Sir, Regarding ‘Delors asks Germany: ‘Are you still true to European values?’‘ As we all know, we in the EU are not all of the same nation like the USA. We have many differences in basic cultures, unlike in the USA, where cultural differences are only slight across a country that is 2.27-times larger than [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU stresses benefits of languages for SMEs‘: It is strange that the Babel-like EU, with its 23 official languages and over 40 regional tongues, announced the European Day of Languages with a speech delivered essentially in English. Likewise, although the statement announcing the multilingual celebration was posted in all European Union languages, the [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Commission defends ‘farewell bonus’ for top officials‘: When professional EU staff retire from service, there is no so-called extra financial compensation other than what’s in the original contract. Why do we have a separate formula for European commissioners, which had not been made public until now by FT Deutschland? Given budget and fiscal [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Commission defends ‘farewell bonus’ for top officials‘: Contrary to what was stated in the above-mentioned article I have no paid job at the European Experience Company – I am co-founder, shareholder and non-executive director without compensation. My investment in this company does not constitute an occupation. Consequently the Code of Conduct does not [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU recruiters looking for potential over knowledge, says expert‘: Just a thought which some readers might share against supporters of the new system: the ‘improved’ EPSO system might be an innovation, a step forward, a good thing. We can accept this hypothesis. However, what is not included in the general picture is the [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Belgium wants citizens’ initiative deal by December‘: There are already reasons to doubt that citizens’ voices will be heeded. In 2007, persons with disabilities, united in Europe under the umbrella of the European Disability Forum, pre-empted the legal right to a citizens’ initiative later awarded by the Lisbon Treaty. In the space of [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Brussels steps up efforts on pension reform‘: The problem of pensions for longer-living members of the EU is a mounting and unanswerable poser for our leaders. Additional problems are apparent in that: approximately 10% of the potential workforce that will eventually collect an OAP [old-age pension] do not work for their entire lives, [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Ex-Commissioners face conflict of interest accusations’: The recent cases of former European commissioners moving to industry positions involve very obvious potential conflicts of interest. The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) has written to the European Commission asking it to review its decisions to approve the moves of Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Meglena [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Veteran EU official defends Merkel’s European vision‘: Europeans should take great pride in the fact that they have made more progress in moving beyond the nation state than any other region. Of course, it is a messy, persistently discouraging project. Your success should be primarily measured by the magnitude of your cutting-edge vision. [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU to kick off citizens’ initiative with tougher rules‘: The Young European Federalists (JEF Europe) welcome the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) as a unique opportunity to breathe new life into European democracy and strengthen the participation of citizens in EU policymaking, but it would be a terrible mistake to limit the potential of [...]