Jose in London

So in his speech yesterday at Chatham House, Jose Barroso mentioned his desire for an "open europe" three times and used the word "open" sixteen times. We feel strangely singled out.

Interesting in that he also admitted in the Q&A that the European Parliament was often an obstacle to reform. He claimed, "we have proposed at least 70 regulations to be scrapped but the European Parliament... said ‘you can not do that’." The Parliament certainly played a key role in gutting the services directive. It is now in the process of making the ludicrous REACH directive even worse.

A couple of years ago "more power for the European Parliament" was the pro-euro lobby's answer to all the woes of the EU. But being in Government seems to change peoples minds. We were at an off the record briefing a couple of years ago, where someone who is now a key Blair advisor on Europe was asked about it. "I wish we could shut the bloody thing down" he said. How times change.