"a la mínima" in English

Since then, imprisonment and exile have reduced the opposition to living on scraps.

I would like to stress, however, that better regulation must not necessarily mean deregulation or boil down to minimal regulation.

at the drop of a hat

I deeply regret the fact that socialists and liberals have run away from that compromise and chosen instead to reach a settlement with the Right.

One in five people worldwide have no access to basic education or basic health care, and the chasm is growing every day despite all the pledges by Heads of Government.

Our military resources are reduced to their simplest expression because the bulk of the budgets is today spent by France and the United Kingdom and subject to the Stability Pact.

To MrsEk I should like to say the following: you talk about the environment but, at every possible opportunity, you have consistently made efforts to weaken and impair this draft legislation.