The 14 May rejection by the Irish High Court of an appeal by Facebook against the proposals by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) spells trouble for Facebook and poses real challenges for the EU, writes Dick Roche.
There is a parallel between the position in which the European Union is today and that in which Ireland found itself in 2001 following the rejection of the Nice Treaty in a referendum, writes Dick Roche, commenting on the Conference on the Future of Europe.
For seven decades the United States and Europe have been moving in different directions on the right to privacy, and these days a major clash on the issue is now very much in prospect, writes Dick Roche.
The findings of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in the two cases arising from complaints against Facebook by Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems highlight the fundamentally opposed approaches towards data and personal privacy in the EU and the US, writes Dick Roche.
Bluster, bluff and a freewheeling approach to facts have been the hallmark of the attitude of Boris Johnson to the problems Brexit posed for Northern Ireland, writes Dick Roche.
The UK Government has been shamelessly using the Commission’s gaffe about Article 16 of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol in its attempts to avoid the blame for post-Brexit problems and to lever additional concessions from Brussels, writes Dick Roche.
The EU-made "crisis" with the Northern Ireland Protocol is an opportunity for Boris Johnson to distract domestic audience from the threat that his Brexit spells for the unity of the United Kingdom, writes Dick Roche.
As it happened to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and to Al Gore in 2000, Joe Biden could win millions of votes more than his opponent and still not take the White House, writes Dick Roche.
Beware of US elections, which may end up with the world’s most powerful nation bogged down in a constitutional crisis, writes Dick Roche. Dick Roche is a former European Affairs minister of Ireland. On 3 November US voters will elect...
Advocates of a vote-by-mail in the US presidential election have argued that it is the only safe way to conduct elections during the COVID pandemic. Opponents argue that moving to vote-by-mail elections opens the floodgates to fraud. Dick Roche looked...
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the challenge of holding elections in a time of crisis. Only the European Parliament has the expertise to advise if voting by mail would be a good idea, writes Dick Roche.
Inthe light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU should introduce a range measures including a common human health protection policy aimed at reducing the risk of future epidemics arising from poor sanitary or phytosanitary conditions that would have to be met by countries exporting product to the EU, writes Dick Roche.
The post-Brexit negotiations with the UK are particularly vital for Ireland and dealing with them requires a stable government in office, writes Dick Roche.
Sinn Féin made only one mistake: had it run multiple candidates in its strongest constituencies, it could have become the largest party in the Irish parliament by a long lead, writes Dick Roche.
It would be wise to accept that the Spitzenkandidaten system is broken and to look for a democratic replacement, writes Dick Roche, bringing up as arguments nuggets of vintage EU politics.
The Commission’s ‘strategy’ is to phase out conventional biofuels in the hope that they will miraculously be replaced by ‘advanced’ biofuels in Europe’s transport energy mix isn’t backed by science or by logic, writes Dick Roche.
‘Live horse and you’ll get grass’ is an old Irish proverb used in the context of vague promises of future benefits. This is precisely where Ireland stands with the vague promises on the Irish border issue, writes Dick Roche.
The Northern Irish DUP party, a junior coalition member to Theresa May’s government, is a stumbling block to unlocking the Brexit talks. Dick Roche gives the receipt how the problem can be solved.
A response delivered by Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete in the European Parliament last week demonstrates just how dangerously out of touch with reality the executive is on a policy that impacts on the lives of hundreds of thousands of EU citizens, writes Dick Roche.
