Must read Euroblogs in French

When we look at the Euroblogs on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, we notice that some of the top blogs are in French.

The Coulisses de Bruxelles, Regards-citoyens, Bruxelles2 (Europe de la Défense) and Le Taurillon make it worth your while to brush up your French and to get acquainted with informed debate about European integration.


Coulisses de Bruxelles



Coulisses de Bruxelles (Libération), written by the Brussels correspondent Jean Quatremer, is one of the most read and linked Euroblogs. Quatremer is well informed about EU politics, especially about what is brewing among French politicians, and he posts regular updates: a post a day, on the average. He is critical of the structural weaknesses of the European Union and clear in his views on the need for reform. Defending the French language in the institutions of the European Union and in Belgium is his hobbyhorse. His blog posts often lead to long discussions, much of them conducted between knowledgeable readers.


Regards-citoyens



Regards-citoyens may at first look like an assembly line for turning out blog posts, but despite the volume the articles are fairly scholarly in nature. Political and legal aspects of the European Union are dealt with in some depth, with document references etc. Institutional issues, citizenship and democracy are recurring themes. Bloggingportal.eu has classified Regards-citoyens under Individuals, but it seems to be a group or network of at least a few individuals, who also use outside material. Somehow, it would be nice with an “impressum”, a clear presentation and contact data.



Bruxelles2 (Europe de la Défense)



Nicolas Gros-Verheyde is a journalist on European affairs, and his blog Bruxelles2 (Europe de la Défense) is focused on the evolvement of the EU’s common security and defence policy. The blog mixes news items on incidents, such as attacks by pirates, with detailed analysis of diplomatic and institutional developments in the CSDP area, sometimes based on unpublished drafts of official documents. With about three posts a day, Bruxelles2 is the, or one of the most frequently updated Euroblogs.


Le Taurillon



Le Taurillon, magazine eurocitoyen, is a web publication of Jeunes Européens – France, with the following programme:

« Actualité et analyses sur l’Union européenne, les politiques communautaires et les débats politiques sur l’Europe. »

Generally, Le Taurillon can be said to stand for profound democratic reform of the European Union, although the contributors speak with individual voices. Le Taurillon has sister publications in English, German and Italian, largely produced by voluntary translators.


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Especially if you have already had your fill of English tabloids on “Brussels”, French quality Euroblogs are a healthy diet of fact and reason. Enjoyable language learning is a bonus.



Ralf Grahn