Sir, Regarding ‘Barroso: Media freedom is ‘our sacred principle’‘: Hungary would veto Romania’s accession to Schengen if pressed by the EU to alter its recent press legislation. In turn Romania would veto Treaty change to allow the 18 additional MEPs to sit in the European Parliament and impose a CVM clause on Croatia’s accession to [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Chinese Nobel boycott divides EU’s ‘inner circle’‘: The Nobel Peace Committee must act now. The Nobel Peace Prize as a means to inspire peaceful coexistence is fading. The Nobel Peace Committee must eventually recollect and act according to the clear, explicit and unambiguous last-will and testament of Alfred Nobel, to reward: “…the person [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU officials win pay rise battle with EU member states‘: I have no doubt the Irish people will have an even warmer glow about being in the EU, in the knowledge that EU officials will now get a 3.7% pay rise in addition to job security, perks and benefits and little accountability. Charles [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU officials win pay rise battle with member states‘: I would like to make the following additional points: The Court’s decision was fast because the breach of EU law by the Council was obvious and flagrant – as the legal services of both the Council and the Commission had warned beforehand. The progressive [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Public to vote for ‘worst EU lobbyists’‘: The worst EU lobbyists are probably national treasuries when seeking to preserve their prerogatives at any cost to common EU interest. Sorry, that’s less sexy than Goldman Sachs but perhaps more to the point. Jean-Guy Giraud UEF FRANCE

Sir, Regarding ‘Why the Nobel Peace Prize should go to Liu Jiabao‘ Alfred Nobel’s will for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize was clear, explicit and unambiguous: to reward “…the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for [...]

Sir, As the announcement of the laureate for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize draws near (Friday 8 October, 11:00 a.m. CET), we should recognise that the most successful promoter of peace, prosperity and tolerance in modern times might be the European Union as an institution. The initial objective of the Union’s founding fathers – to [...]

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 [...]