The Europe 2020 strategy is the raison d’être of the Barroso II Commission, so preparation and communication of the seven flagship initiatives must be highly visible, and they have to go hand in hand.
Is this theory or practice?
Youth and education
In the blog entry Europe 2020 flagship initiative Youth on the move (EU Commission Work Programme 2010) we saw the high rates of youth unemployment, indicating that the European labour markets are dysfunctional, despite the demographic challenges of ageing populations. The Commission Work Programme (CWP) 2010 promises the Europe 2020 flagship initiative Youth on the move in the third quarter of 2010, and a communication on Youth and Employment has been promised in the fourth quarter.
Europe 2020 website
Given the defining importance of the Europe 2020 strategy for the whole term of the Barroso II Commission, in terms of aims, action, positioning and communication, the central Europe 2020 website should be a vibrant well of constantly updated information, well structured and thematically arranged.
Exaggerating ever so slightly, we called the central Europe 2020 website “dead as the dodo”, when we looked at it 28 June 2010.
This is the evidence today: According to the Europe 2020 web page, it was last updated 6 May 2010. This cannot be true, because the text says that the Europe 2020 strategy “will be formally adopted in 17 June 2010”. The date is actually a link to the conclusions adopted (not to be adopted) by the European Council on that day (without saying so; document EUCO 13/10).
The links in the margin look even more abandoned. The latest news link is from 26 March, and the most recent documents from 6 May 2010.
Nothing has happened in almost two weeks, since our last look.
Forsaken, deserted ... If this is the level of care and commitment shown to the defining strategy (raison d’être) of the current Commission, what can we expect in other policy areas?
Naturally, we gained no new knowledge about the preparation of the flagship initiative Youth on the move, either.
Commission europénne, nul points !
Ralf Grahn
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Friday, 9 July 2010
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Belgium’s EU Council presidency website: First impressions
Euroblogger Julien Frisch noted the fresh look of the website of the Council of the European Union, redesigned in a manner similar to the new web pages of the European Council. Julien liked the look, but essentially the navigability had not improved that much. I agree with his remarks:
Lacomeuropeenne.fr, officially Se former à la communication européenne, has analysed (in French) various aspects of how the EU institutions communicate. A few days ago, they assessed the European Commission’s Internet Providers Guide (IPG), the Internet handbook for webmasters, editors, content providers, web developers and contractors, as well as others who publish material on EU websites. After a detailed study, they concluded that there is a deep gap between the recommendations the Commission gives to officials and the advice of social media experts .
Two days ago, Lacomeuropeenne made a quick audit of the usability of new Council website. Despite some signs of progress, there were still confusing aspects and the experiences of users are needed for more definitive conclusions.
Both assessments noted the lack of interactive, user-friendly features.
Belgium’s presidency website
Outwardly the newly launched website of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union is like a sister or brother to the site of the European Council and the redesigned web pages of the Council.
It is clear, well ordered and pleasing to the eye.
A few days before the start of the Belgian presidency, on 1 July 2010, there is mainly basic material to test on, so user experiences will mainly have to be deferred.
A few impressions, though.
If you look, you are able to locate the 18 month programme and the Belgian six month programme.
In my opinion, the Swedish presidency had the best website to date, and they started to interact with users of social media and to monitor blogs. How about the Belgian presidency?
There is not much in the line of interactivity. A poll deep down on the front page asks:
I would not expect people to find the Belgian presidency pages without knowing what to look for, but potentially the polls can be used for less inane purposes.
It may be that I lack technical savvy, but I do not know why the EU institutions and presidencies insist on speaking about feed burners but fail to clearly tell us the actual feed URLs, especially ones that actually work.
Test for instance:
http://www.eutrio.be/media/feed ?
http://www.eutrio.be/rss ?
After a process of trial and error, I was finally able to find a feed for my blog.
Somewhere there was an oblique promise of a blog to come (with the potential for interactive use), but I failed to locate it when I visited the website again.
The page on Logo and guidelines fails to make a distinction between official use and use by others of different graphic designs, without wading through a detailed graphic charter or asking for permission.
I would imagine that the Belgian government (if there is one) would be pleased to see its banner all over the place, but public institutions almost always seem to be obsessed by potential abuse and to end up with less than clear and inviting policies.
Is a newspaper or a blogger allowed to use the banner (and other material) freely?
It would be simple to give a clear answer up front, without sending people off to chase wild geese. Now the difference between official and other use is quite unclear.
Only the coming six months will tell if the quality of information is going to improve under the Belgian presidency, after the obvious lapse during the Spanish semester.
I hope that Julien Frisch, Lacomeuropeenne and others more expert in web communications than I, offer their views and user experiences of the Belgian presidency pages. There are still six months to make improvements, if there is a need.
Naturally, it would also require the right kind of attitude.
Ralf Grahn
I want to click on the Agriculture Council and find all meeting documents, news, photos etc. (including the work of the Working Parties) available instead of having to search for them with a lot of efforts in the Council document register.
Speaking about the register that is linked under "Documents" in the main menu, I'd recommend that you don't need to click through four links until you actually can search for documents. Why not having a search right after clicking on "Documents"?
Lacomeuropeenne.fr, officially Se former à la communication européenne, has analysed (in French) various aspects of how the EU institutions communicate. A few days ago, they assessed the European Commission’s Internet Providers Guide (IPG), the Internet handbook for webmasters, editors, content providers, web developers and contractors, as well as others who publish material on EU websites. After a detailed study, they concluded that there is a deep gap between the recommendations the Commission gives to officials and the advice of social media experts .
Two days ago, Lacomeuropeenne made a quick audit of the usability of new Council website. Despite some signs of progress, there were still confusing aspects and the experiences of users are needed for more definitive conclusions.
Both assessments noted the lack of interactive, user-friendly features.
Belgium’s presidency website
Outwardly the newly launched website of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union is like a sister or brother to the site of the European Council and the redesigned web pages of the Council.
It is clear, well ordered and pleasing to the eye.
A few days before the start of the Belgian presidency, on 1 July 2010, there is mainly basic material to test on, so user experiences will mainly have to be deferred.
A few impressions, though.
If you look, you are able to locate the 18 month programme and the Belgian six month programme.
In my opinion, the Swedish presidency had the best website to date, and they started to interact with users of social media and to monitor blogs. How about the Belgian presidency?
There is not much in the line of interactivity. A poll deep down on the front page asks:
Did you know that Belgium was to take upon the rotating Presidency of the EU on the 1st of July?
I would not expect people to find the Belgian presidency pages without knowing what to look for, but potentially the polls can be used for less inane purposes.
It may be that I lack technical savvy, but I do not know why the EU institutions and presidencies insist on speaking about feed burners but fail to clearly tell us the actual feed URLs, especially ones that actually work.
Test for instance:
http://www.eutrio.be/media/feed ?
http://www.eutrio.be/rss ?
After a process of trial and error, I was finally able to find a feed for my blog.
Somewhere there was an oblique promise of a blog to come (with the potential for interactive use), but I failed to locate it when I visited the website again.
The page on Logo and guidelines fails to make a distinction between official use and use by others of different graphic designs, without wading through a detailed graphic charter or asking for permission.
I would imagine that the Belgian government (if there is one) would be pleased to see its banner all over the place, but public institutions almost always seem to be obsessed by potential abuse and to end up with less than clear and inviting policies.
Is a newspaper or a blogger allowed to use the banner (and other material) freely?
It would be simple to give a clear answer up front, without sending people off to chase wild geese. Now the difference between official and other use is quite unclear.
Only the coming six months will tell if the quality of information is going to improve under the Belgian presidency, after the obvious lapse during the Spanish semester.
I hope that Julien Frisch, Lacomeuropeenne and others more expert in web communications than I, offer their views and user experiences of the Belgian presidency pages. There are still six months to make improvements, if there is a need.
Naturally, it would also require the right kind of attitude.
Ralf Grahn
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Reding and Malmström: Urgent & complete redesign of EU Commission website needed
When the new Barroso II Commission finally is allowed to start working, at least two Commissioners face the urgent task to update the web pages and step up the communication effort of their services. They are Viviane Reding (Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship) and Cecilia Malmström (Home Affairs).
For some inexplicable reason, we have seen that the current Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security would remain intact, although the European Union is getting a “justice minister” and an “interior minister”.
If true, this means that the two Commissioners will have to agree on the steps to take, but one thing is crystal clear. In these policy areas with a direct impact on EU citizens, something needs to be done – and quickly.
The briefest tour of the web pages of DG Justice, Freedom and Security makes it abundantly clear that the website has to be redesigned and updated. Currently this DG probably has the worst web presence among the Commission services.
If Director-General Jonathan Faull has been mentioned as the new chief of Internal Market and Services for Commissioner Michel Barnier, directing communications and web design cannot have been among the merits counted for the new job.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Cross-border communication is a necessity in the European Union and beyond, with scrutiny by active citizens. At the same time Euroblogs are an agreeable way to brush up one’s skills in foreign languages.
While resolutely outside the European Union, Norway is part of the European Economic Area (EEA). Thus, EU has profound implications for Norway, and Norwegian opinions are of European interest.
Written by Norwegian journalists, Europabloggen.no (in Norwegian) bridges the communication gap between the EU and Norway.
Europabloggen.no is listed among 522 great Euroblogs (at the latest count) on growing multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, your useful one-stop-shop for fact, opinion and gossip on European affairs, i.a. politics, more than thirty policy areas, communication, economics, finance, business, civil society and law.
If you are interested in the EU or the euroblogosphere, you can also subscribe to the RSS feed for new blog posts appearing on Bloggingportal.eu.
By the way, I also discuss European issues in Finnish on Eurooppaoikeus and in Swedish on Grahnblawg.
For some inexplicable reason, we have seen that the current Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security would remain intact, although the European Union is getting a “justice minister” and an “interior minister”.
If true, this means that the two Commissioners will have to agree on the steps to take, but one thing is crystal clear. In these policy areas with a direct impact on EU citizens, something needs to be done – and quickly.
The briefest tour of the web pages of DG Justice, Freedom and Security makes it abundantly clear that the website has to be redesigned and updated. Currently this DG probably has the worst web presence among the Commission services.
If Director-General Jonathan Faull has been mentioned as the new chief of Internal Market and Services for Commissioner Michel Barnier, directing communications and web design cannot have been among the merits counted for the new job.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Cross-border communication is a necessity in the European Union and beyond, with scrutiny by active citizens. At the same time Euroblogs are an agreeable way to brush up one’s skills in foreign languages.
While resolutely outside the European Union, Norway is part of the European Economic Area (EEA). Thus, EU has profound implications for Norway, and Norwegian opinions are of European interest.
Written by Norwegian journalists, Europabloggen.no (in Norwegian) bridges the communication gap between the EU and Norway.
Europabloggen.no is listed among 522 great Euroblogs (at the latest count) on growing multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, your useful one-stop-shop for fact, opinion and gossip on European affairs, i.a. politics, more than thirty policy areas, communication, economics, finance, business, civil society and law.
If you are interested in the EU or the euroblogosphere, you can also subscribe to the RSS feed for new blog posts appearing on Bloggingportal.eu.
By the way, I also discuss European issues in Finnish on Eurooppaoikeus and in Swedish on Grahnblawg.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Better EU communication: European Parliament
The web pages of the European Parliament are overflowing with material on the hearings of the designated members of the European Commission. Formally, the EP votes on the Commission as a body, but the hearings are conducted with the individuals chosen, and less formally the Parliament can communicate its views to Commission president José Manuel Barroso and the governments of the EU member states. If the EP decides to play hardball, it can block the whole nomination.
The web editors of the European Parliament are probably fully occupied by the multimedia circus right now, but soon enough they may be able to return to the long-term issue of the EP’s communication.
In a positive sign of the times, the web communications team of the European Parliament was allowed to launch a blog ahead of the June 2009 European elections and to experiment with other social media.
Luckily the blog Writing for (y)EU survived the elections, and it has continued to discuss the challenges of communicating Europe in 22 languages in the digital era.
The recent blog post Help! It’s a blank sheet moment... (6 January 2010) was an engaging invitation for readers to chip in with ideas for improvement of the official EP website.
A short while ago, this invitation had led to 21 comments, most of them constructive. Since the web team featured the post on the home page, it is easy to find for those who want to contribute.
Julien Frisch was the one who set the ball rolling, by publishing a post with detailed proposals on his own blog: Renewing the European Parliament website: First thoughts (8 January 2010).
There are still many “heavy users” out there, who could communicate their experiences and expectations by commenting: public officials, business interests, journalists, consultants, researchers, teachers, students etc. In addition, there are those who are experts on web communication and website design.
The Swedish website set new standards for the Council presidencies (and as such, is an example worth studying). (User-friendly communication by presidencies and the other EU institutions might set things in motion with regard to the Council proper).
European citizens now have the chance to contribute to the improvement of the website of an important EU institution, the European Parliament.
Please, do.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Regards-citoyens (in French) is a highly productive “factory” of news and analysis on EU politics and policies, with both own writing and reposted quality articles from newspapers and other blogs. Regards-citoyens is one of the more than 500 great euroblogs on steadily growing multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, a useful one-stop-shop for fact, opinion and gossip on European affairs, i.a. politics, policies, communication, economics, finance and law.
The web editors of the European Parliament are probably fully occupied by the multimedia circus right now, but soon enough they may be able to return to the long-term issue of the EP’s communication.
In a positive sign of the times, the web communications team of the European Parliament was allowed to launch a blog ahead of the June 2009 European elections and to experiment with other social media.
Luckily the blog Writing for (y)EU survived the elections, and it has continued to discuss the challenges of communicating Europe in 22 languages in the digital era.
The recent blog post Help! It’s a blank sheet moment... (6 January 2010) was an engaging invitation for readers to chip in with ideas for improvement of the official EP website.
A short while ago, this invitation had led to 21 comments, most of them constructive. Since the web team featured the post on the home page, it is easy to find for those who want to contribute.
Julien Frisch was the one who set the ball rolling, by publishing a post with detailed proposals on his own blog: Renewing the European Parliament website: First thoughts (8 January 2010).
There are still many “heavy users” out there, who could communicate their experiences and expectations by commenting: public officials, business interests, journalists, consultants, researchers, teachers, students etc. In addition, there are those who are experts on web communication and website design.
The Swedish website set new standards for the Council presidencies (and as such, is an example worth studying). (User-friendly communication by presidencies and the other EU institutions might set things in motion with regard to the Council proper).
European citizens now have the chance to contribute to the improvement of the website of an important EU institution, the European Parliament.
Please, do.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Regards-citoyens (in French) is a highly productive “factory” of news and analysis on EU politics and policies, with both own writing and reposted quality articles from newspapers and other blogs. Regards-citoyens is one of the more than 500 great euroblogs on steadily growing multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, a useful one-stop-shop for fact, opinion and gossip on European affairs, i.a. politics, policies, communication, economics, finance and law.
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Spain’s EU Council presidency website: New treaty – old communications (Updated)
After Sweden with the last presidency of the Council of the European Union, mainly under the Treaty of Nice, Spain’s presidency website – the first with the Lisbon Treaty in force from day one – paradoxically feels like a throwback to old times: European Digital Agenda in 2010 on first day of Spanish EU Council presidency (1 January 2010).
There was a summary of the Spanish work programme, but no full programme. The 18 month programme of the presidency trio Spain, Belgium and Hungary was not easy to find, and it was still presented as a draft. Links and languages did not match.
The structure of the Spanish presidency website did not make for easy, intuitive navigation. The Spanish government vaunts its European engagement, but there were no signs of interactive engagement with the citizens of the European Union.
New generation treaty – old style communications?
Yes, this is how it looks on the first two days of the Spanish presidency, but much can be improved during six months, if the will is there.
Update 2 January 2010 about 19:45 EET: I have noticed that the Spanish EU Council presidency website has drawn critical comment from at least the following eurobloggers, on different grounds: The European Citizen, Julien Frisch and Jon Worth.
Hopefully, the Spanish government takes the viewpoints seriously.
Update 4 January 2010 about 22:55 EET: Julien Frisch has been following the story, with five updates, since Mr Bean appeared on one of the webpages of the Spanish presidency. - Hopefully the Spanish government starts to take the functionality, navigability and contents of the site seriously.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Read The European Citizen and other great euroblogs listed on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, our common “village well” for fact, opinion and gossip on European affairs.
While you’re at it, why not pop over to read Grahnlaw’s sister blogs, Grahnblawg in Swedish and Eurooppaoikeus in Finnish?
There was a summary of the Spanish work programme, but no full programme. The 18 month programme of the presidency trio Spain, Belgium and Hungary was not easy to find, and it was still presented as a draft. Links and languages did not match.
The structure of the Spanish presidency website did not make for easy, intuitive navigation. The Spanish government vaunts its European engagement, but there were no signs of interactive engagement with the citizens of the European Union.
New generation treaty – old style communications?
Yes, this is how it looks on the first two days of the Spanish presidency, but much can be improved during six months, if the will is there.
Update 2 January 2010 about 19:45 EET: I have noticed that the Spanish EU Council presidency website has drawn critical comment from at least the following eurobloggers, on different grounds: The European Citizen, Julien Frisch and Jon Worth.
Hopefully, the Spanish government takes the viewpoints seriously.
Update 4 January 2010 about 22:55 EET: Julien Frisch has been following the story, with five updates, since Mr Bean appeared on one of the webpages of the Spanish presidency. - Hopefully the Spanish government starts to take the functionality, navigability and contents of the site seriously.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Read The European Citizen and other great euroblogs listed on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, our common “village well” for fact, opinion and gossip on European affairs.
While you’re at it, why not pop over to read Grahnlaw’s sister blogs, Grahnblawg in Swedish and Eurooppaoikeus in Finnish?
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Information about EU Council: Swedish Presidency and first aid
For the intrepid ones, who want to follow the work of the Council of the European Union, the Swedish Council Presidency offers the best website to date, and you can sign up for a continuing stream of news. The web pages are available in English, French and Swedish.
***
Council website
Presidencies come and go, but the Council remains. Long before the number of official languages rose to 23, the Council and the Court of Justice turned to an additional one to name their websites: Latin.
Thus, the web portal of the Council is Consilium and the homepage of the Court is called Curia.
The Council’s homepage is loaded with the latest news, such as conclusions by the Council configurations, but it also offers a number of thematic links or shortcuts to various policy areas.
Even if the Council produces about a hundred documents a day, one gets the feeling that final decisions are the strong point – after the fact.
The processes and real debates within the Council remain opaque, so it remains like a darkroom of old times. You find the Commission proposal, if there is one, and you see the final result, but despite deliberation in public the forces at work are hidden from public view, or they require dedicated research.
***
First aid
Officially, the Council of the European Union is dedicated to openness.
As a first aid to students and others, who want to find documents or other information, the Council has published a leaflet with systematic information:
How to get information on the activities of the Council of the European Union (latest update January 2009).
The useful brochure offers brief information and links to the Council’s website, public deliberations and debates, news, access to public documents, enquiries about the Council and visits to the Council.
Ralf Grahn
***
Council website
Presidencies come and go, but the Council remains. Long before the number of official languages rose to 23, the Council and the Court of Justice turned to an additional one to name their websites: Latin.
Thus, the web portal of the Council is Consilium and the homepage of the Court is called Curia.
The Council’s homepage is loaded with the latest news, such as conclusions by the Council configurations, but it also offers a number of thematic links or shortcuts to various policy areas.
Even if the Council produces about a hundred documents a day, one gets the feeling that final decisions are the strong point – after the fact.
The processes and real debates within the Council remain opaque, so it remains like a darkroom of old times. You find the Commission proposal, if there is one, and you see the final result, but despite deliberation in public the forces at work are hidden from public view, or they require dedicated research.
***
First aid
Officially, the Council of the European Union is dedicated to openness.
As a first aid to students and others, who want to find documents or other information, the Council has published a leaflet with systematic information:
How to get information on the activities of the Council of the European Union (latest update January 2009).
The useful brochure offers brief information and links to the Council’s website, public deliberations and debates, news, access to public documents, enquiries about the Council and visits to the Council.
Ralf Grahn
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