How to win friends and influence people - the Gordon Brown way
This is how a tale is reported at number-10.gov.uk:
"Gordon Brown welcomed fellow European leaders to Downing Street this evening to discuss global economic reform.French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italy's premier Romano Prodi and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso held talks".
And this is how it has been reported at Libération:
"The British PM Gordon Brown received the other European G8 leaders...[Sarkozy, Merkel, Prodi] and to calm the anger of the non-invited smaller members of the EU...Manuel Barroso. Several European leaders had taken this meeting of the big players badly...The Slovene Minister of Finances, Andrej Bajuk, of the country currently holding the EU Presidency, Tuesday called for the discussions to be held "within the framework of the institutions of the European Union" and decisions taken by 27".
That economic powerhouse Slovenia, eh? A country of less importance to the world economy (in nominal GDP terms) than Rhode Island, and a not much heavier hitter than South Dakota. Still, I do not suppose that the PM can anticipate much back scratching from Ljubljana in the near future.
"Gordon Brown welcomed fellow European leaders to Downing Street this evening to discuss global economic reform.French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italy's premier Romano Prodi and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso held talks".
And this is how it has been reported at Libération:
"The British PM Gordon Brown received the other European G8 leaders...[Sarkozy, Merkel, Prodi] and to calm the anger of the non-invited smaller members of the EU...Manuel Barroso. Several European leaders had taken this meeting of the big players badly...The Slovene Minister of Finances, Andrej Bajuk, of the country currently holding the EU Presidency, Tuesday called for the discussions to be held "within the framework of the institutions of the European Union" and decisions taken by 27".
That economic powerhouse Slovenia, eh? A country of less importance to the world economy (in nominal GDP terms) than Rhode Island, and a not much heavier hitter than South Dakota. Still, I do not suppose that the PM can anticipate much back scratching from Ljubljana in the near future.
Labels: EU fun and games, Slovenia
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on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 9:54 am.
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That's a brilliant find.
If only the public knew how many people in mainland Europe were as sick and tired of the EU as we are.
...a country of less importance.. etc, maybe, but I think their one vote carries as much weight as anybody else's, so they are entitled to complain about this rather secretive cabalism. This is a bit like Gordon feeling miffed when the eurozone (should that word have a capital "E"?) finance ministers have tea together without inviting him. En passant has any report or minutes of their discussions (or even agenda) been released to the great unwashed European public? If so, what did it contain?
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