Euroskeptics: How Brussels Is Integrating Euroskeptic Parties in Parliament - Manfred Ertel, Julia Amalia Heyer and Christoph Scheuermann -

One year ago, more euro-skeptics got elected to the European Parliament than ever before, including a number of MEPs from Austria, Britain, France and Greece. They wanted to attack Europe from within, but instead the EU transformed them.

Read more: How Brussels Is Integrating Euroskeptic Parties in Parliament - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Brritain: Barosso warns Cameron against 'historic mistake' over EU membership

The UK government and the European Union are on a collision course over Prime Minister David Cameron's plans to curb immigration by renegotiating the the agreement on the free movement of labour.

Jose Manuel Barroso, who will step down next month as president of the European Commission, warned Mr Cameron on Monday that the UK would not even be of "marginal relevance" in the world if his attempted renegotiation led to the UK voting to leave the EU in the referendum promised for 2017.

Speaking at a Chatham House think-tank meeting in London, Mr Barroso said that Mr Cameron would be making an "historic mistake" if he alienated eastern European countries by going ahead with a reported plan to use the tax system to cap the number of low-skilled workers from the EU who could come to Britain.

Acknowledging that there was "widespread concern" in the UK over immigration levels, Mr Barosso said: "The Commission has always been ready to engage constructively in this discussion. But changes to these rules need all countries to agree.

"And it is an illusion to believe that space for dialogue can be created if the tone and substance of the arguments you put forward question the very principle (of the free movement of labour) at stake and offend fellow member states.

"It would be an historic mistake if on these issues Britain were to continue to alienate its natural allies in central and eastern Europe, when you were one of the strongest advocates for their accession."

Mr Barroso said that he appreciated that the Conservatives were being spurred into action by the recent electoral success of the UK Independence Party, but he added: "My experience is that you can never win a debate from the defensive. We saw in Scotland that you actually need to go out and make the positive case. In the same way, if you support continued membership of the EU you need to say what Europe stands for and why it is in the British interest to be part of it.

"Over three-quarters of CBI members want the UK to stay in, because they consider the single market is worth between £62 and £78 billion pounds to the economy. Five out of six City UK members say they do not want to see the UK leave, and the same is true for manufacturers.

Read more: Relocate Magazine - Barosso warns Cameron against 'historic mistake' over EU membership

Czech Republic: President Zeman addresses European Parliament

Czech President Miloš Zeman addressed the European Parliament on Wednesday morning in a speech anticipated to be far more pro-EU than that of his predecessor Václav Klaus. In that respect he delivered. At the same time, he was also critical, pulling no punches when it came to criticizing EU red tape, nonsensical directives, and failures to agree on common policy.

President Miloš Zeman, accused by his critics of sometimes boorish behavior at home, was fairly lighthearted and in the end entertaining in his address to the European Parliament in Strasburg on Wednesday. On the one hand, the president signaled steady support for the EU, not least in its fiscal plan and adoption of the common currency (a marked departure from his famously euro sceptic predecessor).

On the other, he was not uncritical. Mr Zeman got applause from some when he aimed a number of well-pointed barbs at the EU right off the bat, most of them lighter but some of them more serious in tone.

“My European dream does not include the crazy movement of MPs between Strasbourg and Brussels and back again. My European dream does not include nonsensical directives such as the directive about economical safety bulbs. I have one of them at my cottage and it looks like a cemetery or a mortuary. So I speak from my own experience.

“My European dream does not include Brussels so-called ‘European architecture’ which sometimes looks like an amplified shoe box. And it does not include the steak at the European Commission centre which looks and tastes like bubblegum.”

Mr Zeman went on to discuss serious issues which in his view remain unresolved: the lack of a common European foreign policy or agreement on defense, including the better use of its armed forces. But most of all, he made clear he was for the European project albeit with caveats. Again, he suggested, there were two dreams to choose from:

“What does it mean to unite? If it means ‘to integrate’, to integrate common rules, I fully agree. If it means ‘to unify’ I am strictly against. Because being uniform is gray and boring. I am against having a ‘common European cheese’ or a ‘common European beer’, in which case I recommend you try Czech beer which is the best in the world. What we need is integration, a European federation – not a European unitary state.”

Read more: Radio Prague - President Zeman addresses European Parliament