How to read EU blogs?

A novelty has appeared in the European blogosphere: bloggingportal.eu. As they themselves put it, it could become a “new way to read blogs about EU affairs”. The blogaggregator syndicates the content from currently 278 blogs about Europe and the European Union in as many languages as possible. By also structuring and rating the different posts they aggregate, it could become a powerful tool in empowering Europe’s online democracy.

http://www.bloggingportal.eu/

I strongly believe in the ability of blogging to enhance democracy by facilitating discussion between differing opinions while accomodating like-minded individuals to connect and share. Certainly within the European Union blogging must become a strong democratic forum to enable people to bridge the huge distances and languages in Europe separating the North from the South and the East from the West.

However, the development of a European blogoshpere has not been an easy task, due to Europe’s diversity. It has been a working progress slowly advancing with initiatives such as the blogplatform blogactiv, multi-author Euroblogs such as cafebabel, Fistfull of Euros or social Europe blog and finally there have also been individual bloggers such as me, perhaps you or Jon Worth.

Jon Worth has also been one of the key people behind the latest bloggingportal initiative and my insider source for this post. Some other key protagonists are programmer Stefan Happer (Politik Portal) and the EU bloggers Kosmopolit, DJ Nozem and Le Croche-Pied.

For an interesting read to get a better grasp of the EU blogosphere, you might also want to take a look at this overview and a structural analysis of how to read EUblogs.

Have fun in the sphere and make sure you find your way back out again!

Eurocrats against Entropa

The European Association for Eurocrats (EAE) proposes that the EU should form a High Level Expert Group to oversee the work of a Committee for the regulation of the registration, evaluation and authorization of Art & Jokes (HAHA), thereby allowing the EU to limit mockery to approved and standardized jokes.

The move comes in response to David Cerny’s notorious “Entropa” statue, which has been in the European Council since the 12th of January. The European Association for Eurocrats (EAE) strongly condemned the process by which David Cerny’s “Entropa” had been selected. Divad Ynrec, spokesman of the EAE today stated that, ‘Entropa is a dangerous violation of the requirements laid out by the European Commission against Humor and Intolerance (ECHI), regarding European invitations to tender to third parties for artful purposes’.

‘We cannot laugh at this piece of art’, Mr Ynrec went further, supported by the nodding and modest cheering of the colleagues present. ‘Although we protested in small numbers on Sunday, our French colleagues have threatened to go on strike as long as Entropa stays where it is’. Meanwhile the rumors are that the British are busy lobbying to ‘keep the thing there in order to keep the French out’.

The EAE views the sculpture as a direct assault on the Eurocrat-profession by typifying and mocking certain Eurocrat nationalities. Bulgaria’s Eurocrats are especially insulted by being compared to a toilet. A local Bulgarian explains the situation: ‘Although nobody knows it, David is a regular here in Brussels and everybody knows him. But after he told some particularly bad jokes, we started giving him the cold shoulder, and this is way of getting back at us”. Even the local Belgian lady that he had an affaire with isn’t spared. Their relationship broke down over diet problems and it is particularly hard for her to now be stereotyped by a box of chocolates.

The EAE believes that a High Level Expert Group overseeing the work of a Committee could prevent this from happening again. Divad Ynrec concluded by saying “We must limit mockery to approved and standardized jokes!If we don’t protect this basic ideal, what will Europe have?”