Euroblogs in German

Yesterday I looked at the euro crisis and euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu, the multilingual aggregator. As I said:

Increasingly Europeans realise that they are in the same boat, although some design the improved vessels for the future, some recall scrapped luxury liners of past glory, some see the Titanic fatally heading towards the iceberg (while deck-chairs are being arranged) and some remind us of the harsh and unjust treatment (austerity) which led to the Mutiny on the Bounty.

German and Germany

According to Wikipedia, German was (2007) the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union (18 per cent of EU population; plus the mother tongue of 4.6 million in the enclave Switzerland). Some 32 per cent of people in the EU were able to speak German, making it the second most widely understood language after English (51%).

In political terms, the rest of the European Union and the eurozone have been waiting for Merkozy to stop fiddling, while the UK prime minister David Cameron can mostly watch and hope on the sidelines, so it is impossible to ignore Germany, the most populous nation of the EU in addition to having the strongest economy.

Indeed, together German speaking Germany (82 million) and Austria (8.4 million) represent about 27% of the population in the eurozone and about 18% of the EU total (Eurostat).


Euroblogs in German

In the spirit of cross-border discussion and understanding, Europaeum - @mteu on Twitter – one of the Bloggingportal editors, has compiled an English presentation of the active EU blogosphere in German, including Austrian ones, three from the Baltic states and a Franco-German blog.

Martin then continued with an entry with German language blogs listed on Bloggingportal, which have published since July 2011, a much longer list including a number of policy blogs and blogs by MEPs.

If your euroblog is still missing (or someone else's), you can propose the blog on EU politics or policy areas to Bloggingportal.eu.



Ralf Grahn

Euroblogs in German ─ where are they?

With 18 per cent of the EU population, German is the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union. A further 14 per cent can speak German, which means that almost a third of EU inhabitants (32%) are able to speak the language of Goethe (Wikipedia: Languages of the European Union).

There are German quality media, universities, think tanks, public administrations, world class businesses etc., but how about Euroblogs?



Let us take a look at the Euroblogs updated during the last week on the multilingual aggregator Bloggingportal.eu.



Among Journalists / Media we have Planet in Progress (Die Zeit) with one post.


Among Individuals Euro-Police is fairly active, with 11 posts either in German or in English monitoring the European police, e-comm, with five posts on EU (and Austrian) telecommunications law, and Martin Ehrenhauser, who as MEP should be in that category, with five posts on politics in the European Parliament.


Further there is Blog von Andreas Grieß, with two posts, Skablog, by Ska Keller, who like Ehrenhauser belongs to the MEP category, with two posts.



One post has been recorded by Zur Politik (Tom Schaffer), Der Nachbar (as EurActiv editor perhaps more correctly belonging to the Journalists / Media category), Europa-Transparent (Hajo Friedrich) and Reflexionen (Michael Scharfschwerdt).



Among the German and English bilingual blogs, Mount EUlympus (Andre Feldhof) has posted in English lately, once during the last week, and Jan’s EU-Blog (Jan Seifert) has one post in German, about fifty-fifty lately.



In the category MEPs / MPs / Political parties we find Peter Pilz Tagebuch with five posts, which mainly focus on Austrian politics. ─ This as good a place as any to ask, how Euroblogs and EU affairs should be understood. In my view, Bloggingportal.eu should be inclusive rather than exclusive. National and European spheres should be allowed to overlap, and national politics are of interest to European readers and they influence EU politics. On the other hand, are there limiting criteria which should be applied when approving blogs on Bloggingportal.eu?



Holger Krahmer (MEP) has two posts, while the MEPs Helga Trüpel and Silvana Koch-Mehrin have one post each during the last week.



In the Network category the webzine Die Euros has nine posts.



Among the Civil society /NGOs, Netzpolitik.org has three posts and Junge Europäische Föderalisten and der Universität Erfurt one blog article posted during the last week.


I found no updated blogs in German in the categories Commissioners, Governments or Think tanks / Academic / Federations.

***

Where are the German Euroblogs?


After looking at the Euroblogs in German, I have some questions.

Increasingly Germany can be said to be the leading EU member state (to the extent that there is a lead state), and Austria is a mid-sized member. In addition, there are German minorities in a number of member states as well as a sizable population in Switzerland and expats all over the world.

In relation to the many German speakers, there seem to be few Euroblogs in German on Bloggingportal.eu. In some categories, there are none, and in no category are the German blogs among the most active.

Have German blogs on EU affairs failed to announce their interest?

Are there not more German Euroblogs out there, and if so, why?


Ralf Grahn



P.S. Read about the real EUSSR through the good, the better and the best Euroblogs on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu.

Consolidated Lisbon Treaty Update

People continue to arrive at this blog looking for a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon.

The last update of the list of consolidated language versions is not that old, published 8 February 2008. But since then a few kind souls have told us about new consolidations, and I have been able to take a look at some complementary sources. Therefore, the time for an update has come.

Let us remember that the European Union has 23 treaty and official languages. The intergovernmental conference itself professed its belief in linguistic diversity, and encouraged the translation of the treaties into regional and minority languages by the member state governments.

As far as I know, with the exception of a leaked French version from the European Parliament, none of the consolidations has been produced by the EU institutions, and only one directly by a government. The rest have been compiled by parliaments, think-tanks, NGOs and private citizens.

The nine or ten languages with consolidated versions published to date cover only parts of our community of 490 million citizens.

Here is an updated list of the language versions found this far (almost all in pdf format), with the languages mentioned in alphabetical order in English:


Danish

The EU information of the Danish parliament communicates actively. Some information is available in English, too. The consolidated Lisbon Treaty is an update.

Folketingets EU-Oplysning: Sammenskrevet udgave af udkastet til Lissabon-traktaten og det gaeldande traktatunderlag; Bind 1 Traktater, Bind 2 Protokoller og erklaeringer;
http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/emner/reformtraktat/reform/sammenskrevet/


***

Dutch

The DJ Nozem blog pointed me towards this new consolidation in Word format, compiled by René Barents and posted on the web site of the daily NRC Handelsblad.

René Barents: Geconsolideerde teksten van het Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie en het Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie zoals gewijzigd door het Verdrag van Lissabon
http://www.nrc.nl/redactie/Europa/verdraglissabon_barents.doc

***

English

IIEA

Peadar ó Broin at the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland) has produced a complete updated consolidation of the amended treaties, including the protocols and annexes, in a format easy to read (pdf).

Treaty on European Union
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Annexes to the EU and FEU Treaties
Protocols to the EU and FEU Treaties and, where appropriate, to the EAEC Treaty

Go to http://www.iiea.com


Statewatch

Professor Steve Peers has painstakingly compiled an annotated version consisting of several files for the Statewatch Observatory on the EU Constitution and the Reform Treaty, where similarities and differences between the different reform stages are highlighted. Informative, if you know what you are looking for.

Go to http://www.statewatch.org


FCO

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office published a complete consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon. The ratification debate in the House of Commons is ongoing.

The FCO web pages on Britain in the EU contain both general information on the Reform Treaty and answers on specific questions in addition to the consolidation I just mentioned. For the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty, see Command Paper 7310 ‘Consolidated texts of the EU Treaties as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon’:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/FCO_PDF_CM7310_ConsolidatedTreaties.pdf

The FCO also published Command Paper 7311 ‘A comparative table of the current EC and EU Treaties as amended by the treaty of Lisbon’, which briefly sets out the similarities and differences between the Lisbon Treaty and the other relevant Treaties article by article. Available through the Official Documents web page (as is Cm 7310 mentioned above):

http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/


Markus Walther

Markus Walther, a German student from Leipzig, who produced and published a German consolidated version of the EU Treaty of Lisbon on his web site, posted an English readable consolidated version as well (a preliminary document without protocols and charter).

Go to http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.pdf


Open Europe

Open Europe produced a consolidated version with the Treaty of Lisbon and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe presented side by side for convenient comparison.

Open Europe: The Lisbon Treaty and the European Constitution: A side-by-side comparison; January 2008;

http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/comparative.pdf


***

Finnish

Europe Information, of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has promised a consolidated version during the spring.

***

French

Europa-EU-Audience

The bilingual web site en.europa-eu-audience found two unofficial parallel versions of the amending treaties in French, side by side with the current ones:

http://europa-eu-audience.typepad.com/fr/files/EP_TCE_versus_TFU_Final.doc

http://europa-eu-audience.typepad.com/fr/files/EP_TUE_versus_TUE_final.doc


Assemblée nationale

Assemblée nationale : Rapport d’information sur les modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne au traité sur l’Union européenne et au traité instituant la Communauté européenne, par M. Axel Poniatowski ; No 439, 28 novembre 2007 ;

http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i0439.pdf


Later, the French National Assembly has presented a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon side by side with the current treaties. Look for Assemblée Nationale: Rapport d’information déposé par la Délégation de l’Assemblée Nationale pour l’Union Européenne, sur le traité de Lisbonne ; No 562, Tome 2, 8 janvier 2008 :

http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/dossiers/traite_lisbonne_due_information.asp


Jean-Luc Sauron

Jean-Luc Sauron: Comprendre le Traité de Lisbonne – Texte consolidé intégral des traités – Explications et commentaires ; Gualino éditeur, Paris 2008 ; 351 p. (Prix 20 €)

The book (pages 141 – 351) contains, in a handy format, consolidated versions of the amended Treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Explanations relating to it as well as a modest Index.

In principle, the Treaty texts are based on a version from 30 October 2007, but footnotes take later modifications into account.


***


German

Markus Walther

Markus Walther: Das Primärrecht der Europäischen Union; Endfassung, Stand 18. Dezember 2007; (updated after signing)
http://www.mwalther.net/union.html


Klemens H. Fischer

The book “Der Vertrag von Lissabon – Text und Kommentar zum Europäischen Reformvertrag”, by Klemens H. Fischer (Nomos, Stämpfli Verlag and Verlag Österreich) describes the EU reform process and especially the IGC 2007 before it presents consolidated and annotated versions of the TEU and TFEU including protocols and declarations. The accompanying CD-Rom contains background material and three different consolidations of each treaty: with amendments highlighted and footnotes, with amendments highlighted and a neutral consolidated version.


***

Hungarian

Two sources reported that the Hungarian government has published a consolidation of the Lisbon Treaty, although was not able to verify it. But I encourage anyone with the linguistic and technical skills to search (and to report back).


***

Irish Gaelic

A consolidation in Irish Gaelic has been announced by the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dublin.
Go to http://www.iiea.com

***

Portuguese

Peadar ó Broin reported on a version in Portuguese also, prepared by the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

http://www.eu2007.pt/NR/rdonlyres/1D96311C-F90D-4E97-B355-DFEA0DD1ABEA/0/TLconsolidado.pdf

Alternatively, you can link to the text via the website for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

http://www.mne.gov.pt/

Or you can link via the website for the Portuguese Presidency of 2007:

http://www.eu2007.pt/UE/vPT/Presidencia_Conselho/TratadoLisboa.htm


***

Spanish

Real Instituto Elcano offers a complete updated consolidation, with protocols and declarations, in Spanish, compiled by José Martín y Pérez de Nanclares and Mariola Urrea Corres. The former has written an introductory study.

http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org


***

Swedish

Sieps – Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studier, the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, has published a complete consolidated Swedish language version of the Lisbon Treaty.

Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget - Konsoliderad version av EU:s fördrag (pdf)
Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget – Protokoll mm (pdf)

http://www.sieps.se

The publisher SNS Förlag has announced a handy pocket version of the Treaty of Lisbon in Swedish, to be published 29 February 2008. If the new publication follows the pattern of the previous pocket treaties by SNS, it will contain the bare treaty texts.

http://www.sns.se


***
If the number of languages with consolidated versions was seven or eight (Hungarian attested but not verified) last time the list was published, we now know of 9 or 10 official EU languages covered out of 23.

Are there more consolidated versions the citizens of the European Union should be aware of?

I am most grateful, if you want to share your knowledge on the Treaty of Lisbon with me and other EU citizens: consolidated versions as well as books and resources, such as official documents from the member states’ governments and parliaments, scholarly assessments and popular literature, plus information on the ratification processes.


Ralf Grahn

Lisbon Treaty: Consolidated language versions

There is a continuing stream of people looking for a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon arriving at this blog. Since it may be tricky to find the information in the archive, I decided to compile the essence of a few posts on consolidations in English and other languages.

Please, note that this time I did not have time to check if the links are still working, or if there are pleasant surprises such as updates with protocols etc.

Let us remember that the European Union has 23 official languages. The seven or eight language versions I have noticed to date cover only parts of our community of 490 million citizens.

Here are the language versions found this far (almost all in pdf format), with the languages mentioned in alphabetical order in English:


Danish

The EU information of the Danish parliament communicates actively. Some information is available in English, too. The consolidated Lisbon Treaty is an update.

Folketingets EU-Oplysning: Sammenskrevet udgave af udkastet til Lissabon-traktaten og det gaeldande traktatunderlag; Bind 1 Traktater, Bind 2 Protokoller og erklaeringer;
http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/emner/reformtraktat/reform/sammenskrevet/


***

Dutch

The DJ Nozem blog pointed me towards this new consolidation in Word format, compiled by René Barents and posted on the web site of the daily NRC Handelsblad.

René Barents: Geconsolideerde teksten van het Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie en het Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie zoals gewijzigd door het Verdrag van Lissabon
http://www.nrc.nl/redactie/Europa/verdraglissabon_barents.doc

***

English

IIEA

Peadar ó Broin at the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland) has produced a complete consolidation of the amended treaties, including the protocols and annexes, in a format easy to read (pdf).

Treaty on European Union
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Annexes to the EU and FEU Treaties
Protocols to the EU and FEU Treaties and, where appropriate, to the EAEC Treaty

Go to http://www.iiea.com


Statewatch

Professor Steve Peers has painstakingly compiled a version consisting of several files for the Statewatch Observatory on the EU Constitution and the Reform Treaty, where similarities and differences between the different reform stages are highlighted

Go to http://www.statewatch.org


FCO

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office published a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon. The ratification debate in the House of Commons is ongoing.

The FCO web pages on Britain in the EU contain both general information on the Reform Treaty and answers on specific questions in addition to the consolidation I just mentioned. For the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty, see Command Paper 7310 ‘Consolidated texts of the EU Treaties as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon’:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/FCO_PDF_CM7310_ConsolidatedTreaties.pdf

The FCO also published Command Paper 7311 ‘A comparative table of the current EC and EU Treaties as amended by the treaty of Lisbon’, which briefly sets out the similarities and differences between the Lisbon Treaty and the other relevant Treaties article by article. Available through the Official Documents web page (as is Cm 7310 mentioned above):

http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/


Markus Walther

Markus Walther, a German student from Leipzig, who produced and published a German consolidated version of the EU Treaty of Lisbon on his web site, posted an English readable consolidated version as well (a preliminary document without protocols and charter).

Go to http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.pdf


Open Europe

Open Europe produced a consolidated version with the Treaty of Lisbon and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe presented side by side for convenient comparison.

Open Europe: The Lisbon Treaty and the European Constitution: A side-by-side comparison; January 2008;
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/comparative.pdf


***

Finnish

Europe Information, of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has promised a consolidated version during the spring.

***

French

Assemblée nationale : Rapport d’information sur les modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne au traité sur l’Union européenne et au traité instituant la Communauté européenne, par M. Axel Poniatowski ; No 439, 28 novembre 2007 ;
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i0439.pdf

***

Gaelic

A consolidation in Irish Gaelic promised shortly by the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dublin.

***

German

Markus Walther: Das Primärrecht der Europäischen Union; Endfassung, Stand 18. Dezember 2007; (updated after signing)
http://www.mwalther.net/union.html


***

Hungarian

Two sources reported that the Hungarian government has published a consolidation of the Lisbon Treaty, although was not able to verify it. But I encourage anyone with the linguistic and technical skills to search (and to report back).

***

Spanish

Real Instituto Elcano (updated after signing; read the introductory study)
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org


***

Swedish

Sieps – Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studier

Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget - Konsoliderad version av EU:s fördrag (pdf)
Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget – Protokoll mm (pdf)
http://www.sieps.se


***

I am most grateful, if you want to share your knowledge on the Treaty of Lisbon with me and other EU citizens: consolidated versions as well as books and resources, such as official documents from the member states, popular presentations and scholarly literature, plus information on the ratification processes.


Ralf Grahn

Updated Lisbon Treaty in English

Yesterday evening I received a positive message from Peadar ó Broin, of the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland): An updated consolidated English version of the Treaty of Lisbon has been posted on the web site of the Institute:

http://www.iiea.com

A Gaelic version will be posted, soon. That would bring the number of readable language versions to eight out of 23 official EU languages.

***

In addition, Peadar ó Broin’s message was heartening personally, too. I take the liberty to repeat it here:

“Dear Ralf,
Congratulations on your blog, a much needed information resource! Just to let you know that I have placed an updated edition of the Consolidated Treaties as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon on the website of the Institute of International and European Affairs ( www.iiea.com ). This is the English language edition; an edition in Irish Gaelic will be placed on the website shortly.
The Protocols, Charter and Declarations will also be available on the website in English, hopefully by tomorrow.
Good luck with your research and kind regards,
Peadar ó BROIN”

***
I think that the citizens of the European Union are entitled to readable versions of the Reform Treaty, each in his or her language.

For the convenience of those readers who daily arrive at my blog, while looking for a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon, I am going to present a summary of my findings so far:


Danish

Folketingets EU-Oplysning: Sammenskrevet udgave af udkastet til Lissabon-traktaten og det gaeldande traktatunderlag; Bind 1 Traktater, Bind 2 Protokoller og erklaeringer;
http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/emner/reformtraktat/reform/sammenskrevet/


English

Institute of International and European Affairs (Ireland) updated version
http://www.iiea.com
Statewatch (professor Steve Peers)
http://www.statewatch.org
Markus Walther
http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.pdf


Finnish

Europe Information, of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has promised a consolidated version during the spring.



French

Assemblée nationale : Rapport d’information sur les modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne au traité sur l’Union européenne et au traité instituant la Communauté européenne, par M. Axel Poniatowski ; No 439, 28 novembre 2007 ;
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i0439.pdf


Gaelic

A consolidation in Irish Gaelic promised shortly by the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dublin.


German

Markus Walther: Das Primärrecht der Europäischen Union; Endfassung, Stand 18. Dezember 2007; (updated after signing)
http://www.mwalther.net/union.html


Hungarian

Two sources have reported that the Hungarian government has published a consolidation of the Lisbon Treaty, although I have not been able to verify it.


Spanish

Real Instituto Elcano (updated after signing; note the introductory study)
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org


Swedish

Sieps – Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studier: Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget - Konsoliderad version av EU:s fördrag (pdf);
http://www.sieps.se

***

I am most grateful if you want to share your knowledge on the Treaty of Lisbon with me and other EU citizens: consolidated versions, popular or scholarly literature and information on the ratification processes.


Ralf Grahn

Consolidated Treaty of Lisbon

Consolidated versions of the EU Treaty of Lisbon are in constant demand. This I have seen daily from the visitors on my blog. These searches come from every corner of Europe, as well as from North America and Asia.

The discussion on Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström’s blog showed that:

“Ralf - We also get a large number of requests from citizens via our Europe Direct service but I’m afraid it’s not for the Commission to produce a consolidated text of the Treaty, it is for the Council.”

“It’s easy enough to find versions of the Treaty on the web, Ralf has references in his blog. They also exist in Danish and Hungarian to my knowledge.”

***

I have been trying to find consolidated versions of the Reform Treaty, and posted my findings on different occasions, but you may have to wade through a number of postings to find them. For your convenience, I am going to make a fresh posting here, collecting the versions I have found:

Danish

Folketingets EU-Oplysning: Sammenskrevet udgave af udkastet til Lissabon-traktaten og det gaeldande traktatunderlag; Bind 1 Traktater, Bind 2 Protokoller og erklaeringer;
http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/emner/reformtraktat/reform/sammenskrevet/

English

Institute of European Affairs (Ireland) http://www.iiea.com
Statewatch (professor Steve Peers) http://www.statewatch.org

French

Assemblée nationale : Rapport d’information sur les modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne au traité sur l’Union européenne et au traité instituant la Communauté européenne, par M. Axel Poniatowski ; No 439, 28 novembre 2007 ;
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i0439.pdf

German

Markus Walther: Das Primärrecht der Europäischen Union; Endfassung, Stand 18. Dezember 2007; (updated after signing)
http://www.mwalther.net/union.html

Spanish

Real Instituto Elcano (updated after signing)
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org

Swedish

Sieps – Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studier: Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget - Konsoliderad version av EU:s fördrag (pdf); http://www.sieps.se

***

These versions, in Danish, English, French, German, Spanish and Swedish, are the ones I have been able to find.

This makes a total of six languages out of the 23 official languages of the European Union. The Council’s refusal to publish consolidated versions is not only contrary to openness and transparency; EU citizens are not given equal access to readable new Treaties.

I know that Hungary was the first member state to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon, but does anyone have more exact information on the Hungarian consolidated Treaty mentioned by the Administrator on Commissioner Wallström’s blog?

In addition, the Finnish government promised belated consolidations (presumably in Finnish and Swedish) during this spring.

If no other consolidations are found or produced (by actors outside the EU institutions), the rest of the EU citizens have to wait for reader-friendly, consolidated Treaties until the ratification processes are over and the Treaty of Lisbon has entered into force.

***

Dear reader,

If you have additional information, please share it. In addition to consolidated versions, my wish concerns new books on the Lisbon Treaty.


Ralf Grahn


See:

Margot Wallström’s blog: http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/wallstrom/

German consolidation of the EU Treaty of Lisbon

Nanne on the DJ Nozem blog brought the German consolidated version of The Treaty of Lisbon to my attention (mentioned in my previous entry).

Markus Walther, a student in Leipzig, has compiled the amended Treaty on the European Union, the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, the protocols to the treaties and the Charter of fundamental rights.

They are the final versions; the entry dated 18 December 2007. He has posted the documents on his web site, where they can be downloaded by all.

***

Isn’t it amazing, the information needs of about 90 million German speaking citizens in the European Union on proposed legislation are filled, not by the EU institutions, nor by the German government, but by a private citizen, probably without remuneration.

When the European Union and the national governments write their following report on communication policy, they could aptly name it “Absent at the creation”.

We just have to hope that they’ll catch up, someday, someway.


Ralf Grahn


Source:

Markus Walther: Das Primärrecht der Europäischen Union; Endfassung, Stand 18. Dezember 2007; http://www.mwalther.net/union.html