti is organized in 12 thematic clusters (shelter, nutrition, health, logistics etc) under the overall leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator of UN. The system aims at grouping different organizations to make their job more effective and avoid redundancies.I am very positively impressed, and Kristalina Georgieva is definitely part of the women who run the EU (blogosphere). I hope she continues in that direction and if yes, her blog might become a flagship of the new European Commission.
[...]
Later in the afternoon I visited the camp of Jacquet Toto, built on a slope by a large waste dump. The camp is at high risk of sliding downhill when the heavy rains start. Kids play on the top of the waste mountain and it is clear that neither the kids nor the tents should be there. Camps like this are not only against human dignity, but they are also extremely dangerous.
And maybe Catherine Ashton can learn something from this kind of communication in order to get out of her partially self-made bad publicity...
Monday, 1 March 2010
Is anyone...
... defending EU foreign minister Ashton?
She is attacked from all sides, for weeks already. I only read negative press.
Where is Barroso in her defence? Where are the heads of state and government who selected her? Where are those who are not doing everything to get her External Action Service in place as soon as possible?
Nothing against critical coverage of the work of our politicians, but I have the impression that Ashton is not measured according to the standards of the rest of the pack.
So where are those great men when a colleague needs support?!
She is attacked from all sides, for weeks already. I only read negative press.
Where is Barroso in her defence? Where are the heads of state and government who selected her? Where are those who are not doing everything to get her External Action Service in place as soon as possible?
Nothing against critical coverage of the work of our politicians, but I have the impression that Ashton is not measured according to the standards of the rest of the pack.
So where are those great men when a colleague needs support?!
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Should Ashton be in Haiti? (supplemented)
Jean Quatremer has covered the fact that EU foreign minister* Ashton has not been in Haiti and that EPP and the Liberals complained about that today.
I don't agree with these complaints, especially since her people have been working over the weekend as you can see on this special website on Haiti, which indicates the work that has continued over the weekend and the last days even though Ashton was in London.
But the main reason why I don't agree is the following:
The Haitian air space has been so busy lately that the most needed goods and materials could not be transported into the country. The situation of logistics in Haiti is still not solved. International leaders travelling to the country need a special security treatment and are thus slowing down the processes on the ground, which isn't helping the people.
And being there. Ashton could not do anything but have a look and talk into the cameras, maybe getting attention for a topic that has enough attention these days.
In my point of view, our foreign minister should focus on co-ordinating political and financial efforts in the EU from over here. She should make sure that member state and the EU institutions (Council and Commission in particular) organise themselves in a way that is most helpful for the population of Haiti.
I prefer the politics of doing things over the politics of pretending to do something, and flying to Haiti now would be exactly this kind of move. Ashton should go to Haiti in half a year, when most of the international focus might have moved away, honouring those who have worked hard for six month to help as much as they can.
By going there not now but later in the year, Ashton could make sure that European and international attention is kept on this country that will suffer from the earthquake for the next years and thus will need aid beyond the immediate crisis response we see at the moment.
So today, Ashton's place is in the EU and her task is to make sure we do our best to help the people of Haiti, and as soon as her presence on the ground is needed to support these efforts beyond a short-term outburst of help, she should fly there - but only then!
Supplement: The critical remarks on the lack of concrete reactions of the European Union, or at least their delay, by the Bruxelles 2 blog seem more convincing than the Quatremer's article.
*I have decided that, within this blog, I will call Ashton "foreign minister" (without capitalising the two words) as the same post was described in the initial Constitutional Treaty text that became the Lisbon Treaty later. The "High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy" is too long and just "High Representative" is not precise enough.
I don't agree with these complaints, especially since her people have been working over the weekend as you can see on this special website on Haiti, which indicates the work that has continued over the weekend and the last days even though Ashton was in London.
But the main reason why I don't agree is the following:
The Haitian air space has been so busy lately that the most needed goods and materials could not be transported into the country. The situation of logistics in Haiti is still not solved. International leaders travelling to the country need a special security treatment and are thus slowing down the processes on the ground, which isn't helping the people.
And being there. Ashton could not do anything but have a look and talk into the cameras, maybe getting attention for a topic that has enough attention these days.
In my point of view, our foreign minister should focus on co-ordinating political and financial efforts in the EU from over here. She should make sure that member state and the EU institutions (Council and Commission in particular) organise themselves in a way that is most helpful for the population of Haiti.
I prefer the politics of doing things over the politics of pretending to do something, and flying to Haiti now would be exactly this kind of move. Ashton should go to Haiti in half a year, when most of the international focus might have moved away, honouring those who have worked hard for six month to help as much as they can.
By going there not now but later in the year, Ashton could make sure that European and international attention is kept on this country that will suffer from the earthquake for the next years and thus will need aid beyond the immediate crisis response we see at the moment.
So today, Ashton's place is in the EU and her task is to make sure we do our best to help the people of Haiti, and as soon as her presence on the ground is needed to support these efforts beyond a short-term outburst of help, she should fly there - but only then!
Supplement: The critical remarks on the lack of concrete reactions of the European Union, or at least their delay, by the Bruxelles 2 blog seem more convincing than the Quatremer's article.
*I have decided that, within this blog, I will call Ashton "foreign minister" (without capitalising the two words) as the same post was described in the initial Constitutional Treaty text that became the Lisbon Treaty later. The "High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy" is too long and just "High Representative" is not precise enough.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Hearing Ashton - my own remarks
It's always nice to listen to the opinions of others, but I still prefer unfiltered data over others' summaries.
After having followed the Ashton hearing through Twitter and blogs yesterday - see the list of quotes I assembled - I took the time in the evening to listen to her performance for 1h45 and I found her quite convincing.
Yes, her answers were largely diplomatic. Yes, you could feel that she is still inexperienced in that international affairs business. Yes, she didn't know all the files and all the details.
But the way she answered showed that she has invested herself in getting into the job as deeply as possible within the few weeks she had. She has visibly developed her opinions - sometimes hidden behind diplomatic speech - on several issues, she defended her future Commission colleagues by making clear how she sees the division of tasks, e.g. regarding Neighbourhood Policy or Development.
She could tell numbers of policemen in EU missions and cite from international documents. She answered most of the questions in a manner that took those who asked seriously - as seriously as you can take MEPs who don't understand the concept of asking one question in one minute.
Interestingly to note is that she spoke of Clinton as if they would get along quite well.
And between the lines you could well read that she wants to change things and that she sees problems she would like to tackle, for instance when she said that the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Mediterranean Union are not really part of one cohesive strategy (hope I recall that correctly).
I don't know exactly why, but the way she was addressing the different questions, both in content and in style, sounded positively different - I think its good to have someone like her in that position.
So despite the fact that not much news and substance came out of the hearing, Ashton still was able to convince me and I am now looking forward how she will be able to translate words into work.
After having followed the Ashton hearing through Twitter and blogs yesterday - see the list of quotes I assembled - I took the time in the evening to listen to her performance for 1h45 and I found her quite convincing.
Yes, her answers were largely diplomatic. Yes, you could feel that she is still inexperienced in that international affairs business. Yes, she didn't know all the files and all the details.
But the way she answered showed that she has invested herself in getting into the job as deeply as possible within the few weeks she had. She has visibly developed her opinions - sometimes hidden behind diplomatic speech - on several issues, she defended her future Commission colleagues by making clear how she sees the division of tasks, e.g. regarding Neighbourhood Policy or Development.
She could tell numbers of policemen in EU missions and cite from international documents. She answered most of the questions in a manner that took those who asked seriously - as seriously as you can take MEPs who don't understand the concept of asking one question in one minute.
Interestingly to note is that she spoke of Clinton as if they would get along quite well.
And between the lines you could well read that she wants to change things and that she sees problems she would like to tackle, for instance when she said that the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Mediterranean Union are not really part of one cohesive strategy (hope I recall that correctly).
I don't know exactly why, but the way she was addressing the different questions, both in content and in style, sounded positively different - I think its good to have someone like her in that position.
So despite the fact that not much news and substance came out of the hearing, Ashton still was able to convince me and I am now looking forward how she will be able to translate words into work.
Monday, 11 January 2010
Hearing Ashton - some euroweb reactions
Catherine Ashton, our very-likely-to-be foreign minister, had her hearing in front of the European Parliament today.
Some reactions from the Euroblogosphere and on Twitter:
Update: You find the full video of the hearing, including the different language versions, embedded at the Bruxelles2 blog!
Some reactions from the Euroblogosphere and on Twitter:
"Afterwards I asked her which leaders would be called at a moment of international crisis. 'I suspect,' she said, 'in an international crisis a number of phone calls will be made. One of them will be to me.'"From what I have read on Twitter during the hearing, these reactions summarise quite well what most people think: Nothing spectacular but nothing problematic either. Ashton should pass without problems.
(Ashton gives diplomatic answers by Gavin Hewitt)
"La squadra di Barroso II, che non dovrebbe vedere molte sorprese visto che i tre grandi gruppi (PPE, S&D, e ALDE) sono ben rappresentati in quest’occasione, ha iniziato i lavori delle audizioni con Miss Pesc, Ashton. I commenti che circolano in rete sono abbastanza chiari, Quatremer sentenzia con una parola: NOIA!"
(Audizioni dei Commissari by Alberto Corsini)
"This oral exam is known not to be an easy one, contrary to most TV quizzes, and candidates cannot use any jokers or “phone a friend” to help them on a question. Indeed, MEPs are committed to their designation power and will not be a soft touch. With this in mind, President Barroso has organised a training seminar to prepare his team in view of their hearings."
(Who wants to be a Commissioner by The Lobby)
"Ohne Vision für Europas Außenpolitik zu sein, das warfen Franziska Brantner und ihre Kollegin Ulrike Lunacek, beide außenpolitische Sprecherinnen der Fraktion Die Grünen/EFA bei der Anhörung am Montag, 11. Januar, der designierten Hohen Vertreterin für die Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik der Europäischen Union, Lady Catherine Ashton, vor. Wenn Diplomatie bedeute, viel zu reden, ohne konkret zu werden, habe sich die designierte Vizepräsidentin der Kommission als wahre Diplomatin gezeigt."
(Ohne Vision für Europas Außenpolitik by Kirsten Baumbusch)
"Now, the European socialists are so excited about securing the foreign policy post of High Representative that they were never going to give her a hard time. And the other big groups knew that if they messed with Lady Ashton, the whole cross-party stitch-up might come unstuck. So she was safe as houses, before we even began."
(Europe's new foreign policy chief: a depressing start by Charlemagne)
"Im Minutentakt und ohne Pause hagelte es Fragen auf die 53-jährige, die Spannbreite der Themen umfasste den gesamten Globus. Ashton überstand diese Tortur mit Einfühlungsvermögen, Humor und einer Mischung aus gekonnten Plattitüden und echter Sachkenntnis."
(Charmante Realistin by Jochen Bittner)
"Au final, ces trois heures semblent avoir été longues pour tout le monde. On retiendra que la baronne a définitivement pris ses distances avec son passé d'activiste anti-nucléaire, mais cela ne nous dit pas ce qu'elle fera pour l'Europe pendant cinq ans."
(Auditions des commissaires : Ashton passe ... et ça casse ? by eToile)
"The EU is now in a position to assume a 'stronger, more credible role in the world,' the nominee for the EU's top foreign policy post says – as diligently recorded by the BBC. "
(In your dreams lady by EU Referendum)
"Fin de l'audition d'Ashton. Verdict: ennuyeuse à mourir. On ne va pas s'amuser durant les 5 prochaines années..."
(Twitter reaction by Jean Quatremer)
"Mrs. Ashton had no worries because her position is not at all threatened by this hearing as it may be the case for other Commissioners. So she appeared relaxed and cool during the hearing. Well maybe a little bit too much..."
(Hearing of Ashton by Europeanization)
"Ashton #hearing conclusions: No great visions but a pragmatic approach, lots of diplomatic language, very few good questions by MEPs"
(Twitter reation by Kosmopolit)
Update: You find the full video of the hearing, including the different language versions, embedded at the Bruxelles2 blog!
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
By the way: Ashton is the new EU Commissioner for Trade
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Baroness Ashton, the European Parliament, and some sweat for Europe
Yesterday, maybe-EU-Commissioner Ashton was roasted in the EU Parliament Committee on International Trade.
EUobserver reports and quotes from the meeting:
Jon Worth called her appearance "dull", which fits the larger picture of EU politics these days.
And while Baroness Ashton had to sweat in the EP committee, I have lost quite some sweat today running around the city to work on international co-operation and European democracy. One major state institution in the morning (two times, actually), and six European and international organisations in the afternoon. Several kilometers, but hopefully with positive results.
In any case, I will go to bed today and feel Europe in my legs. I wish the same to Baroness Ashton...
EUobserver reports and quotes from the meeting:
"Now it's not the time for a novice, we need a big hitter. Frankly, looking at your CV, you do not have any direct relevant experience to take on this job at what is a very very dangerous time," Mr Farage said.She does not sound very convincing, but instead more like someone in a strong defence rather than in an attack position. If she is like this when she is negotiating, the next WTO talks will be fun for the rest of the world.
Mrs Ashton, a former economist, defended her record as a negotiator while stressing that she has "hundreds of very experienced people" working on the trade portfolio at her disposal.
"I am a negotiator, this is what I do. I may not have had the profile of the now newly ennobled Lord Mandelson, but that does not mean I have got no experience. Quite the contrary," she said.
Jon Worth called her appearance "dull", which fits the larger picture of EU politics these days.
And while Baroness Ashton had to sweat in the EP committee, I have lost quite some sweat today running around the city to work on international co-operation and European democracy. One major state institution in the morning (two times, actually), and six European and international organisations in the afternoon. Several kilometers, but hopefully with positive results.
In any case, I will go to bed today and feel Europe in my legs. I wish the same to Baroness Ashton...
Monday, 6 October 2008
A new EU Commissioner: Baroness Ashton of Upholland (updated)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For a newer post on Baroness Ashton please also read this follow-up article.
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The peoples of Europe will have to learn a new name - Baroness Ashton of Upholland (first name: Catherine) - our new EU Commissioner, hopefully not for trade...
Sorry for making fun, but if you follow Nosemonkey, you will have seen in a recent article that it's quite unlikely that more than 5 people outside Brussels will learn her name.
New Europe informs that EU Commission president Barroso has confirmed her on Friday.
That she is absolutely not qualified for that task is easy to recognise: Nosemonkey rightly mocks her profile, while Jon Worth (who knows all EU commissioners by name and picture!!), admits that he does know almost nothing about her.
Jon supposes that she might not become trade commissioner but will receive a less relevant post, something highly recommandable considering the absence of any EU or WTO experience of the Baroness. I am very much in favour of promoting women, but I am very much against promoting lack of experience with European matters for European posts.
Therefore, please allow me to say:
Aaaahhhhh, why is the EU so damn unable to attract qualified people?
Aaaahhhhh!!!
Read Jon's very interesting follow-up articles:
- Can Baroness Ashton even become a European Commissioner?
- Ken Livingstone to the European Commission!
For a newer post on Baroness Ashton please also read this follow-up article.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The peoples of Europe will have to learn a new name - Baroness Ashton of Upholland (first name: Catherine) - our new EU Commissioner, hopefully not for trade...
Sorry for making fun, but if you follow Nosemonkey, you will have seen in a recent article that it's quite unlikely that more than 5 people outside Brussels will learn her name.
New Europe informs that EU Commission president Barroso has confirmed her on Friday.
That she is absolutely not qualified for that task is easy to recognise: Nosemonkey rightly mocks her profile, while Jon Worth (who knows all EU commissioners by name and picture!!), admits that he does know almost nothing about her.
Jon supposes that she might not become trade commissioner but will receive a less relevant post, something highly recommandable considering the absence of any EU or WTO experience of the Baroness. I am very much in favour of promoting women, but I am very much against promoting lack of experience with European matters for European posts.
Therefore, please allow me to say:
Aaaahhhhh, why is the EU so damn unable to attract qualified people?
Aaaahhhhh!!!
Read Jon's very interesting follow-up articles:
- Can Baroness Ashton even become a European Commissioner?
- Ken Livingstone to the European Commission!
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