The Council of Europe (CoE) has published a small and convenient booklet with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as amended by the provisions of Protocol No. 14 which entered into force on 1 June 2010.
The Online Bookshop of the Council of Europe offers the new publication in English or French, but in each case it looks as if you have to order a set of five books (of 61 pages).
In Strasbourg the euro is strong, relatively speaking, since you get your five A6 sized booklets for EUR 5 (plus handling and postage), but the user of greenbacks has to fork out USD 10 for the same lot.
Given the smaller margins in forex markets generally, does anyone sniff opportunities for arbitrage?
The pocket-sized hard copy is easy to carry along and for quick reference, but you can still access more detailed information online for free at the CoE Treaty Office, which offers the text of all Council of Europe treaties, their explanatory reports, the status of signatures and ratifications, the declarations and reservations made by States, as well as the notifications issued by the Treaty Office since 2005.
Here you can access the text of the updated Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the official name; CETS No. 005), as well as additional information.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. The Grahnlaw blog invites comments relevant to the topics discussed, but the number and the variety of spam comments seems to be increasing steadily. This is the sad reason for comment moderation, so it may take a while before your pertinent comment appears.
It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Saturday, 14 August 2010
EU Commission President: Campaign for a PES-PSE Primary growing by the day
Social media are a wonderful thing. Online you can make contacts and campaign for good causes across borders, such as the Campaign for a PES Primary we looked at yesterday. Check for updates on the active blog, which gets today’s #bkaeb recommendation (the Twitter tag for Better Know A EuroBlog, a #FF or #followfriday for Euroblogs).
In less than 24 hours the online media campaign on Facebook has grown by 60 persons (from 590 to 650). I hope that all members of the social democratic, socialist and labour parties in Europe, especially the activists of the Party of European Socialists (PES; Parti socialiste européen, PSE), join the demand to hold primary elections, involving PES party members across Europe, to select their candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission.
Naturally, I am going to be even more impressed if the PES-PSE shows the way, although as an independent citizen of the EU and Finland I am not included in the target group - party members – but see the campaign in the wider context of developing European level representative democracy.
Since PES-PSE activists were the first off the blocks, my thoughts turn to people active in other constructive national political parties and Europarties. Are they ready to take up the challenge in their own political party at European level, and do they have enough drive to make their Europarty commit to democratic primaries ahead of the European Parliament election in 2014?
There are two parts to the challenge. First of all, each Europarty should clearly and visibly field its candidate for the presidency of the European Commission ahead of the European Parliament election in 2014. Second, the nomination of the candidate should be decided through a democratic primary election in each political party.
A President of the European Commission with a stronger mandate from voters is not enough to turn the European Union into a parliamentary democracy, and it would not by itself institute politically accountable government at EU level, but it is a step in the right direction, well worth campaigning for and deciding on.
In the Euroblogosphere, Jon Worth and The European Citizen wrote about the campaign for a PES primary before the first entry appeared here on Grahnlaw. Follow the stream of new posts on Bloggingportal.eu to see when other Euroblogs take up the challenge by spreading the word.
The European public online space keeps growing. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu now aggregates the posts of 648 blogs related to EU affairs (Euroblogs).
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
In less than 24 hours the online media campaign on Facebook has grown by 60 persons (from 590 to 650). I hope that all members of the social democratic, socialist and labour parties in Europe, especially the activists of the Party of European Socialists (PES; Parti socialiste européen, PSE), join the demand to hold primary elections, involving PES party members across Europe, to select their candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission.
Naturally, I am going to be even more impressed if the PES-PSE shows the way, although as an independent citizen of the EU and Finland I am not included in the target group - party members – but see the campaign in the wider context of developing European level representative democracy.
Since PES-PSE activists were the first off the blocks, my thoughts turn to people active in other constructive national political parties and Europarties. Are they ready to take up the challenge in their own political party at European level, and do they have enough drive to make their Europarty commit to democratic primaries ahead of the European Parliament election in 2014?
There are two parts to the challenge. First of all, each Europarty should clearly and visibly field its candidate for the presidency of the European Commission ahead of the European Parliament election in 2014. Second, the nomination of the candidate should be decided through a democratic primary election in each political party.
A President of the European Commission with a stronger mandate from voters is not enough to turn the European Union into a parliamentary democracy, and it would not by itself institute politically accountable government at EU level, but it is a step in the right direction, well worth campaigning for and deciding on.
In the Euroblogosphere, Jon Worth and The European Citizen wrote about the campaign for a PES primary before the first entry appeared here on Grahnlaw. Follow the stream of new posts on Bloggingportal.eu to see when other Euroblogs take up the challenge by spreading the word.
The European public online space keeps growing. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu now aggregates the posts of 648 blogs related to EU affairs (Euroblogs).
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Friday, 13 August 2010
Europarties: Yes to primaries for EU Commission President 2014
Conor Slowey (Eurocentric) drew my attention to the campaign for the Party of European Socialists (PES), to which he dedicated a thoughtful post on The European Citizen blog: PES primaries and a Parliamentary EU.
This made me reread the blog entry by Jon Worth as well: Campaigning for a PES primary.
This time around, I went a little bit further. I checked the Campaign for a PES Primary website, launched by Desmond O’Toole, as well as the Facebook campaign page.
A short while ago, the Facebook Campaign for a PES Primary group had already gathered 590 members, among them a number of top Eurobloggers and citizens keen to build a more democratic European Union, such as Jon Worth, Valéry-Xavier Lentz, Laurence Modrego, Martin T. Teubner and Conor Slowey.
The campaigners make the following demands:
I hope that all the activists of PES and members of the national social democratic and socialist parties join the Facebook group, and that the campaign is successful.
However, the party loyalists who framed the call limited the scope to members (“our party”).
As an independent outsider I hope that all constructive Europarties field candidates for the presidency of the European Commission ahead of the European Parliament election in 2014, and that they nominate their candidate through primaries.
I still value my independence to treat the political parties without second thoughts, while waiting for one Europarty (and its political foundation) to show enough leadership in EU affairs and interaction with citizens.
Although I do nothing to hide my belief in the need for a democratic and federal European Union, as a lawyer I serve entrepreneurs and individuals of all persuasions, so a party political label is not necessarily on the top of my personal agenda.
The invitation to join the campaign was one of my first experiences on Facebook, where I have taken my first tentative steps, having participated actively on Twitter for a few months before that.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
This made me reread the blog entry by Jon Worth as well: Campaigning for a PES primary.
This time around, I went a little bit further. I checked the Campaign for a PES Primary website, launched by Desmond O’Toole, as well as the Facebook campaign page.
A short while ago, the Facebook Campaign for a PES Primary group had already gathered 590 members, among them a number of top Eurobloggers and citizens keen to build a more democratic European Union, such as Jon Worth, Valéry-Xavier Lentz, Laurence Modrego, Martin T. Teubner and Conor Slowey.
The campaigners make the following demands:
WE want to be involved in selecting the candidate who will lead our party in 2014.
WE want to make European democracy a reality for ordinary citizens.
WE demand the holding of primary elections, involving PES party members across Europe, to select our candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission.
I hope that all the activists of PES and members of the national social democratic and socialist parties join the Facebook group, and that the campaign is successful.
However, the party loyalists who framed the call limited the scope to members (“our party”).
As an independent outsider I hope that all constructive Europarties field candidates for the presidency of the European Commission ahead of the European Parliament election in 2014, and that they nominate their candidate through primaries.
I still value my independence to treat the political parties without second thoughts, while waiting for one Europarty (and its political foundation) to show enough leadership in EU affairs and interaction with citizens.
Although I do nothing to hide my belief in the need for a democratic and federal European Union, as a lawyer I serve entrepreneurs and individuals of all persuasions, so a party political label is not necessarily on the top of my personal agenda.
The invitation to join the campaign was one of my first experiences on Facebook, where I have taken my first tentative steps, having participated actively on Twitter for a few months before that.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Thursday, 12 August 2010
EU tax: Discussing a part of a fraction of public spending
Total government expenditure in EU-27 during 2011 is forecast at 50.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the publication Public Finances in EMU 2010 (European economy 4/2010).
The draft budget of the European Union for 2011 (DB) corresponds to 1.14 per cent of EU gross national income (GNI), which amounts to EUR 142.6 billion in commitment appropriations.
Very roughly, the EU’s public spending is one 44th part of total public spending in the European Union.
Federal government spending in the United States of America is estimated to be 25.06 per cent of GDP in the financial year 2011.
The cumulative sum of European Union spending is important, but only a tiny fraction of what the US government spends as a proportion of wealth creation.
Still, some people are deluded enough to believe that they live in a centralised European super-state.
Before we see the concrete options, we can only guess that the coming proposal on an EU tax would concern only a part of the minuscule proportion of total public spending the European Union budget stands for in Europe.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
The draft budget of the European Union for 2011 (DB) corresponds to 1.14 per cent of EU gross national income (GNI), which amounts to EUR 142.6 billion in commitment appropriations.
Very roughly, the EU’s public spending is one 44th part of total public spending in the European Union.
Federal government spending in the United States of America is estimated to be 25.06 per cent of GDP in the financial year 2011.
The cumulative sum of European Union spending is important, but only a tiny fraction of what the US government spends as a proportion of wealth creation.
Still, some people are deluded enough to believe that they live in a centralised European super-state.
Before we see the concrete options, we can only guess that the coming proposal on an EU tax would concern only a part of the minuscule proportion of total public spending the European Union budget stands for in Europe.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
EU tax: Euroblog discussion on Bloggingportal.eu
One of the few silly season issues to make waves during summer recess in Brussels has been the preliminary announcement by the EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski that he will present a few options for an EU tax in September, as reported by Financial Times Deutschland on 9 August 2010 (in German).
For the benefit of those who read English, EUobserver ran a story two days later, where Lewandowski defended the idea of shifting the burden from the budgets of the member states to revenue financed by Europeans more directly (although it would most probably be an indirect tax).
Incidentally, I found no official information on the web pages of Commissioner Lewandowski or the DG Budget or the pages of Financial Programming and Budget, which gives the discussion something of a silly season flavour, at this stage.
Some member state governments and lobby groups wanted to score immediate points by rejecting any proposals out of hand, before seeing the details and arguments.
Despite the predictable gut reactions from the usual suspects, there have also been more measured responses among Euroblogs. A fair sample of blog posts is available under the topics tag Taxation and Customs, and newer, still untagged posts are aggregated in the stream of all posts on Bloggingportal.eu.
In the short term, discussing a European Union tax may be as futile as defence pleading before the French Revolutionary Tribunal during the reign of terror, but EU level taxation touches upon a number of fundamental issues of European integration, ultimately relevant to the security and prosperity of EU citizens.
In some cases aspects have been deliberately or unwittingly distorted by media and citizens, so there is also cause to correct a few misunderstandings.
Let the EU tax discussion continue in order to clarify matters.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
For the benefit of those who read English, EUobserver ran a story two days later, where Lewandowski defended the idea of shifting the burden from the budgets of the member states to revenue financed by Europeans more directly (although it would most probably be an indirect tax).
Incidentally, I found no official information on the web pages of Commissioner Lewandowski or the DG Budget or the pages of Financial Programming and Budget, which gives the discussion something of a silly season flavour, at this stage.
Some member state governments and lobby groups wanted to score immediate points by rejecting any proposals out of hand, before seeing the details and arguments.
Despite the predictable gut reactions from the usual suspects, there have also been more measured responses among Euroblogs. A fair sample of blog posts is available under the topics tag Taxation and Customs, and newer, still untagged posts are aggregated in the stream of all posts on Bloggingportal.eu.
In the short term, discussing a European Union tax may be as futile as defence pleading before the French Revolutionary Tribunal during the reign of terror, but EU level taxation touches upon a number of fundamental issues of European integration, ultimately relevant to the security and prosperity of EU citizens.
In some cases aspects have been deliberately or unwittingly distorted by media and citizens, so there is also cause to correct a few misunderstandings.
Let the EU tax discussion continue in order to clarify matters.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Woebegone: Torpor in Minnesota and silly season in Brussels
It has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, is the standard opening of Garrison Keillor reporting on events in this fictional town in Minnesota, USA. The radio show A Prairie Home Companion is heard on public radio stations in the United States and known to Europeans through reemissions of National Public Radio (NPR) programmes and by national radio stations. (In Finland, you can listen to News from Lake Wobegon on YLE Mondo through national cable TV radio, or locally on FM in Helsinki.)
The probably best known Garrison Keillor quote wraps up his “home town” nicely: Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.
Garrison Keillor’s philosophical chats are also available in print.
If it can always be silly season in Lake Wobegon, with a population of about 1,000, it is astounding that “Brussels”, the de facto capital of the European Union (population about 501,000,000), still takes the plunge into summer recess so seriously, as if the world stopped rotating for a month for the convenience of people working in the EU institutions: See upcoming events on European Agenda and EU Calendar.
With slightly different spelling: woebegone.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
The probably best known Garrison Keillor quote wraps up his “home town” nicely: Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.
Garrison Keillor’s philosophical chats are also available in print.
If it can always be silly season in Lake Wobegon, with a population of about 1,000, it is astounding that “Brussels”, the de facto capital of the European Union (population about 501,000,000), still takes the plunge into summer recess so seriously, as if the world stopped rotating for a month for the convenience of people working in the EU institutions: See upcoming events on European Agenda and EU Calendar.
With slightly different spelling: woebegone.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Monday, 9 August 2010
Blogging among the Euro-Taliban: Talking about the EU (Twitter tag #bkaeb)
It is like campaigning in Helmand province or other parts of Afghanistan with a heavy Taliban presence. There is still a considerable groundswell of traditionalist support for fundamentalist media “madrassa teachers” and insurgent political “warlords”, despite the efforts to win the hearts and minds of the population since deployment in membership conditions since 1973. Successive national governments have been unwilling or unable to make a convincing enough case for more constructive engagement.
According to the latest Angus Reid poll, 79 per cent of the British population is against adopting the common EU currency, 42 per cent would want to pull out of the European Union (with only 35 per cent wanting the UK to remain inside) and 51 per cent evaluate Britain’s membership negatively (with only 38 per cent holding a positive view).
Talking about the EU (Euonym)
Among the hostile natives, Antonia Mochan does her day job as Head of Media at the European Commission’s London office. One part of her action is her Euonym blog Talking about the EU.
The Euroblog Waltzing Matilda published an interview with Antonia Mochan, where she tells how the UK Representation “goes local” with social media.
Antonia’s (Euonym’s) latest blog post on Talking about the EU is a roundup called Links 3 August 2010.
#bkaeb Twitter tag
The Twitter tag #bkaeb stands for Better Know A EuroBlog, and it is meant for blog posts recommending a certain Euroblog to potential readers. The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) for blogs related to EU affairs.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the real world and the online world do not aestivate (pass the summer in a state of torpor). For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week (stream of new posts). In addition to the objective criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow (a developing list).
On Bloggingportal.eu, Talking about the EU is listed in the category Commissioners. It has published one entry (mentioned above) during the last seven days.
The public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels has listed Talking about the EU in the more exact category of EU officials.
The #bkaeb medal recognises the valour of Talking about the EU under “enemy fire” and it is intended as an inspiration for continued Euroblogging.
Table607
Women who combine techie stuff and EU issues gather at the EU girl geeks’ Table607, where you find some of the active female Eurobloggers, including Euonym’s blog or Talking about the EU.
Table607 has a Contact page for female Eurobloggers who may want to join.
Bloggingportal.eu
By the way, Bloggingportal.eu has grown to 645 listed Euroblogs, offering increasing scope for interaction between blogs related to EU affairs. The Posts button gives you access to all the blog entries as they are aggregated during the day (and you can subscribe to the all posts stream).
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
According to the latest Angus Reid poll, 79 per cent of the British population is against adopting the common EU currency, 42 per cent would want to pull out of the European Union (with only 35 per cent wanting the UK to remain inside) and 51 per cent evaluate Britain’s membership negatively (with only 38 per cent holding a positive view).
Talking about the EU (Euonym)
Among the hostile natives, Antonia Mochan does her day job as Head of Media at the European Commission’s London office. One part of her action is her Euonym blog Talking about the EU.
The Euroblog Waltzing Matilda published an interview with Antonia Mochan, where she tells how the UK Representation “goes local” with social media.
Antonia’s (Euonym’s) latest blog post on Talking about the EU is a roundup called Links 3 August 2010.
#bkaeb Twitter tag
The Twitter tag #bkaeb stands for Better Know A EuroBlog, and it is meant for blog posts recommending a certain Euroblog to potential readers. The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) for blogs related to EU affairs.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the real world and the online world do not aestivate (pass the summer in a state of torpor). For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week (stream of new posts). In addition to the objective criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow (a developing list).
On Bloggingportal.eu, Talking about the EU is listed in the category Commissioners. It has published one entry (mentioned above) during the last seven days.
The public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels has listed Talking about the EU in the more exact category of EU officials.
The #bkaeb medal recognises the valour of Talking about the EU under “enemy fire” and it is intended as an inspiration for continued Euroblogging.
Table607
Women who combine techie stuff and EU issues gather at the EU girl geeks’ Table607, where you find some of the active female Eurobloggers, including Euonym’s blog or Talking about the EU.
Table607 has a Contact page for female Eurobloggers who may want to join.
Bloggingportal.eu
By the way, Bloggingportal.eu has grown to 645 listed Euroblogs, offering increasing scope for interaction between blogs related to EU affairs. The Posts button gives you access to all the blog entries as they are aggregated during the day (and you can subscribe to the all posts stream).
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we could and should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Euroblog interaction: Communities (Twitter tag #bkaeb)
Sorry for this post from the "field" without links, but here are a few thoughts about some of the important players in the Euroblogosphere: the communities.
The Taurillon family (discussed in detail in the previous post), Eurotribune, Cafe Babel and a few new (and potential) entrants do a fine job of communicating European issues, and they seem to work well enough as communities (between members).
It would be a nice addition to see them engage more with other Euroblogs, through commenting, linking, promoting etc.
The #bkaeb Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge is one opportunity to start engaging more between communities, hopefully on a permanent basis.
Ralf Grahn
The Taurillon family (discussed in detail in the previous post), Eurotribune, Cafe Babel and a few new (and potential) entrants do a fine job of communicating European issues, and they seem to work well enough as communities (between members).
It would be a nice addition to see them engage more with other Euroblogs, through commenting, linking, promoting etc.
The #bkaeb Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge is one opportunity to start engaging more between communities, hopefully on a permanent basis.
Ralf Grahn
Friday, 6 August 2010
Euroblog: The Taurillon family resurrected (Twitter tag #bkaeb)
About a week ago I wondered where Le Taurillon and its sibling publications had disappeared without any notice I had seen. The blog post did not draw any official response from the editors, who may think that actions speak louder than words.
Without further discussion about the art of public relations, let us rejoice that Le Taurillon, magazine eurocitoyen, has made its (equally unexplained, it seems) reappearance, and that subscribers are receiving new articles.
We notice the “black hole” clearly, and the ezines have mainly filled gaps left during the offline period, but it is a good start.
Earlier I made the mistake to speak about sister publications, but some of the names are quite bullish, so let us switch to the gender neutral “sibling”.
In the Greek myth, Europa was very much a woman, who was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull.
Le Taurillon
Le Taurillon is the French version, and it seems to be the hub of the publishing activities.
Sébastien Antoine has written latest articles published, about the role of European mega-cities and EU urban policies in the era of globalisation: La région métropolitéenne européenne : quelle cohésion dans quelle globalisation ? 1/2 and 2/2.
Pierre Bonifassi argues how the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recognises the Kosovo declaration of independence, but the political dependence of Kosovo remains.
Bonifassi’s blog post was published 4 August 2010, but the offline period due to technical problems means that we have to go back to 8 July to find the previous entry, an interview with Catherine Soullie MEP on EU security and defence policies.
The New Federalist
The New Federalist (Webzine of the Young European Federalists) has returned online with an English translation of an article where Pascal Malosse argues for a European response to the German decision to ban bare sales.
In the previous entry, published about two weeks earlier, Malossi argued why the European Council conclusions of 17 June 2010 on economic governance were a disappointment.
Eurobull
The Italian version is called Eurobull (La rivista che fa luce sull’Europa). It has made its comeback with a post written during the football World Cup. Giorgio Anselmi gave reasons for optimism with regard to European soccer teams and the future of European political integration.
For the previous entry we have to go back to 14 July 2010, when Federica Martiny called for a democratic European Union, in the footsteps of Altiero Spinelli and the Crocodile Club.
Treffpunkt Europa
The German version is called Treffpunkt Europa. On the Taurillon website you can access articles published until 16 July 2010, although a spate of them just appeared in my reader.
However, the new Treffpunkt Europa website I mentioned earlier seems to have disappeared, including the posts published there. Perhaps some PR minded soul could clarify(?)
Young European Federalists (JEF)
Le Taurillon, The New Federalist, Eurobull and Treffpunkt Europa have more in common than a website, namely the JEF.
There is a short Wikipedia entry on the Young European Federalists (JEF, French Jeunes Européens fédéralistes, German Junge Europäische Föderalisten, Italian Gioventù Federalista Europea, Czech Mladí evropští federalisté etc.), the umbrella organisation of 35 national sections.
The different language versions of the ezine are similar, but not identical. Young writers publish an article (in their own language), and volunteer translators help to spread the contents to one or more of the other language versions.
Thus, Le Taurillon and its siblings form a collective or network, which manages to cross linguistic and national borders. They are an important part of the emerging online European public space, with discussion ranging from the fundamentals of European integration to quite technical posts on diverse EU policy issues.
#bkaeb Twitter tag
The Twitter tag #bkaeb stands for Better Know A EuroBlog, and it is meant for blog posts recommending a certain Euroblog to potential readers. The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) for blogs related to EU affairs.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the real world and the online world do not aestivate (pass the summer in a state of torpor). For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week (stream of new posts). In addition to the objective criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow (a changing list).
On Bloggingportal.eu, Le Taurillon (multilingual, although listed only as French) and The New Federalist (multilingual, although listed only as English) are listed in the category Civil society / NGOs. They are recorded as having published four entries each during the last seven days, but in fact they are the same posts (the same multilingual stream).
Bloggingportal.eu readers voted for their favourite Euroblogs during the “time of troubles” over at Le Taurillon (The New Federalist and Eurobull), so the only active blog in the network was Treffpunkt Europa with two substantive articles and two technical announcements to its immediate credit. As the only available representative of the herd of young bulls, Treffpunkt Europa was voted the second most popular Euroblog among the thirty nominations.
The French and the German versions are listed on the Collective page of the Netvibes collection of Euroblogs made by the public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels. However, at this moment both links lead to the same Le Taurillon page in French, where the English, German and Italian versions are a further click away.
In my subjective view, the Taurillon family would rank among the top ten (must read) Euroblogs (although you can discuss different types of online or social media: blogs, ezines, emagazines...).
The Taurillon family is well worth the #bkaeb seal of approval, intended to serve as a recognition and an inspiration. Hopefully getting back into full production mode after the offline spell, the JEF volunteers produce quality writing giving valuable input on various aspects of European integration and EU policies. The translators help to produce localised content on common European themes, contributing to the online public space in four major European languages: English, French, German and Italian.
Only the JEF 35 years age limit prevents the Taurillon group from being the pan-European blog some have called for, if it does not require a firm anti-federalist component.
The Taurillon family and other Euroblogs offer an enjoyable way to learn foreign languages while getting to know more about issues important for our common future.
Welcome back online!
I wish Le Taurillon, The New Federalist, Eurobull and Treffpunkt Europa the best for the future.
By the way, Bloggingportal.eu has grown to 642 Euroblogs listed.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Without further discussion about the art of public relations, let us rejoice that Le Taurillon, magazine eurocitoyen, has made its (equally unexplained, it seems) reappearance, and that subscribers are receiving new articles.
We notice the “black hole” clearly, and the ezines have mainly filled gaps left during the offline period, but it is a good start.
Earlier I made the mistake to speak about sister publications, but some of the names are quite bullish, so let us switch to the gender neutral “sibling”.
In the Greek myth, Europa was very much a woman, who was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull.
Le Taurillon
Le Taurillon is the French version, and it seems to be the hub of the publishing activities.
Sébastien Antoine has written latest articles published, about the role of European mega-cities and EU urban policies in the era of globalisation: La région métropolitéenne européenne : quelle cohésion dans quelle globalisation ? 1/2 and 2/2.
Pierre Bonifassi argues how the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recognises the Kosovo declaration of independence, but the political dependence of Kosovo remains.
Bonifassi’s blog post was published 4 August 2010, but the offline period due to technical problems means that we have to go back to 8 July to find the previous entry, an interview with Catherine Soullie MEP on EU security and defence policies.
The New Federalist
The New Federalist (Webzine of the Young European Federalists) has returned online with an English translation of an article where Pascal Malosse argues for a European response to the German decision to ban bare sales.
In the previous entry, published about two weeks earlier, Malossi argued why the European Council conclusions of 17 June 2010 on economic governance were a disappointment.
Eurobull
The Italian version is called Eurobull (La rivista che fa luce sull’Europa). It has made its comeback with a post written during the football World Cup. Giorgio Anselmi gave reasons for optimism with regard to European soccer teams and the future of European political integration.
For the previous entry we have to go back to 14 July 2010, when Federica Martiny called for a democratic European Union, in the footsteps of Altiero Spinelli and the Crocodile Club.
Treffpunkt Europa
The German version is called Treffpunkt Europa. On the Taurillon website you can access articles published until 16 July 2010, although a spate of them just appeared in my reader.
However, the new Treffpunkt Europa website I mentioned earlier seems to have disappeared, including the posts published there. Perhaps some PR minded soul could clarify(?)
Young European Federalists (JEF)
Le Taurillon, The New Federalist, Eurobull and Treffpunkt Europa have more in common than a website, namely the JEF.
There is a short Wikipedia entry on the Young European Federalists (JEF, French Jeunes Européens fédéralistes, German Junge Europäische Föderalisten, Italian Gioventù Federalista Europea, Czech Mladí evropští federalisté etc.), the umbrella organisation of 35 national sections.
The different language versions of the ezine are similar, but not identical. Young writers publish an article (in their own language), and volunteer translators help to spread the contents to one or more of the other language versions.
Thus, Le Taurillon and its siblings form a collective or network, which manages to cross linguistic and national borders. They are an important part of the emerging online European public space, with discussion ranging from the fundamentals of European integration to quite technical posts on diverse EU policy issues.
#bkaeb Twitter tag
The Twitter tag #bkaeb stands for Better Know A EuroBlog, and it is meant for blog posts recommending a certain Euroblog to potential readers. The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) for blogs related to EU affairs.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the real world and the online world do not aestivate (pass the summer in a state of torpor). For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week (stream of new posts). In addition to the objective criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow (a changing list).
On Bloggingportal.eu, Le Taurillon (multilingual, although listed only as French) and The New Federalist (multilingual, although listed only as English) are listed in the category Civil society / NGOs. They are recorded as having published four entries each during the last seven days, but in fact they are the same posts (the same multilingual stream).
Bloggingportal.eu readers voted for their favourite Euroblogs during the “time of troubles” over at Le Taurillon (The New Federalist and Eurobull), so the only active blog in the network was Treffpunkt Europa with two substantive articles and two technical announcements to its immediate credit. As the only available representative of the herd of young bulls, Treffpunkt Europa was voted the second most popular Euroblog among the thirty nominations.
The French and the German versions are listed on the Collective page of the Netvibes collection of Euroblogs made by the public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels. However, at this moment both links lead to the same Le Taurillon page in French, where the English, German and Italian versions are a further click away.
In my subjective view, the Taurillon family would rank among the top ten (must read) Euroblogs (although you can discuss different types of online or social media: blogs, ezines, emagazines...).
The Taurillon family is well worth the #bkaeb seal of approval, intended to serve as a recognition and an inspiration. Hopefully getting back into full production mode after the offline spell, the JEF volunteers produce quality writing giving valuable input on various aspects of European integration and EU policies. The translators help to produce localised content on common European themes, contributing to the online public space in four major European languages: English, French, German and Italian.
Only the JEF 35 years age limit prevents the Taurillon group from being the pan-European blog some have called for, if it does not require a firm anti-federalist component.
The Taurillon family and other Euroblogs offer an enjoyable way to learn foreign languages while getting to know more about issues important for our common future.
Welcome back online!
I wish Le Taurillon, The New Federalist, Eurobull and Treffpunkt Europa the best for the future.
By the way, Bloggingportal.eu has grown to 642 Euroblogs listed.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Euroblog: Franco-German EU girl geeks - vasistas? (Twitter tag #bkaeb)
Long before the world of online media or social media, in La Débâcle (The Downfall), the novelist Émile Zola described the ravages of war from the perspective of ordinary people, even if he hoped that a new France could be raised from the ashes.
Sadly, the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-71, leading to the downfall of the Second Empire in France and the proclamation of the German Empire, was not to be the last devastating conflict between these two great European nations.
After the Second World War the relations between France and Germany have developed on twin tracks: European integration starting with the Schuman declaration (1950) and bilateral cooperation based on the Elysée Treaty (1963).
vasistas? blog
„Das französisch-deutsche Weblog – Le blog franco-allemand“ (The Franco-German blog) is how vasistas? describes itself on the front page. The About page offers us a bilingual description of the themes of vasistas?, such as digital rights, the European Union, human rights, as well as politics and society in the digital age.
vasistas? publishes frequently in German or French (with a smattering of English).
27C3: We come in peace (in German) spreads the word about the next Chaos Computer Congress, on 27 to 30 December 2010 in Berlin. The French version of 27C3: We come in peace is the latest blog entry in that language.
Überarbeitung der EU-Datenschutzrichtlinie nicht vor 2011 tells us that the formal Commission proposal to reform the Data Protection Directive 1995/46 will be postponed to the latter half of 2011.
Instrumente der Europäischen Union zum Datenmanagement offers a German version of the Commission’s press release about EU information management instruments, with a summary of instruments regulating the collection, storage or cross-border exchange of personal data for the purpose of law enforcement or migration management.
#bkaeb Twitter tag
The Twitter tag #bkaeb, which stands for Better Know A EuroBlog, is meant for blog posts recommending a certain Euroblog to potential readers. The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) for blogs related to EU affairs.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the online world does not aestivate. For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week. In addition to the objective criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow.
On Bloggingportal.eu vasistas?, a team of two, has been placed in the category Individuals, and it has published five entries during the last seven days.
The authors, who present themselves only as kirsten and marine, produce one of the hidden treasures of the Euroblogosphere. The #bkaeb recommendation is meant to draw attention of readers to a good Euroblog and to inspire its writers.
The vasistas? entries about data protection and challenges in the digital era deal with issues important for individuals and organisations alike. There are many bridges to build in the Euroblogosphere, and vasistas? does its part in the construction work, between two important linguistic communities.
Women who combine techie stuff and EU issues gather at the EU girl geeks’ Table607, where you find some of the active female Eurobloggers, including the authors of vasistas?
Are you a female Euroblogger? Perhaps you should join? Table607 has a Contact page for you.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Sadly, the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-71, leading to the downfall of the Second Empire in France and the proclamation of the German Empire, was not to be the last devastating conflict between these two great European nations.
After the Second World War the relations between France and Germany have developed on twin tracks: European integration starting with the Schuman declaration (1950) and bilateral cooperation based on the Elysée Treaty (1963).
vasistas? blog
„Das französisch-deutsche Weblog – Le blog franco-allemand“ (The Franco-German blog) is how vasistas? describes itself on the front page. The About page offers us a bilingual description of the themes of vasistas?, such as digital rights, the European Union, human rights, as well as politics and society in the digital age.
vasistas? publishes frequently in German or French (with a smattering of English).
27C3: We come in peace (in German) spreads the word about the next Chaos Computer Congress, on 27 to 30 December 2010 in Berlin. The French version of 27C3: We come in peace is the latest blog entry in that language.
Überarbeitung der EU-Datenschutzrichtlinie nicht vor 2011 tells us that the formal Commission proposal to reform the Data Protection Directive 1995/46 will be postponed to the latter half of 2011.
Instrumente der Europäischen Union zum Datenmanagement offers a German version of the Commission’s press release about EU information management instruments, with a summary of instruments regulating the collection, storage or cross-border exchange of personal data for the purpose of law enforcement or migration management.
#bkaeb Twitter tag
The Twitter tag #bkaeb, which stands for Better Know A EuroBlog, is meant for blog posts recommending a certain Euroblog to potential readers. The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) for blogs related to EU affairs.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the online world does not aestivate. For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week. In addition to the objective criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow.
On Bloggingportal.eu vasistas?, a team of two, has been placed in the category Individuals, and it has published five entries during the last seven days.
The authors, who present themselves only as kirsten and marine, produce one of the hidden treasures of the Euroblogosphere. The #bkaeb recommendation is meant to draw attention of readers to a good Euroblog and to inspire its writers.
The vasistas? entries about data protection and challenges in the digital era deal with issues important for individuals and organisations alike. There are many bridges to build in the Euroblogosphere, and vasistas? does its part in the construction work, between two important linguistic communities.
Women who combine techie stuff and EU issues gather at the EU girl geeks’ Table607, where you find some of the active female Eurobloggers, including the authors of vasistas?
Are you a female Euroblogger? Perhaps you should join? Table607 has a Contact page for you.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Great Euroblog on social media: Waltzing Matilda (Twitter tag #bkaeb)
“The views and ideas in this blog are entirely those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the European Commission”, make the blog Waltzing Matilda sound more like a promise than a threat, given the less than cuddly image of the EU institutions.
Based at the social media team of the European Commission’s DG Communication, Waltzing Matilda sets out to look at evolutions and revolutions in the social media world.
The latest post, however, makes us wonder what the future will hold: Alenka Natek reflects on the end of her traineeship.
This leaves only two team members, Bert Van Maele and Anne Christensen.
The latest Waltzing Matilda post directly related to social media was, in EU jargon, inter-institutional in character: an interview with the Web Communication Unit of the European Parliament. Their work includes several social media platforms, not forgetting the Writing for (y)EU blog we mentioned yesterday. However, their main job is to run the web pages of the EP. The interview ends with good advice for communicators in other organisations.
The war room describes how organisations need to use social media: centralise the development of core messages and decentralise the distribution to and interaction with the outside world.
In an interview with Antonia Mochan, Waltzing Matilda tells us how the European Commission’s Representation in the United Kingdom uses social media including Antonia’s blog, in order to engage directly with people. – A quote worth remembering:
#bkaeb Twitter tag
The Twitter tag #bkaeb stands for Better Know A EuroBlog, and it is meant for blog posts recommending a certain Euroblog to potential readers. The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) for blogs related to EU affairs.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the online world does not aestivate. For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week. In addition to the objective criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow.
On Bloggingportal.eu Waltzing Matilda has been placed in the category Commissioners, and it has published one entry during the last seven days.
Waltzing Matilda was one of the more popular Euroblogs among Bloggingportal.eu readers.
On the Netvibes pages of the public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels, Waltzing Matilda is listed among EU officials in the selection of Euroblogs.
Waltzing Matilda is well worth the #bkaeb seal of approval. The entries about online media are of durable interest to public and private organisations, and the blog posts are well written. If possible, the (now decimated) blog team could try to publish more frequently, possibly by recruiting new members.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Based at the social media team of the European Commission’s DG Communication, Waltzing Matilda sets out to look at evolutions and revolutions in the social media world.
The latest post, however, makes us wonder what the future will hold: Alenka Natek reflects on the end of her traineeship.
This leaves only two team members, Bert Van Maele and Anne Christensen.
The latest Waltzing Matilda post directly related to social media was, in EU jargon, inter-institutional in character: an interview with the Web Communication Unit of the European Parliament. Their work includes several social media platforms, not forgetting the Writing for (y)EU blog we mentioned yesterday. However, their main job is to run the web pages of the EP. The interview ends with good advice for communicators in other organisations.
The war room describes how organisations need to use social media: centralise the development of core messages and decentralise the distribution to and interaction with the outside world.
In an interview with Antonia Mochan, Waltzing Matilda tells us how the European Commission’s Representation in the United Kingdom uses social media including Antonia’s blog, in order to engage directly with people. – A quote worth remembering:
One should think of social media as a reception rather than a meeting.
#bkaeb Twitter tag
The Twitter tag #bkaeb stands for Better Know A EuroBlog, and it is meant for blog posts recommending a certain Euroblog to potential readers. The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) for blogs related to EU affairs.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the online world does not aestivate. For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week. In addition to the objective criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow.
On Bloggingportal.eu Waltzing Matilda has been placed in the category Commissioners, and it has published one entry during the last seven days.
Waltzing Matilda was one of the more popular Euroblogs among Bloggingportal.eu readers.
On the Netvibes pages of the public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels, Waltzing Matilda is listed among EU officials in the selection of Euroblogs.
Waltzing Matilda is well worth the #bkaeb seal of approval. The entries about online media are of durable interest to public and private organisations, and the blog posts are well written. If possible, the (now decimated) blog team could try to publish more frequently, possibly by recruiting new members.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
How to miss a Euroblog endorsement in style: Writing for (y)EU (Twitter tag #bkaeb)
The Twitter tag #bkaeb stands for Better Know A EuroBlog, and it is meant for blog posts recommending a certain Euroblog to potential readers. The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) for blogs related to EU affairs.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the online world does not aestivate. For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week. In addition to the objective Bloggingportal.eu criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow.
The criteria led to the exclusion of Writing for (y)EU, the collective blog of the web team of the European Parliament, which has not been active in almost two weeks (more than three, if you count only original writing). The archives are still worth a visit, because the entries deal with interesting online issues.
It is not exclusively my opinion that Writing for (y)EU, when active, is a star in the Euroblogosphere. It shared first place among the three most popular blogs for Bloggingportal.eu editors (with L’Europe en blogs and Grahnlaw), and it clearly won the reader poll.
Writing for (y)EU is one of the selection of top ten Euroblogs (all categories) by the public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels.
The web editors have to underline that Writing for (y)EU is NOT an official European Parliament website, and that it DOES NOT reflect in any way the position of the EP.
The web team stays well clear of political issues, but the European Parliament deserves some credit for giving the editors a long enough leash to produce an interesting blog.
If the Prague Spring was about “socialism with a human face”, Writing for (y)EU manages to make the European Parliament seem almost human. Hopefully, similar experiments are allowed to grow and prosper in other EU institutions as well, without threats of normalization.
Writing for (y)EU can draw on the talents of a multinational team, with a variety of interests. I am going to mention only two recent posts as examples.
In When Luther came to Brussels... Hanna relates the Nordic influence on the long haul to improve transparency, openness, access to documents and clarity of EU communication.
Tayebot describes the successful editorial model of the online Huffington Post, and reflects on the possible lessons for EU communications more willing to experiment.
Writing for (y)EU fails to get my #bkaeb endorsement at this point in time, but at least the blog fails in style.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Despite holiday season for the EU institutions, the online world does not aestivate. For the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I decided to endorse blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu and active during the last week. In addition to the objective Bloggingportal.eu criteria, I narrowed down the potential endorsements to Euroblogs I follow.
The criteria led to the exclusion of Writing for (y)EU, the collective blog of the web team of the European Parliament, which has not been active in almost two weeks (more than three, if you count only original writing). The archives are still worth a visit, because the entries deal with interesting online issues.
It is not exclusively my opinion that Writing for (y)EU, when active, is a star in the Euroblogosphere. It shared first place among the three most popular blogs for Bloggingportal.eu editors (with L’Europe en blogs and Grahnlaw), and it clearly won the reader poll.
Writing for (y)EU is one of the selection of top ten Euroblogs (all categories) by the public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels.
The web editors have to underline that Writing for (y)EU is NOT an official European Parliament website, and that it DOES NOT reflect in any way the position of the EP.
The web team stays well clear of political issues, but the European Parliament deserves some credit for giving the editors a long enough leash to produce an interesting blog.
If the Prague Spring was about “socialism with a human face”, Writing for (y)EU manages to make the European Parliament seem almost human. Hopefully, similar experiments are allowed to grow and prosper in other EU institutions as well, without threats of normalization.
Writing for (y)EU can draw on the talents of a multinational team, with a variety of interests. I am going to mention only two recent posts as examples.
In When Luther came to Brussels... Hanna relates the Nordic influence on the long haul to improve transparency, openness, access to documents and clarity of EU communication.
Tayebot describes the successful editorial model of the online Huffington Post, and reflects on the possible lessons for EU communications more willing to experiment.
Writing for (y)EU fails to get my #bkaeb endorsement at this point in time, but at least the blog fails in style.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Monday, 2 August 2010
WSJ blog: Real Time Brussels (Twitter tag #bkaeb)
Martin on Europaeum proposed the new Twitter tag for blog posts presenting Euroblogs worth reading: #bkaeb (for Better Know A EuroBlog). The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) recommending Euroblogs.
Holiday season is reflected in the low number of blog entries aggregated on Bloggingportal.eu right now, but for my contribution to the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I am going to deal only with blogs which have published recently.
Naturally, the eligible Euroblogs (related to EU affairs) have to be ones I follow among those listed on Bloggingportal.eu.
Blogs kept by (mainstream) media or written by professional journalists are important and influential in the Euroblogosphere, even when the blog is only a sideline to the main reporting activities.
Based on its knowledge of the EU economic and political scene, the public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels has selected fifteen Euroblogs by journalists.
One of these emblematic Euroblogs is the Wall Street Journal blog Real Time Brussels, which combines insider and outsider traits, explaining “Europe” to mainly US readers.
Most of the Real Time Brussels entries deal with serious stuff, such as France and Germany on economic government, fake goods (counterfeit and pirated products), European bank stress tests, EU population and demographic trends, antitrust (competition), large scale investment into agriculture in developing countries (land grabbing), value-added tax (VAT), the European Central Bank (ECB) and high-denomination euro banknotes, and economic recovery.
Sometimes Real Time Brussels takes a stroll from the office to the playground, as when it reports on the rapidly growing parakeet population in the de facto capital of the European Union.
Relevant issues and professional writing make WSJ Real Time Brussels one of the Euroblogs to follow.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
Holiday season is reflected in the low number of blog entries aggregated on Bloggingportal.eu right now, but for my contribution to the Better Know A EuroBlog August 2010 challenge I am going to deal only with blogs which have published recently.
Naturally, the eligible Euroblogs (related to EU affairs) have to be ones I follow among those listed on Bloggingportal.eu.
Blogs kept by (mainstream) media or written by professional journalists are important and influential in the Euroblogosphere, even when the blog is only a sideline to the main reporting activities.
Based on its knowledge of the EU economic and political scene, the public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard Brussels has selected fifteen Euroblogs by journalists.
One of these emblematic Euroblogs is the Wall Street Journal blog Real Time Brussels, which combines insider and outsider traits, explaining “Europe” to mainly US readers.
Most of the Real Time Brussels entries deal with serious stuff, such as France and Germany on economic government, fake goods (counterfeit and pirated products), European bank stress tests, EU population and demographic trends, antitrust (competition), large scale investment into agriculture in developing countries (land grabbing), value-added tax (VAT), the European Central Bank (ECB) and high-denomination euro banknotes, and economic recovery.
Sometimes Real Time Brussels takes a stroll from the office to the playground, as when it reports on the rapidly growing parakeet population in the de facto capital of the European Union.
Relevant issues and professional writing make WSJ Real Time Brussels one of the Euroblogs to follow.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly. As Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans across borders and between linguistic communities. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Eurozone financial stability materials
Eurozone financial stability continues to be of interest to readers. Here is a part recap of sources regarding Euro area defence measures.
Official materials
There are some official EU (Eurozone) level materials on the European financial stabilisation mechanism (EFSM) and the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF):
COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilisation mechanism; published OJEU 12.5.2010 L 118/1
Terms of reference of the Eurogroup European Financial Stability Facility (7 June 2010)
Grahnlaw blog posts
Without going back to the beginnings of the series on tracking eurozone crisis measures, or related posts, here are some of the Grahnlaw entries presenting sources related to Greece and the EFSM and the EFSF:
Tracking eurozone crisis measures: Activating financial support for Greece (29 May 2010)
Tracking eurozone crisis measures: Barbarians at the gate (30 May 2010)
Tracking eurozone crisis measures: Stabilisation mechanism and transparency (30 May 2010)
European financial stabilisation mechanism – a ray of transparency (3 June 2010)
European Financial Stability Facility Agreement EFSF (8 June 2010)
Where democracy and transparency in eurozone rescue? (8 June 2010)
Commission tasks: European Financial Stability Facility Agreement (EFSF) (8 June 2010)
European Financial Stability Facility in Finland (21 June 2010)
European Financial Stability Facility Framework Agreement (EFSF) (21 June 2010)
These superficial presentations may be of some help to financial service providers, researchers and EU policy bloggers who want to dig deeper.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly, and as Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Official materials
There are some official EU (Eurozone) level materials on the European financial stabilisation mechanism (EFSM) and the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF):
COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilisation mechanism; published OJEU 12.5.2010 L 118/1
Terms of reference of the Eurogroup European Financial Stability Facility (7 June 2010)
Grahnlaw blog posts
Without going back to the beginnings of the series on tracking eurozone crisis measures, or related posts, here are some of the Grahnlaw entries presenting sources related to Greece and the EFSM and the EFSF:
Tracking eurozone crisis measures: Activating financial support for Greece (29 May 2010)
Tracking eurozone crisis measures: Barbarians at the gate (30 May 2010)
Tracking eurozone crisis measures: Stabilisation mechanism and transparency (30 May 2010)
European financial stabilisation mechanism – a ray of transparency (3 June 2010)
European Financial Stability Facility Agreement EFSF (8 June 2010)
Where democracy and transparency in eurozone rescue? (8 June 2010)
Commission tasks: European Financial Stability Facility Agreement (EFSF) (8 June 2010)
European Financial Stability Facility in Finland (21 June 2010)
European Financial Stability Facility Framework Agreement (EFSF) (21 June 2010)
These superficial presentations may be of some help to financial service providers, researchers and EU policy bloggers who want to dig deeper.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly, and as Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
Better Know A EuroBlog: August 2010 challenge
To much public acclaim, Martin on Europaeum proposed a new Twitter tag for blog posts presenting Euroblogs worth reading: #bkaeb (for “Better Know A EuroBlog”). The new tag has been described as a #followfriday (or #ff) recommending Euroblogs.
My own modest efforts to highlight other Euroblogs have led to two #bkaeb posts this far. The first post was on The European Citizen, a blog on relevant issues and with original content about the politics and law of the European Union.
The second #bkaeb post recalled Nosemonkey and Jon Worth as Founding Fathers among individual Eurobloggers.
After three blogs in English, it would have been nice to add some linguistic diversity, but instead my attention was drawn to the gaping hole left by now offline Le Taurillon (in French), as well as its sister publications in English and Italian (and German).
As we can see from the comments, as a stop-gap measure the German JEF activists had launched a separate blog, Treffpunkt Europa, but unfortunately without access to the database with earlier posts.
With no Le Taurillon post to read, and only four for Treffpunkt.Europa, I did not use the tag #bkaeb for my blog post yesterday.
I miss the French Le Taurillon, as well as The New Federalist (in English) and Eurobull (in Italian), and I hope that they reappear on their new server as soon as possible.
It is probably as futile to reject English as a bridging language today as it was to resist Latin as the common language of learning during medieval times, but individual blogs can reach out to respect the rich cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe, while promoting the shared values and joint actions aiming at improving the European Union.
The online world of social media thrives on linking and sharing. The Euroblogosphere offers the special opportunity to connect people across linguistic and national borders in the quest for a better future.
Here is my August 2010 challenge to Eurobloggers: I hope to see many Euroblog entries on Bloggingportal.eu and #bkaeb tweets promoting cross-border discussion in the pan-European online public space.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly, and as Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
My own modest efforts to highlight other Euroblogs have led to two #bkaeb posts this far. The first post was on The European Citizen, a blog on relevant issues and with original content about the politics and law of the European Union.
The second #bkaeb post recalled Nosemonkey and Jon Worth as Founding Fathers among individual Eurobloggers.
After three blogs in English, it would have been nice to add some linguistic diversity, but instead my attention was drawn to the gaping hole left by now offline Le Taurillon (in French), as well as its sister publications in English and Italian (and German).
As we can see from the comments, as a stop-gap measure the German JEF activists had launched a separate blog, Treffpunkt Europa, but unfortunately without access to the database with earlier posts.
With no Le Taurillon post to read, and only four for Treffpunkt.Europa, I did not use the tag #bkaeb for my blog post yesterday.
I miss the French Le Taurillon, as well as The New Federalist (in English) and Eurobull (in Italian), and I hope that they reappear on their new server as soon as possible.
It is probably as futile to reject English as a bridging language today as it was to resist Latin as the common language of learning during medieval times, but individual blogs can reach out to respect the rich cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe, while promoting the shared values and joint actions aiming at improving the European Union.
The online world of social media thrives on linking and sharing. The Euroblogosphere offers the special opportunity to connect people across linguistic and national borders in the quest for a better future.
Here is my August 2010 challenge to Eurobloggers: I hope to see many Euroblog entries on Bloggingportal.eu and #bkaeb tweets promoting cross-border discussion in the pan-European online public space.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. It is easier to understand a language than to use it correctly, and as Eurobloggers we should promote interaction among Europeans. Grahnlaw has adopted a multilingual comment policy:
I do my best to read comments in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish, even if the Grahnlaw blog and my possible replies are in English.
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