Tag: Van Rompuy

France is leading a group of EU member states who want Council President Herman Van Rompuy to receive new powers and lead the Euro zone at the level of heads of state and government, according to reports in the French daily Le Monde yesterday (1 August).

Asked how the EU should deal with financial crises in Greece, Ireland and Portugal, Council President Herman Van Rompuy said yesterday (19 May) that because “money matters”, leaders must take care when giving out messages and “think twice” before they open their mouths.

Sunday's (1 May) beatification ceremony of Pope John Paul II will be attended by EU officials at the highest level, with Herman Van Rompuy, José Manuel Barroso and Jerzy Buzek all expected in Rome to mark the occasion. By contrast, most EU heads of state have instead chosen to mark Labour Day.

Coordinating economic governance is widely considered as a way for the EU to get out of the crisis. However, there is little agreement among member states on what economic governance really means. Indeed, even within single countries like Germany there is much division. EurActiv Germany reports.

Felipe González, chairman of the Reflection Group on the Future of Europe, warned yesterday (4 October) that the EU should honour commitments made to Turkey, which ten years ago was given the prospect of European Union membership.

Proposals on the shape of Europe's economic governance infrastructure should be put forward by the European Commission – not the Van Rompuy task force – Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal group in the European Parliament, told EurActiv in an interview.