New Direction invites you to a lecture "Human Rights: what they are and what they are not" by Dr Nigel Ashfod. Location: almoral Room, Stanhope Hotel, Rue de Commerce 9, Brussels Event date: 30 May 2012, from 18:30 Speaker: Dr. Nigel Ashford - Former Jean Monnet Scholar at Staffordshire University, currently Senior Program Officer at the Institute for Humane Studies, an educational non-profit based at George Mason University, Virginia, USA.

New Direction - The Foundation for European Reform invites you to the launch of a new study: EU´s Runaway Train - How the EU Neglected Principles of Openness and Accountability in its Reaction to the Financial Crisis. Kindly hosted by the City of London Corporation, 6 March 2012 from 18:00 Livery Hall, Guildhall EC2V 7HH London (enter via 71 Basinghall Street entrance). Special guest speaker: Mark Hoban M P, Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Among the panellists will be: Matthew Hancock MP, Derk Jan Eppink MEP, Allister Heath, Editor of City A.M.

Johan Van Overtveldt is the author of ‘The End of the Euro: the Uneasy Future of the European Union’ and the Chief Editor of Knack, Flanders’ leading weekly magazine. This event will take place on 21 September from 10am at the European Parliament, Brussels PHS P1A002. To register please send full name, date of birth and ID number to anna.solovieva@europarl.europa.eu

was launched on 2 June in Warsaw, Poland   New Direction – The Foundation for European Reform was launched on 2 June in Warsaw, Poland, in cooperation with its partner think Ośrodek Myśli politycznej (OMP) based in Cracow. During the conference New Direction was introduced by its president Geoffrey van Orden MBE MEP and director Shane Frith, who described the extensive research plans for this year. Two studies produced by OMP for New Direction concerning energy supply and security issues were presented by the authors. The former Polish prime minister and chairman of the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) Jarosław Kaczyński addressed the audience.  

The Energy Confrence 2011 took place shortly after the outburst of revolutions in oil rich Arab countries and at the time of the nuclear disaster in Japan. The conference brought together a group of distinguished guests and speakers to debate the hot issue of energy security, Russia’s dominant position in the European energy market, EU liberalisation efforts and energy market regulation.   Keith Smith from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said, that “corruption and lack of transparency have been the largest threats for energy security in Europe.”

European taxpayers have joined forces to stop the European Union imposing an additional fiscal burden on Europeans: EU tax. Plans for an EU tax are currently being considered by the European Commission to increase the EU budget. NOEUTAX.EU is an EU-wide initiative that was launched during a public hearing held in the European Parliament on 8 February 2011 and aims to collect 1 million signatures under the ‘European Citizen’s Initiative’ instrument, which enables EU citizens to ask the European Commission to propose a new law or abandon plans for a new law.