European Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the European Union

European Parliament President Martin Schulz Largest groups; Joseph Daul: EPP María Badía (Interim): S&D 7th session MEPs (736) 2009-14 term Bureau Vice Presidents Quaestor Conference Legislative procedure

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy Parties List of meetings

Council of the EU Presidency Denmark Configurations General Foreign Economic Euro Legislative procedure Voting Secretariat Secretary-General Uwe Corsepius COREPER

European Commission Barroso Comm. President José M. Barroso Vice Presidents Catherine Ashton Viviane Reding Joaquín Almunia Siim Kallas Neelie Kroes Antonio Tajani Maroš Šefčovič Commissioners Civil Service Secretary-General Catherine Day

Court of Justice Court of Justice General Court Civil Service Tribunal Members Rulings

Other institutions Central Bank President ESCB Euro EMU Eurozone Court of Auditors Budget OLAF Investment Bank CoR EESC Ombudsman Other bodies Agencies National parliaments

Policies and issues Budget Four Freedoms Economic area Single market Area of FS&J Schengen Policies Agricultural Energy Fisheries Regional Citizenship Identity Pro-Europeanism Euroscepticism Integration Supranationalism Federalism U.S.E. Multi-speed Opt-outs Enhanced co-op Withdrawal

Foreign relations High Representative Catherine Ashton Ext. Action Service Foreign Policy Defence Policy Enlargement

Elections 1979, 1984, 1989 1994, 1999, 2004 2009 (last election) 2014 (next election) Political parties Constituencies Referendums

Law Acquis Primacy Subsidiarity Treaties Fundamental Rights Membership v t e

The Euro Group or Eurogroup is a meeting of the finance ministers of the eurozone, i.e. those member states of the European Union (EU) which have adopted the euro as their official currency. It is the political control over the euro currency and related aspects of the EU's monetary union such as the Stability and Growth Pact. Its current President is Jean-Claude Juncker.

The ministers meet a day before a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) of the Council of the European Union. This group is related to the Council of the European Union (only eurogroup states vote on issues relating to the euro in Ecofin) and was formalised under the Lisbon Treaty.

History[link]

The group has no official name, but is colloquially called the "Euro Group" (formerly Euro-X and then Euro-XI in relation to the number of states adopting the euro), was established at the request of France as a policy co-ordination and consultation forum on eurozone matters.^[1] The December 1997 European Council endorsed its creation and the first meeting was held on 4 June 1998 at the Chateau de Senningen in Luxembourg .^[2]

To begin with, the chair of the eurogroup mirrored that of the rotating Council presidency, except where the Council presidency was held by a non-eurozone country, in which case the chair was held by the next eurozone country that would hold the Council presidency.^[2] In 2004 the ministers decided to elect a President (see "President" below for details) and in 2008, the group held a summit of heads of state and government, rather than finance ministers, for the first time.^[3] This became known as the Euro summit and has had irregular meetings during the financial crisis.

Since the beginning of the monetary union, its role has grown in regards to the euro's economic governance. The fact the group meets just before the Ecofin council means it can pre-agree all Ecofn's decisions that on Eurozone affairs.^[4] In 2009 the Lisbon Treaty formalised the group and its president.

President[link]

Euro Group President Jean-Claude Juncker.

The current president of the group, dubbed Mr Euro^[1] or the president of the eurozone,^[5] is Jean-Claude Juncker (former finance minister and current Prime Minister of Luxembourg).

In September 2004, the Eurogroup decided it should have a semi-permanent president that is to be appointed for a period of two years. Finance Minister and then Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker was appointed first president of the Eurogroup, mandated from 1 January 2005, until 31 December 2006, and was re-appointed for a second term in September 2006.^[6] Under the Lisbon Treaty, this system was formalised (see "legal basis" below) and Juncker was confirmed for another term.^[7]

The Presidency has helped the strengthening of the group, as before Juncker’s appointment the Eurogroup was only ‘accidentally’ present at meetings in the European Parliament. Since the creation of the Presidency, the president attends Parliament's committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs every six months.^[4]

After his reappointment a euro group president in January 2010, Juncker emphasised the need to increase the scope of the Euro Group's activities. In particular in terms of co-ordinating economic policies and representation. Juncker proposed creating a small secretariat for the group in the council of four to five civil servants to prepare the meetings. However although France and Spain support such plans, Germany is worried that strengthening the group could undermine the independence of the European Central Bank.^[8]

Members[link]

Eurogroup members as of September 2011.^[9] The ECB President, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner and Chairman of the Eurogroup Working Group also attend the meetings.

Representing	Member
Austria	Maria Fekter
Belgium	Steven Vanackere
Cyprus	Vassos Shiarly
Estonia	Jürgen Ligi
Finland	Jutta Urpilainen
France	Pierre Moscovici
Germany	Wolfgang Schäuble
Greece	Georgios Zanias
Ireland	Michael Noonan
Italy	Mario Monti
Luxembourg	Luc Frieden
Malta	Tonio Fenech
Netherlands	Jan Kees de Jager
Portugal	Vítor Gaspar
Slovakia	Peter Kazimír
Slovenia	Janez Šušteršič
Spain	Luis de Guindos
President of the Eurogroup Non-voting member	Jean-Claude Juncker
President of the European Central Bank Non-voting member	Mario Draghi
European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro Non-voting member	Olli Rehn
President of the Eurogroup Working Group Non-voting member	Thomas Wieser

Legal basis[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Protocol on the Euro Group

Prior to the Lisbon Treaty, the Eurogroup had no legal basis. This had some advantages as, because it was not a Council formation, it is smaller and more informal resulting in more constructive and confidential discussions than the full Ecofin Council. It also means that it does not have the usual rotating six-month presidency meaning its work is streamlined and strengthened vs the other institutions.^[4]

A formal legal basis was granted for the first time under the Lisbon Treaty when it came into force on 1 December 2009. Protocol 14 of the treaty lays out just two articles to govern the group;

Article 1: The Ministers of the Member States whose currency is the euro shall meet informally. Such meetings shall take place, when necessary, to discuss questions related to the specific responsibilities they share with regard to the single currency. The Commission shall take part in the meetings. The European Central Bank shall be invited to take part in such meetings, which shall be prepared by the representatives of the Ministers with responsibility for finance of the Member States whose currency is the euro and of the Commission.
Article 2: The Ministers of the Member States whose currency is the euro shall elect a president for two and a half years, by a majority of those Member States.

—Protocol 14 of the Consolidated Treaties of the European Union (as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon)^[10]

Furthermore, the treaty amended the Council of the EU's rules so that when the full Ecofin council votes on matters only affecting the eurozone, only those states using the euro (the Eurogroup countries) are permitted to vote on it.^[11]

Representation[link]

On 15 April 2008 in Brussels, Juncker suggested that the eurozone should be represented at the International Monetary Fund as a bloc, rather than each member state separately: "It is absurd for those 15 countries not to agree to have a single representation at the IMF. It makes us look absolutely ridiculous. We are regarded as buffoons on the international scene."^[12] However Finance Commissioner Joaquin Almunia stated that before there is common representation, a common political agenda should be agreed.^[12] In January 2010 Juncker indicated that the Commission is to propose that the group become a member of the G20.^[8]

Economic government[link]

In 2008, in light of the 2008 financial crisis, French President Nicolas Sarkozy (speaking at the European Parliament as the outgoing President of the European Council) called the Eurogroup to be replaced by a "clearly identified economic government" for the eurozone, stating it was not possible for the eurozone to continue without it. The eurozone economic government would discuss issues with the European Central Bank, which would remain independent.^[13]

This government would come in the form of a regular meeting of the eurozone heads of state and government (similar to the European Council) rather than simply the finance ministers which happens with the current Eurogroup. Sarkozy stated that "only heads of state and government have the necessary democratic legitimacy" for the role. This idea was based on the meeting of eurozone leaders in 2008 who met to agree a co-ordinated eurozone response to the banking crisis.^[3]

This is in contrast to an early proposal from former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt who saw the European Commission taking a leading role in a new economic government, something that would be opposed by the less integrationist states.^[1] Sarkozy's proposal was opposed by Eurogroup chair Jean-Claude Juncker who does not think Europe is ripe for such a large step^[1] and opposition from Germany killed off the proposal.^[3][14] Merkel approved of the idea of an economic government, but for the whole of the EU, not just the eurozone as doing so could split the EU and relegate non-eurozone states to second class members.^[14]

In his 2011 State of the Union address, Commission President José Manuel Barroso opposed the Franco-German intergovernmental plan, stating that community institutions should perform that role.

See also[link]

• European sovereign-debt crisis

References[link]

External links[link]

• Eurogroup website, Council of the European Union

v t e Council of the European Union Operation Presidency (Current trio: Poland Denmark Cyprus) Voting Configurations Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Euro Group) Foreign Affairs Council General Affairs Council Administration General Secretariat Secretary-General COREPER Buildings Justus Lipsius Lex Résidence Palace European Union Portal

Levan Kobiashvili

Personal information
Full name	Levan Kobiashvili
Date of birth	(1977-07-10) 10 July 1977 (age 34)
Place of birth	Tbilisi, Soviet Union
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Playing position	Left wingback
Club information
Current club	Hertha BSC
Number	3
Youth career
	Awasa Tbilisi
	Olimpi Rustavi
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1993–1994	Olimpi Rustavi	48	(0)
1995–1998	Dinamo Tbilisi	36	(3)
1997	→ Alania Vladikavkaz (loan)	21	(5)
1998	→ SC Freiburg (loan)	26	(3)
1998–2003	SC Freiburg	123	(27)
2003–2010	Schalke 04	168	(9)
2010–	Hertha BSC	79	(5)
National team‡
1994	Georgia U17	2	(0)
1995	Georgia U21	1	(0)
1996–	Georgia	100	(12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2011

Levan Kobiashvili (Georgian: ლევან კობიაშვილი, born 10 July 1977) is a Georgian footballer who plays as defender for Hertha BSC. Kobiashvili is currently suspended as a result of a May 2012 assault on a referee.

Career[link]

His career began in his hometown with Awasa Tbilisi. Moving to play for Metalurg Rustavi, Dinamo Tbilisi and Alania Vladikavkaz he was transferred to SC Freiburg in 1998, where he was one of several Georgians in the squad. In his first half season with Freiburg, he helped the club earn promotion to the Bundesliga. The club managed to avoid relegation the following season, and in 2001 even qualified for the UEFA Cup, finishing fifth in the league. The following season, however, Freiburg were relegated back the second division. After earning promotion to the Bundesliga a second time, in 2003, Kobiashvili transferred to FC Schalke.^[2] With Schalke, he finished second in the Bundesliga twice, in 2005 and in 2007, and played in the final of the DFB-Pokal in 2005. In 2005–06, he helped Schalke reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, which Schalke lost to the eventual champions FC Sevilla. In 2008, he reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, which Schalke lost to FC Barcelona. Over six and a half years with Schalke, Kobiashvili made his way into Schalke's international record books. Having played thirty five international club matches, he ranks third among Schalke players, and is tied for fourth with Klaus Fischer, Kevin Kurányi, and Licoln on goals scored in international competitions, with seven.

On 20 December 2009 he announced he would be leaving FC Schalke 04^[3] to transfer to Hertha BSC. He joined his new club on 1 January 2010.^[4]

Position[link]

He plays primarily as a left wingback or left winger. His main strengths are his stamina and passing. Levan has a very strong left foot and is an excellent set-piece taker.

Suspension[link]

During a relegation playoff game against 2. Bundesliga team Fortuna Düsseldorf, Kobiashvili punched referee Wolfgang Stark after the final whistle. Hertha lost the playoff 4–3 on aggregate goals and was relegated from the Bundesliga as a result. Kobiashvili was banned for one year, retroactively beginning 16 May 2012.^[5]

Club[link]

As of 10 March 2012.^[6][7]

^* Includes Liga-Pokal and DFL-Supercup.

International goals[link]

Scores and goals list Georgia's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	6 June 2001	Népstadion, Budapest	Hungary	1–4	1–4	2002 World Cup qualifier
2.	29 March 2003	Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi	Republic of Ireland	1–1	1–2	Euro 2004 qualifier
3.	4 June 2005	Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana	Albania	2–3	2–3	2006 World Cup qualifier
4.	16 August 2006	Svangaskarð, Toftir	Faroe Islands	4–0	6–0	Euro 2008 qualifier
5.	15 November 2006	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi	Uruguay	1–0	2–0	Friendly
6.				2–0
7.	11 October 2008	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi	Cyprus	1–1	1–1	2010 World Cup qualifier
8.	28 March 2009	Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca	Cyprus	1–2	1–2	2010 World Cup qualifier
9.	14 October 2009	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Bulgaria	2–6	2–6	2010 World Cup qualifier
10.	3 March 2010	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi	Estonia	1–0	2–1	Friendly
11.	26 March 2011	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi	Croatia	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier

Honours[link]

• Dinamo Tbilisi
  • Umaglesi Liga
    • Champion: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
  • Georgian Cup
    • Champion: 1995, 1996, 1997
  • Georgian Super Cup
    • Champion: 1996, 1997
• FC Schalke 04
  • UEFA Intertoto Cup
    • Champion: 2003, 2004
  • Fußball-Bundesliga
    • Runner-Up: 2004–05, 2006–07
  • DFB-Pokal
    • Runner-Up: 2004–05
  • Ligapokal
    • Champion: 2005–06

References[link]

External links[link]

• Levan Kobiashvili at transfermarkt.de (German)
• Levan Kobiashvili at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Levan Kobiashvili at RSSSF

This biographical article relating to association football in the country of Georgia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Nigel Farage MEP
Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 November 2010
Preceded by	Jeffrey Titford
In office 27 September 2006 – 27 November 2009
Preceded by	Roger Knapman
Succeeded by	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 July 1999
Personal details
Born	(1964-04-03) 3 April 1964 (age 48) Kent, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	UK Independence Party
Spouse(s)	Gráinne Hayes (1988-1997, divorced) Kirsten Mehr (1999-present)
Children	4
Alma mater	Dulwich College
Religion	Church of England
Website	Nigel Farage MEP

Nigel Paul Farage ( /ˈfærɑːʒ/, FARR-ahzh;^[1] born 3 April 1964, Farnborough, Kent), is a British politician and is the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP),^[2] a position he also held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

Farage is a founding member of the UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after they signed the Maastricht Treaty. Having unsuccessfully campaigned in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he gained a seat as an MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament Election — the first year the regional list system was used — and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage describes himself as a libertarian and rejects the notion that he is a conservative.

In September 2006, Farage became the UKIP Leader and led the party through the 2009 European Parliament Election in which it received the second highest share of the popular vote, defeating Labour and the Liberal Democrats with over two million votes. However he stepped down in November 2009 to concentrate on contesting the Speaker John Bercow's seat of Buckingham in the 2010 general election.

At the 2010 General Election, Farage failed to unseat John Bercow and received only the third highest share of the vote in the constituency. Shortly after the polls opened on 6 May 2010, Nigel Farage was injured in an aircraft crash in Northamptonshire. The two-seated PZL-104 Wilga 35A had been towing a pro-UKIP banner when it flipped over and crashed shortly after takeoff. Both Farage and the pilot were hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.^[3]

In November 2010, Farage successfully stood in the 2010 UKIP leadership contest,^[4] following the resignation of its leader, Lord Pearson of Rannoch. Farage was also ranked 41st (out of 100) in The Daily Telegraph's Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in October 2009, citing his media savvy and his success with UKIP in the European Elections.^[5] Farage was ranked 58th in the 2010 list compiled by Iain Dale and Brian Brivati for the Daily Telegraph.

Background[link]

Farage was educated at Dulwich College before joining a commodity brokerage firm in London. He ran his own brokerage business from the early 1990s until 2002. In his early 20s Farage was diagnosed with testicular cancer but made a full recovery.^[6]

Farage has been married twice. He married Gráinne Hayes in 1988, with whom he had two children: Samuel (1989) and Thomas (1991). In 1999 he married Kirsten Mehr, a German national, by whom he has two more children, Victoria (born 2000) and Isabelle (born 2005).^[7]

Farage has also penned his own memoirs, entitled "Fighting Bull." It outlines the founding of UKIP and his personal and political life so far.

Political career[link]

Conservative Party[link]

Active in the Conservative Party from his school days, Farage left the party in 1992 when John Major's government signed the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht.

UKIP and the European Parliament[link]

Farage became a founding member of UKIP in 1993.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage is presently the leader of the thirteen-member UKIP contingent in the European Parliament, and co-leader of the multinational eurosceptic group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy.

UKIP party leadership[link]

On 12 September 2006, Farage was elected leader of UKIP with 45% of the vote, 20% ahead of his nearest rival.^[8] He pledged to bring discipline to the party and to maximise UKIP's representation in local, parliamentary and other elections.^{[citation needed]} In a PM programme interview on BBC Radio 4 that day he pledged to end the public perception of UKIP as a single-issue party and to work with allied politicians in the Better Off Out campaign, committing himself not to stand against the MPs who have signed up to that campaign (ten in all at this moment).

At his maiden speech to the UKIP conference on 8 October 2006, he told delegates that the party was "at the centre-ground of British public opinion" and the "real voice of opposition". Farage said: "We've got three social democratic parties in Britain — Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative are virtually indistinguishable from each other on nearly all the main issues" and "you can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."^[9]

At 10pm on 19 October 2006, Farage took part in a three-hour live interview and phone-in with James Whale on national radio station talkSPORT. Four days later, Whale announced on his show his intention to stand as UKIP's candidate in the 2008 London Mayoral Election. Farage said that Whale "not only has guts, but an understanding of what real people think". However Whale later decided not to stand and UKIP was represented by Gerard Batten.^[10] He stood again for UKIP leadership in 2010 after his successor Lord Pearson stood down.^[4] On the 5th November 2010 it was announced Farage had won the leadership contest.^[11]

Westminster elections[link]

Farage had unsuccessfully contested UK parliamentary elections for UKIP five times, both before and after his election as an MEP in 1999. Under the 2002 European Union decision to forbid MEPs from holding a dual mandate, if he was ever elected to the House of Commons, he would have to resign his seat as an MEP.

When he contested the Bromley & Chislehurst constituency in a May 2006 by-election, organised after the sitting MP representing it, eurosceptic Conservative Eric Forth, died, Farage came third, winning 8% of the vote, beating the Labour Party candidate. This was the second-best by-election result recorded by UKIP out of 25 results, and the first time since the Liverpool Walton by-election in 1991 that a party in government had been pushed into fourth place in a parliamentary by-election on mainland Britain.

2010 UK General election[link]

On 4 September 2009 Farage resigned as leader of UKIP to concentrate on his campaign to become Member of Parliament for Buckingham at Westminster in the 2010 general election.^[12] He later told Times journalist Camilla Long that UKIP internal fights took up too much time.^[13]

He stood against Buckingham MP John Bercow, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, despite a convention that the speaker, as a political neutral, is not normally challenged in his or her bid for re-election by any of the major parties.^[14]

On 6 May, on the morning the polls opened in the election, just before eight o'clock Farage was involved in a light aircraft crash, suffering injuries described as non-life-threatening. A spokesperson told the BBC that "it was unlikely Mr Farage would be discharged from hospital today [6 May]^[15] Although his injuries were originally described as minor, his sternum and ribs were broken, and his lung punctured.^[16] The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said that the aeroplane was towing a banner, which caught in the tailplane, forcing the nose down.^[17]

Farage came third with 8,401 votes. Bercow was re-elected, and in second place with 10,331 votes was John Stevens, a former Conservative MEP who campaigned as an independent accompanied by "Flipper the Dolphin" (a reference to MPs flipping second homes).^[18]

On 1 December 2010, the pilot of the aircraft involved in the accident was charged with threatening to kill Farage. He was also charged with threatening to kill an AAIB official involved in the investigation into the accident.^[19] In April 2011, Justin Adams was found guilty of making death threats. The judge said the defendant was "clearly extremely disturbed" at the time the offences happened adding "He is a man who does need help. If I can find a way of giving him help I will."^[20]

Alternative Vote referendum, May 2011[link]

Farage declared himself personally in favour of the Alternative Vote system of May 2011, saying first-past-the-post is a "nightmare" for UKIP. However, the party's stance has to be decided by its central policy making committee.^[21]

May 2012 London Mayor & Local elections[link]

In a "bizarre cock-up," UKIP forgot to put their party name on their candidate's ballot paper for the London mayoral election, 2012^[22], Laurence Webb appearing as "A fresh choice for London." Farage admitted the mistake describing it as an internal error.^[22]
Interviewed by the following Sunday by Andrew Neil and asked about "the game plan", Farage welcomed the "average 13% vote" across the country, and stated that the party was preparing for County council in 2013, European elections in 2014 and a general election in 2015.^[23] The party was no longer just a protest vote, it would have a full manifesto with policies including selective schools, help to small businesses by "getting rid of excessive labour practices" and an energy policy not based on wind turbines.^[23] UKIP was here to stay ..frankly the Tory Eurosceptics were in the wrong party and would be better off joining UKIP. Asked what would happen to UKIP if the Tories made a Manifesto commitment to a European referendum, Farage said they had already failed to honour a "cast iron" commitment for a referendum on the Lisbon treaty.^[23]

Challenging Farange's viewpoint, Neil said UKIP aspired to come top of the European elections but whilst UKIP wanted to join the big time, they were still seen as "unprofessional, amateur and even unacceptable" after their press officer called Baroness Warsi "a bitch".^[23] Farage regretted "the wrong choice of words" but further described Warsi as "the lowest grade chairman the Tory party has ever had."^[23] Neil then mocked the so called internal error which had made Farage "a joke".^[23] "The blunt truth is" UKIP "didn't win any more seats, the performance in London was terrible and they were still a one man band."^[23] Farage conceded London was a failure but they had won council seats elsewhere. He invited Tories who couldn't stand Cameron to help him.^[23]

Controversies and whistleblowing[link]

Copyright infringement[link]

In 1999 the BBC spent four months filming a documentary about his European elections campaign but didn't show it. Farage, then head of UKIP's South East office, asked for a video and got friends to make illegal copies which were sold for £5 through the UKIP magazine. Surrey Trading Standards investigated and Farage has admitted the offence.^[24]

Expenses disclosure[link]

In May 2009, The Guardian reported that Farage had said in a speech to the Foreign Press Association that over ten years as a member of the European Parliament he received £2 million of taxpayers' money in staff, travel, and other expenses on top of his £64,000 a year salary.^[25]

The former Europe Minister, Denis MacShane, said that this showed that Farage was "happy to line his pockets with gold". Farage called this a "misrepresentation",^[26] pointing out that the money had been used to promote UKIP's message and staff salaries, not his own salary, but he welcomed the focus on the issue of MEP expenses, claiming that "[o]ver a five year term each and every one of Britain's 78 MEPs gets about £1 million. It is used to employ administrative staff, run their offices and to travel back and forth between their home, Brussels and Strasbourg."^[27]

Jacques Barrot[link]

On 18 November 2004, Farage announced in the European Parliament that Jacques Barrot, the French Commissioner designate, had been barred from elected office in France for 2 years, after being convicted in 2000 of embezzling £2 million from government funds and diverting it into the coffers of his party. He claimed that French President Jacques Chirac had granted Barrot amnesty. Although initial BBC reports claimed that, under French law, it was illegal even to mention the conviction,^[28] the prohibition in question only applies to French officials in the course of their duties.^[29] The president of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, enjoined him to retract his comments under threat of "legal consequences".^[30] However, the following day it was confirmed that Barrot had received an 8 month suspended jail sentence in the case, and that this had been quickly expunged by the amnesty decided by Chirac and his parliamentary majority. The Commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso admitted that he had not known of Barrot's criminal record when appointing him as a Commission vice-president.^{[citation needed]} The Socialist and Liberal groups in the European Parliament then joined UKIP in demanding the resignation of Barrot for failing to disclose the conviction during his confirmation hearings.

José Manuel Barroso[link]

During the spring of 2005, Farage requested that the European Commission disclose where the individual Commissioners had spent their holidays. The Commission did not provide the information requested, on the basis that the Commissioners had a right of privacy. The German newspaper Die Welt reported that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred a month before the Commission under Barroso's predecessor Romano Prodi approved 10.3 million euro of Greek state aid for Latsis' shipping company.^[31] It also became known that Peter Mandelson, then a member of the Commission, had accepted a trip to Jamaica from an unrevealed source.

Farage persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political divide to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, which would be sufficient to compel Barroso to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the issue.^[32] The motion was successfully tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament^[33] at a debate on 26 May 2005. The motion was heavily defeated. A Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer, was expelled from his group, the European People's Party - European Democrats (EPP-ED) in the middle of the debate by that group's leader Hans-Gert Poettering as a result of his support for Farage's motion.

Joseph Daul[link]

In January 2007, the French farmers' leader Joseph Daul was elected the new leader of the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), the European Parliamentary grouping which then included the British Conservatives. The UK Independence Party almost immediately revealed that Daul had been under judicial investigation in France since 2004 as part of an inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds worth €16 million (£10.6 million) by French farming unions."^[34] It was not suggested that Daul had personally benefited, but was accused of "complicity and concealment of the abuse of public funds." Daul accused Farage of publicising the investigation for political reasons and threatened to sue Farage, but did not do so though the court dropped all charges against him.

Prince Charles[link]

Prince Charles gave a speech to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008, in which he called for EU leadership in the war against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Farage was the only MEP to remain seated and went on to describe the Prince's advisers as "naïve and foolish at best."^[35] Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon." The leader of the UK Labour Party's MEPs, Gary Titley, accused Farage of anti-Royalism. Titley said: "I was embarrassed and disgusted when the Leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, remained firmly seated during the lengthy standing ovation Prince Charles received. I had not realised Mr Farage's blind adherence to right wing politics involved disloyalty and discourtesy to the Royal Family. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and should apologise to the British people he represents."^[35]

Herman Van Rompuy[link]

After the speech of Herman Van Rompuy on 24 February 2010 in the European parliament, Farage—to protests from other MEPs—addressed the first long-term President of the European Council saying that he has the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of low grade bank clerk".^[36] Farage questioned the legitimacy of Van Rompuy's appointment asking "Who are you? I'd never heard of you, nobody in Europe had ever heard of you", he also asserted that Van Rompuy's "intention is to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of European nation states."^[36] In the same speech he also referred to Belgium, the home of Van Rompuy, as "pretty much a non-country".^[37] Van Rompuy commented afterwards, "There was one contribution that I can only hold in contempt, but I'm not going to comment further."^[36] After refusing to apologise for behaviour that was, in the words of the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, "inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the House", Farage was reprimanded and had his right to ten days' allowance (expenses) rescinded.^{[38] [39]}

The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said after his meeting with Farage:

I defend absolutely Mr Farage's right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the Union, but not to personally insult our guests in the European Parliament or the country from which they may come. [. . .] I myself fought for free speech as the absolute cornerstone of a democratic society. But with freedom comes responsibility - in this case, to respect the dignity of others and of our institutions. I am disappointed by Mr Farage's behaviour, which sits ill with the great parliamentary tradition of his own country. I cannot accept this sort of behaviour in the European Parliament. I invited him to apologise, but he declined to do so. I have therefore - as an expression of the seriousness of the matter - rescinded his right to ten days' daily allowance as a Member.^[39]

Questioned by Camilla Long, Farage declared of his speech "it wasn't abusive, it was right."^[13]

European economic governance[link]

He spoke of the EU being "German-dominated" in a speech at the European-Parliament on 18 November 2011.^[40]

Views on the euro[link]

From taking office as a UKIP MEP in 1999, Farage has often voiced opposition to the "euro project". His argument is that "a one size fits all interest rate" cannot work for countries with structurally different economies, often using the example of Greece and Germany to emphasise contrast. He predicted the need for 'bailouts' before European Commission and European Central Bank officials admitted that these steps would be necessary. Specifically, Farage predicted that Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain would all require such assistance. To date, Spain is the only predicted country that has not asked for a 'bailout'. Although Spain and Italy have both had indirect assistance from the ECB, whereby secondary government bonds are bought by the central bank, they are prohibited from purchasing new bonds. Farage warns: "You can ignore the markets if you want to, but in time the markets will not ignore you". Farage also reinforces Germany's argument that Italy "should never have joined the euro".

Farage predicts that if the situation continues it will lead to violence due to the people's inability to "determine their own futures through the ballot box" as it will become the only "logical" tool to enable them to escape from their "economic prison" i.e. the Eurozone. He proclaims "I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens."

Farage strongly opposes the use of 'bailouts' and claims that "buying your own debt with tax payers money" will not solve the problem and that, "if we do, the next debt crisis won't be a country", "it will be the European Central Bank itself".^[41][42]

Electoral performance[link]

Nigel Farage has contested several elections under the United Kingdom Independence Party banner:

• Itchen, Test and Avon, European Parliament Election 1994 - 12,423 votes, representing 5.2% of total votes cast
• Eastleigh by-election, 1994 - 952, 1.4%
• Salisbury, 1997 general election - 3,332, 5.7%
• European Parliament election, 1999 - elected member for South East England from party list
• Bexhill and Battle, 2001 general election - 3,474, 7.8%
• European Parliament election, 2004 - elected member for South East England from party list
• South Thanet, 2005 general election - 2,079, 5.0%
• Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006 - 2,307, 8.0%
• European Parliament election, 2009 - elected member for South East England from party list.
• Buckingham, 2010 general election - 8,410, 17.4%

Footnotes[link]