EU President Election starts tomorrow 17/1/17

well as south of the border voted to leave theres no need to see coverage of it in the media ...is there ?There MIGHT be some here in Scotland as WE want to stay in and Guy Verhofstadt is very welcoming to the idea oF Scotland taking the UK 's place ...even if he has to give us time to take back control of our country first.Lets face it the USA and the UK have worse people in charge or willhave after Friday when the Donald is sworn in

Well if you don't believe that what happens in the European Union will have/has no relevance that is your prerogative paddyann.

Personally I think it has a relevance so we will have to beg to differ.

Yes , if you are speaking for the whole of Scotland then Guy Verhofstadt would be a dream of an EU President, he might have to forgo his role as Lead Brexit Negotiator but I guess he would have perhaps more sway as President.

I guess the Scottish MEP's will be voting for Verhofstadt tomorrow?

The Scots have no hope of staying in the EU, do they really believe they will?

POGS Guy Verhofstadt has dropped out of the race.

He is the only person so far who says that the EU needs reforming. It will be a pity if he does not get the job for whatever reason - he is also very aware of the problems of actual PEOPLE caught up in this Brexit - whether in the EU or UK.
Some EU citizens who have lived and worked in UK for years and in some cases married to a Brit and with a family are being refused permenant status because they have no private medical insurance! Who knew that was a requirement!! The U.K. quietly put this into the regulations without saying anything. This rule was intended to cover people who did not contribute to the UK system - or any U one. Even though these people have been paying NI for years they are telling them to make arrangements to leave. There are many more people than the publicised Dutch lady. What a country the UK has become.

A critique of Guy Vehofstadt's book "Europe Last Chance" bin Sunday Times Culture magazine makes the assertion that he and others " behind closed doors many politicians acknowledge the need for a United States of Europe but claim that their voters would not support the pursuit of this goal" and why are the people so lukewarm? because they look at the people running Europe such as Vehofstadt and are not impressed Why would anyone want to give them more power and influence?

In not bin.

I assume you do realise that Verhofstadt used to be known as 'Baby Thatcher' for his political views.

I think that he and others have realised that the EU needs to change if it is to survive in any form. It us a pity that this did not strike them and a process start before the UK referendum. That result did give EU Govts a shake up.

It certainly did!

paddyann what is this "WE", i for one certainly did not vote to stay in the EU and i for one certainly did not vote to leave our union. Strangely the only person i know who voted to leave our union voted to leave the E.U also, like many Scots he cant understand why we should be demanding independence with one hand but be wanting to tether ourselves to another regime with the other hand that would not put the best interests of our country first.

I think the EU will survive for a good few years yet! The UK was only ever a semi-detached member and won't be missed that much.

One good thing about all this, both here and in the USA is that people are taking more of an interest in politics and understanding that it does affect their lives.

Well it was won by ex spokesman for Sylvio Berlusconi , Antonio Tajani.

This will no doubt be a bonus and please Angela Merkel et al as this means the European Union political grouping the EPP
hold all 3 top jobs at EU level , The European Parliament, The European Commission and The European Council.

So Guy Verhofstadt withdrew to form an alliance/coalition between the EPP grouping and his grouping the ALDE which gave Tajani which obviously gave Tajani the win.

Time will tell if he has a different style to Schultz and if the European Parliament MEP's get behind him.

wh