Category Archives: Elsewhere

Not dead – just tweeting

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Horrifically busy in the real world, hence the longest break in blogging on this site in more than six years. I am, however, still commenting away about the EU (among other things) in 140 characters or less on Twitter on a daily basis – that’s the best place to find me these days. You can get an RSS feed of my Twitter ramblings here – just be warned that it’s not all politics related, some of it’s personal, some of it’s very silly, and some of it’s very sweary.

Twitter has a wonderful ability to suddenly introduce you to new people – a 140 character limit meaning that you can read hundreds of different people’s opinions every day in a way that simply isn’t possible in long-form. If also means I’ve been coming across more ridiculous nonsense than I have in several years, as I keep getting alerted to stories and blog posts from sources I’d never normally come across by myself.

When these are EU-related, they’re normally incredibly familiar – the usual stories that get repeated year after year. Having, as I do, fairly extensive archives, I keep finding myself using old posts to rebut “new” stories – be it over the EU budget, the EU’s role in guaranteeing British freedom, the concept of an EU superstate. Along the way, I’ve got into arguments with anti-EU campaigners from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, the Bruges Group, OpenEurope and more.

It’s all great fun. A bit like blogging in the good old days, when I actually had time to read and comment on other blogs.

Having said that, I’m planning to start blogging again soon. I’m writing less and less in the day job these days (unless you count innumerable emails, Powerpoint presentations and planning documents), and am starting to get rusty.

There’s still a question of precisely what to write *about*, though. I’ve covered many of the broad EU issues – often several times. I have no time for party politics or the “personalities” of the Brussels bubble (something I’ve never been a part of anyway). I usually haven’t got the time – or expertise – for detailed policy analysis. And as entertaining as arguing with eurosceptics can be on Twitter, I prefer to keep the blog for considered argument and polite debate – turning the focus back to pointing out the flaws of eurosceptic arguments tends to attract the kind of responses I have no interest in dealing with.

And in any case, these days there are plenty of other EU bloggers to do that sort of thing – you can find them via Bloggingportal. (I remember when this here EUblogosphere were all fields – just me, EU Referendum (sadly increasingly shrill in its anti-EU vehemence these days), A Fistful of Euros, and a handful of others, now long since departed.)

So, back properly soon. Hopefully. At which point I’ll hopefully also find time to give this place a spring clean – some of the site’s code has broken, and a redesign is long overdue to make the text more readable. The only trouble is I’ve lost my FTP details, so can’t get in to change anything…

European Young Journalist Award

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I’ve been asked to give this a plug – the deadline’s 31st May, the age limit is 17-35, and the prize (of which there is one for every EU member state) is a trip to Berlin in August/September (just in time for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall). Over to the PR guy:

Applicants can write an article with their views on EU Enlargement and submit it on our website – it does not have to be long, it can be much less than the maximum 2,000 words. It can also be about Europhobia, we don’t mind! I am hoping that some of your members/writers might be able to share their views! Would it be possible to contact some of your writers or friends to let them know about the event? All national winners will be given an all expenses paid trip to Berlin where they can partake in an exciting conference with EU officials and the other international winners.

I’m not sure that there has ever been such a thing as an “exciting” conference with EU officials, but still. Berlin’s meant to be fun (I’ve still never been – perhaps I should enter…), so why not, eh?

A bit of weekend reading

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I’m off to for a few days to stroll about Geneva, throw snowballs at skiers in the French Alps, wander round vineyards (well, their cellars at least) and eat lots of melted cheese while moaning about the exchange rate. So this time I’ve got an excuse other than laziness for lack of posts – dilettantism.

In the meantime, I’ve updated the Nosemonkey’s EUtopia Netvibes Universe with some new feeds of blogs that aren’t currently in the EU Blog Directory (but will be soon, honest!) – so check out the new additions, and let me know if I’m missing any. That should keep you going.

EU Blog Directory – new additions

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It’s about time I updated the EU Blog Directory, so here are the latest additions – some new, some merely new discoveries, all worth checking out. If I’m still missing any, please do let me know…

The 8th Circle
- “Corruption, democracy, and Eastern European politics.” Welcome addition to the world of Eastern European blogs, covering the region – and its relations with the rest of the EU – with rare insight and intelligence.

Alphasources
- Focussing primarily on European (and occasionally Japanese) macroeconomics, this is a handy addition to any reading list for those of us still struggling to get to grips with the complex interrelations of the European economies.

Blogging from Brussels
- Yes, that’s right – an EU politics blog written by a GIRL! Or, alternatively, a left(ish) leaning Swedish media officer at an unnamed Brussels-based think-tank, looking at European politics in the widest possible sense.

Brussels Media
- “A blog about the EU media landscape in Brussels” with an emphasis on the role the internet is starting to play in the EU public sphere.

EU Corruption
- “Despite appearances this isn’t a eurosceptic blog. But transparent and honest government is good government.” Critical and often insightful, it can only be hoped that it keeps going – we need more of this sort of thing.

Euro Watch
- Has been going for years (since 2002, in fact) and is a stupidly handy resource, packed full of in-depth yet easy-to-understand economic analysis and data – and with sub-blogs on the economies of France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain. Essential reading.
europa-eu-audience
- “The Institutions of the European Union endeavour to be transparent, open and accessible. They want to be seen in the best possible light by the public at large. We share this objective, and intend to contribute to its achievement.” – focussing primarily on EU politics on the web.

European Avenue
- EU news linklog, mostly rounding up EU content from the UK broadsheet press.

Ironies Too
- “A continuing chronicle of how democracy is being destroyed across the entire Euopean Union” – unsurprisingly, this is another eurosceptic blog, albeit one that’s readable, regular and interesting for a change. Worth a look, and long-running.

Julien Frisch
- Only launched in July 2008, even in its first few weeks this blog managed to attract attention for its frequent, eclectic and insightful posts on all things EU-related. If the same rate of posting is kept up, it could soon become one of the big boys…

Yellow Stars Blog
- “Christian Democrat and Pro European Union blog in support of a European world order!” Irregular posting (averaging just 4/5 a month) on eclectic European subjects, but well worth a look when new content appears.

Stanley’s Blog
- The first blog from the Blogactiv stable to merit its own listing – regular, informative and insightful, and already deserving of a place on the “must read” list.

The Tap
- From EU Referendum’s “Umbrella Blog” stable, little wonder this is another British eurosceptic. But despite a tendency to repeat many of the anti-EU/centre-right memes, there are nuggets of unexpected insight and better analysis than we have come to expect from the majority of anti-EU British blogs.

The Turko File
- “Blogging Turkey’s road to membership in the European Union” – we need more of this sort of thing: blogs analysing specific countries’ relationships with the EU. We’re inundated with British eurosceptics doing this sort of thing, and there’s a moderate number of French ones, but outside these two they’re surprisingly rare. Yet they’re also essential to understanding how and why the EU is doing what it’s doing.

Whitebull
- Blog spin-off of EU video news YouTube channel EUX.TV, there’s some good stuff here, as well as all their latest videos. Launched in May 2008, fingers crossed they keep the blog going.

Check out the rest on the EU Blog Directory.

Spotted elsewhere

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Catching up on various blogs (and as part of my drive to post more frequently here, even if they are shorter pieces), a couple of interesting pieces from Cicero’s Songs – seemingly one of the few left(ish) liberal British political bloggers to have noticed the Irish Lisbon Treaty referendum result (perhaps because left(ish) liberal British political bloggers rarely seem to notice the EU – a bit of an elephant in the room, than…). In any case, both posts are well worth a read, whether you agree with them or not:

Where does the EU go from here?
“To my mind, the problem remains one of identity and legitimacy. The European Union has failed to justify, or even explain, its purpose… The EU used to define its purpose as creating ‘an ever closer union’ – in other words it had an open-ended commitment to increasing its role and the scope of its activities. The time has come for the EU to do the reverse and set the limits of its activities.”

Outvoting democracy
“As a Liberal commentary this blog believes that setting the limits to state power is a fundamental basis of freedom. The EU has been trying to change tack from ‘ever closer union’ towards more limited policy goals for some time. However the compromises embedded in the Constitutional treaty and the Lisbon treaty are simply too many and too complicated. The idea of comprehensive reform must be shelved- we can not bring either the majority of the states or the majority of the population to agreement at this point- and it is dangerous to try.

“The EU can only reconnect with the citizen if it can demonstrate that it serves a valuable purpose. Instead of the high-falutin’ words of Giscard d’Estaing’s Federalism, we should return to the practical usefulness of Functionalism.”

The problems of democratic reform

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Ah yes – that’s a nice easy thing to try and summarise, isn’t it? Nonetheless, I gave it pop – trying to wrap up the dLiberation blog I’ve been writing/editing for openDemocracy for the last few weeks. Warning: it’s a bit long, and probably rather confused in places…

Other recent pieces include: European opinion (or the lack thereof), Better the devil you know? (on the impracticalities of constant referenda, and the compromises needed for democracy to function), Scientific representation and democracy (on how no representative system can ever be truly representative).

And, on a different theme, these may be of interest: No one cares about the EU (on the “referendum rally”), A distinct lack of interest (yet more about how no one cares about the EU).

Or, of course, if you’ve missed me that much you could just go and check out the rest of the coverage.

Posting is likely to be light here for another week thanks to insane workloads, but back soon.

Posting from Brussels

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If I’ve been a bit quiet recently, it’s because I’ve been insanely busy. This is being written from a hotel alongside the European Parliament buildings in Brussels. I’m slightly tipsy on free wine, and yet rather wishing I was back in Blighty, tucked up in bed with a nice single malt and awaiting tomorrow’s France/England semi-final grudge match with relish, rather than with the vague trepidation that I might miss it.

Anyway, I’ve been covering my escapades today over at dLiberation – and excitement they do make. As such:

Off to Brussels – this morning’s confusion. Random quote: “I’ve still had no confirmation that I’m registered to attend, and have had no confirmation of the schedule, location, or anything”

On not having the foggiest – written on Eurostar on the way over. Random quote: “the events of the coming weekend remain about as clear to me as the view from the train”

Utterly unscientific first impressions – written from the bowels of the European Parliament’s press room. Random quote: “A form of torture by multilingualism.”4

Other than that, there’s been some good stuff on dLiberation over the last few days, if I say so myself (to those who aren’t aware, that’s what I’ve been busy editing for openDemocracy for the last few weeks). To wit:

A real compromise on the EU presidency – the first of a four-part series from the Director of the European Studies Centre at St Antony’s College, Oxford

The cosmopolitan problem – a look at European identity from Our Kingdom editor Jon Bright

The problems of deliberative polls: legitimacy – another critique from Professor Lupia of the University of Michigan

“The Linchpin of democratic consent” – something from me on William Hague’s speech to the Tory Party Conference

The purpose of deliberative democracy, part 2 – legitimacy – more from Professor Thompson of Harvard and Dr Guttmann of the University of Pennsylavnia

The EU and national identity, part 1 – something from me on, well, the EU and national identity…

Democracy for the sake of it? – the first part of a series on how the European Parliament functions, from Paul Davies – a fellow Sharpener type, and formerly of the Electoral Reform Society’s Make My Vote Count blog

Deliberative democracy: pros and cons – a handy overview from Professor John Gastil of the University of Washington, the editor of The Deliberative Democracy Handbook

The European Commission’s communications headache – the Commission’s new communications strategy in brief

Democracy’s risky return – Dr ian O’Flynn, Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Newcastle, on the deliberative democracy debate

Why the nation state? – a brief piece by me on a pet topic – why are we so obsessed with national boundaries for units of governance?

A discovery about the European public sphere – me again on an interesting statistic that suggests there’s more of a European demos than we’d been led to believe

Deliberative democracy and efficiency – 30-year veteran of the European Commission and Visiting Professor at the Central European University in Budapest Thomas Glaser looks to history for some clues about the chances of deliberative democracy making an impact

The purpose of deliberative democracy, part 3: public spirit – Professor Thompson and Dr Guttmann return with more easy-to-understand political theory

The subsidiarity problem, part 1 – something from me at an idea that’s meant to lie at the heart of the EU, but rarely seems to

Decisions must be taken as closely as possible to the citizen” – more on subsidiarity’s failings

The purpose of deliberative democracy, part 4: respect – Thompson and Guttmann’s penultimate part

“Substantially different” vs. “Substantially equivalent” – who’s right on the Reform Treaty, the government or the European Scrutiny Committee? I have a quick gander

Democracy for the sake of it? Part 2 – Paul Davies returns with more accessible European Parliament goodness

The EU in microcosm? Comparing the Tomorrow’s Europe poll with another recent investigation – which revealed something I reckon’s rather significant

The purpose of deliberative democracy – conclusion – Professor Thompson and Dr Guttmann wrap up

Trying to bridge the gap – Tip-top Poland blogger The Beatroot on the clash between local, national and European concerns

Two days to go – the topics for discussion – some oddness in the Tomorrow’s Europe poll’s focus

Citizens’ consultations or deliberative polls? – The organiser of the British wing of last spring’s UK citizen consultation weighs up the pros and cons

Publicity, apathy and ignorance – Me on the problem of creating effective PR campaigns for EU initiatives

The problems of deliberative polls: effects – Professor Lupia returns

The problems of deliberative polls: Representativeness – Professor Lupia identifies more potential pitfalls

Deliberative polls: the basics – Professors Fishkin and Luskin outline their technique

Deliberative polls: Representativeness – Professors Fishkin and Luskin again

Deliberative polling: Practicalities – Professors Fishkin and Luskin once again, wrapping up their overview

See? I’ve been a busy boy.

dLiberation – EU democracy latest

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Lots of goodness over at dLiberation since my last roundup:

The problem of public ignorance, continued – more from me on the difficulty of asking the public for its opinion on something as complex as EU reform

A real compromise on the EU presidency, part 1 – an intriguing argument for an alternative reform from the Director of the European Studies Centre at St Anthony’s College, Oxford – to be continued…

The cosmopolitan problem – a look at the difficulties of forging a pan-European sense of identity from the editor of openDemocracy’s Our Kingdom

The problems of deliberative polls: Legitimacy – Professor Lupia of the University of Michigan returns with part two of his critique

“The linchpin of democratic consent” – a look from me at the Tories’ odd reasoning behind their support for a referendum on the EU reform treaty (with more to follow…)

The purpose of deliberative democracy, part 2 – legitimacy – Professor Thompson of Harvard and Dr Guttmann of the University of Pennsylvania return with the second part of their introduction to the theories underlying deliberation

EU democracy round-up

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It’s begun to get all exciting and hectic over at dLiberation, so what have you missed if you’re not popping over there already?

First, academics being academics, a bit of a fight’s broken out, with the chaps behind deliberative polling – James Fishkin of Stanford and Robert Luskin of the University of Texas – coming back to defend themselves in vehemnet style: part 1 and part 2. More to follow soon – but it’s an interesting debate, and one that goes to the heart of the matter – if you claim a scientific basis for your methods, you need to defend them to scientific standards.

There’s also an interesting defence of EU democracy from Richard Corbett MEP, which makes a good case for the democratic deficit being a myth.

Plus a quick look from me at Margot Wallstrom’s latest calls for a wide-ranging debate on the future of the EU which will apparently have “no preconditions, no taboos”.

Then there’s a nice piece from Giles Merritt of the Friends of Europe on the need for more euroscepticism, with some well-considered arguments that struck quite a chord with me. In fact, it looks like there could well be a long-needed shift towards introspection and sensible, constructive criticism coming in to some sections of the pro-EU community. Which can only be a good thing. I hope.

Finally, for those who still aren’t too sure what deliberative democracy is all about, the first in a series of posts explaining the thing from Dennis Thompson of Harvard and Amy Guttman of the University of Pennsylvania.

More coming soon – including, to redress the balance a bit – something from Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP and co-chair of the eurosceptic Independence and Democracy Group in the European Parliament.

More European democracy goodness

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First up, a lovely interview with me and openDemocracy‘s Editor-in-Chief Tony Curzon Price, explaining what we’re trying to do, is up now at the Tomorrow’s Europe site.

And now, a handy round-up of dLiberation posts over the last few days:

How to reform Europe without asking the French – an intriguing proposal from reader Alex Burr, and not one that I’d heard before. Well worth a look.

Turkey and democratic majorities – a quick look at the perennial problem of democracy: to what extent should the majority view be followed?

The EU’s democracy problem – an interesting take on voter apathy and disillusionment in the EU, from reader “mcconeb”

The democratic risk – pondering why, despite an EU-wide desire for a referendum on the new reform treaty, most EU member states are not going to give the people a vote

The EU: More democratic than the US? – an argument I’ve made before, comparing the European Commission to the US presidency and cabinet

The problems of deliberative polls: Outcomes – Professor Arthur Lupia of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research launches an attack on the Fishkin model of deliberative polling at the heart of the Tomorrow’s Europe poll. Part 1 of 4.

Reforming the European Parliament – EU blogger and former President of the Young European Federalists Jon Worth has a proposal to make the European Parliament more representative

The problem of public ignorance, part 1 – the first in a four-part series from me, looking at the difficulty of the public reaching informed decisions about the EU

Coming soon, Fishkin responds to Lupia as verbal fisticuffs break out in the world of academia, and Richard Corbett MEP weighs in with a sterling defence of EU democracy.