Open Europe’s Mats Persson has a comment piece on EUobserver responding to a piece by EU Commissioner Siim Kallas regarding the EU budget and the European Court of Auditors’ annual report. Mats argues, “The fundamental problem of waste and mismanagement involving EU money lies primarily with the budget itself – not with the member states, although they should not entirely e...

The Telegraph reports that Conservative leader David Cameron has been warned by Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt that if he wants to keep any friends in Europe he should not offer a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, if it is already in force. Reinfeldt, who currently holds the EU’s rotating Presidency, is quoted by the Times saying, “I hope to see him as the next prime minister ...

Yesterday we held a very successful action day to launch the logo and slogan of our EU Campaign: TPA Activists handed out thousands of leaflets and free car window stickers to commuters at King's Cross, St Pancras, Charing Cross and...

Judges at the German Constitutional Court are tomorrow due to rule on the compatibility of the Lisbon Treaty with the German Constitution. Ahead of the decision, Open Europe, in collaboration with the Institute for Free Enterprise in Berlin, has published a new poll which shows that 77% of Germans want to be given a say on the Lisbon Treaty in a national referendum.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘Farmers for No’ campaign in Ireland yesterday, Chairman James Reynolds said that, under the Lisbon Treaty, “Our voting-weight as a member-state diminishes from 2 per cent, as it currently is under the Nice Treaty rules, to 0

In response to the 2009 Budget Speech, which committed British taxpayers to record levels of debt, TaxPayers' Alliance Chief Executive Matthew Elliott said: “This Budget commits taxpayers to a terrifying amount of debt that will burden ordinary families for decades...

The Parliament reports that senior German Socialist MEP Jo Leinen has warned that Ireland risks being relegated to a “second class” nation if it again rejects the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum scheduled for the autumn. Leinen said, “If there is a 'No' vote in Ireland I think we are likely to see a two-speed Europe emerge, with Ireland being in what might be called the &...

Fancy stats, but the picture remains the same For many years now, the Office for National Statistics has been beavering away trying to develop measures of output and productivity in our public services. It hasn't been at all straightforward, as...

Working as we do to highlight the massive cost of the Government's tax policies, we often get asked how people and businesses can spread the word. One great way to do so is for businesses to adopt a policy of...

It's rare to hear anything at all about Britain's Departmental Permanent Secretaries. Even scandal doesn't usually push their names into the headlines. So Sir David Normington's decision to speak to the BBC - for a programme about Sir Ian Blair's...