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12-10-2012Nobelprijs Vrede naar Europese Unie
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12-10-2012Europese Unie kind van Tweede Wereldoorlog
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12-10-2012EU genomineerd voor Nobelprijs voor de Vrede
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04-10-2012EU belegt grote conferentie over IT-diensten en dienstverlening van de EU (en)
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08-09-2012Toespraak van EU-president Herman van Rompuy over solidariteit in de EU
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07-09-2012Raad van Ministers bestaat 8 september zestig jaar
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07-09-2012Commissie nodigt burgers vragen te stellen aan Barroso voor zijn State of the Union en live-interview op 19 september (en)
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28-08-2012De EU en Australië verbinden systemen van emissiehandel (en)
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09-08-2012'Zakkenvullerssite' PVV ook in Engelse versie uit
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01-06-2012Toespraak vaste voorzitter Europese Raad Van Rompuy over het Europese ideaal (en)
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15-05-2012Toespraak van commissievoorzitter Barroso over leiderschap in de EU (en)
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29-03-2012Jaarverslag Europese Hof: meer zaken in totaal, maar minder tegen Nederland
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07-03-2012Brussel brandt vingers aan 'xenofoob' promofilmpje
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13-12-2011Commissie stelt bezuinigingen voor Europees ambtenarenapparaat voor
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24-11-2011Koopkracht EU-ambtenaren daalt met 1,8%
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22-11-2011EU-werknemers staken (en)
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11-10-2011Europese Unie gaat vingerafdrukken bij visumaanvraag verzamelen (en)
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07-10-2011Arabische lente en Europese Unie favorieten Nobelprijs voor de Vrede (en)
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29-09-2011Europese Unie onder genomineerden Nobelprijs voor de Vrede
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26-08-2011Minister Donner: aanpak Europese problemen kan niet met nationale modellen
Germany plays down Ashton criticism - Hoofdinhoud
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble's criticism of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is being "blown out of proportion", his spokesman has said.
"These were some comments made in the margins of an event to celebrate German Constitution Day in Karlsruhe. They definitely do not represent a co-ordinated attack [on Ashton] by the German government - they have been blown out of proportion," Schauble's spokesman, Martin Kotthaus, told EUobserver on Sunday (29 May).
"The criticism was as much about [EU] Council structures as anything else," he noted, referring to problems in consensus-building among the 27 EU member countries.
Kotthaus, who until recently was the spokesman for the German mission to the EU, added: "During my time there, the German foreign ministry was very supportive of the high representative." Ashton's own staff consider German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle to be one of her principal allies.
Schauble, speaking at the Karlsruhe event on 23 May as part of general musings on the state of the European Union, said the bloc's response to what he called the "Arabellion" has been inadequate.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), a leading German daily, cited him as saying that the EU "did not speak with one voice" and that Ashton "does not have the power to portray Europe as an actor."
Schauble is considered in Germany to be the top thinker on EU affairs in Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party despite his domestic portfolio.
In 1994, he co-wrote a famous paper with former German president Karl Lamers saying the EU should become a quasi-federal structure.
The FAZ quotes, originally published in the paper's print edition only, were highighted in British newspapers The Times and the Daily Mail over the weekend.
The Times, which also quoted Ashton-critical remarks by German centre-right MEP Elmar Brok, said Schauble has opened "a new flank of criticism after attacks about her lack of dynamism by French diplomats" and speculated that Ashton might be forced to quit mid-mandate.
The mass-circulation Daily Mail said Ashton is "facing the axe" after "being given the warning by leading German politicians."
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