I’m currently being migrated to a new server / hosting company, and upgrading to the latest version of WordPress at the same time – it appears that this is causing a few issues along the way. Apparently the RSS feed has gone weird, a few images are missing, and so are a few pages.

Hopefully this should all fix itself soon – and once it’s back up and running, I’ll be giving the site’s design a quick overhaul to make it a touch more readable, then cracking on with the promised EU reading list.

Back soon…

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…

Details here. I’ve been named the UK finalist in the internet section for my June 2009 post on the percentage of UK laws that come from the EU (also published on Liberal Conspiracy and BlogActiv).

From the announcement:

“An article on the percentage of our laws originating in the EU got the UK nomination for the internet section. The judging panel found James Clive-Matthews’ EUtopia blog overall very entertaining, but selected this entry for its attempt to clarify how the arguments used to make claims about the influence of EU legislation often take original quotes out of context. EUtopia does not draw any conclusions, but lays out the context for the various claims and counter-claims, as such helping to clarify what is often a contentious issue.”

Which is nice.

I would also like to state for the record that nothing I have written on this blog has ever been published with the hope of securing money. It’s all just for my ego – not for anyone else’s, and certainly never to support any political institution or ideology (except on the very rare occasions that I feel that such support is warranted).

So although I find (UKIP press officer) Gawain’s old description of this as the European sycophancy prize amusing, I’d dispute it. Because any blogger/journalist willing to spew out rubbish that they don’t believe in the hope of sucking up to the powerful is never going to be worth reading anyway – and no amount of prixe money will ever alter that.

On a related note: For a more detailed analysis of the percentage of UK laws that come from the EU, check out this detailed report into the subject (PDF). Fascinating stuff – and also tends to support my own vague conclusions.

Insanely busy in the real world, is all. I even missed this place’s 7th birthday…

If you want to find a bit more EU-related commentary in the meantime, your first port of call should be Bloggingportal.eu – a handy aggregator of 500+ EU-related blogs, with some of the best posts highlighted daily.

If that doesn’t sate your appetite for the most insanely complex political system ever conceived, you could also head over to the Nosemonkey’s EUtopia Netvibes Universe, where there’s a whole bunch more EU-related topical stuff.

If you’re really desperate for Nosemonkey-related commentary, you could also try following me on Twitter – though be warned that on Twitter it’s not all EU-related, I tend to be rather more sweary and rage-filled, and there’s also a number of digressions on London, life, movies, blogging, UK politics and the general idiocy of our fellow man.

I should be back and blogging at some point. Whether it’s soon or not it’s too early to say… (I do have a fascinating post planned on the balance of trade at some point, though…)

Forgot all about this, as the interview was originally conducted back in October, but it’s in the latest issue of Shift Mag, which focusses on Euroscepticism. Have a gander at the whole lot here or, below the fold, check out my responses to the following:

1. In the blog nosemonkey, you explain your political views. How have you passed from being a small -“C” conservative and entirely anti-EU to a small -“L” liberal and largely pro-EU?

2.According to you, what are the main shortcomings of the eurosceptic group?

3. Do you think eurosceptics could weigh up in EU decisions if people took them more seriously?

4. Five good reasons to be Eurosceptic and Five good reasons to be Pro- European in Europe today?

5. With the adhesion request of Island, with the “NO-YES” referendum in Ireland, a new phenomenon seems to emerge: “EUR-OPPORTUNISM”. Will it be the strongest cement of European Union for the future? And maybe the sworn enemy of Europe as identity ? What’s your opinion?

6. In your blog, you say you are more in favour of the idea of the EU than the current reality. Can you explain?

7. How can the EU get more legitimacy amongst EU citizens?

Please note, these answers were given a few months ago now, so my views may well have changed… I’ve highlighted a few key points in bold on a quick skim through, though – it’s a long one. The last bit in particular, though, is worth a read, if I do say so myself…
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All kinds of real-world excitement of late, including some very good news on the job front just this morning, has kept me off blogging for a bit.

However, I’ve been informed that if anyone fancied leaving comments in support of what I’ve been doing online with this blog and elsewhere over the last few years over at the EurActiv Awards site, then I’ll have a better chance of winning something or other.

And while I’m blegging support, you may also fancy putting in a positive comment or two to my suggestion to the excellent public-spirited chaps at MySociety that they develop an EU version of the invaluable democratic-accountability-boosting website TheyWorkForYou. This could do more for EU accountability than any number of actual Commission initiatives in one swoop – without any kind of public funding – and so should be in the interest of anyone who wants more EU transparency, both europhiles and eurosceptics alike.

I’ve been a bit quiet over the last few weeks, largely thanks to the real world getting in the way.

One of the major projects I’ve been working on, however, is now in a pre-launch beta phase, and so can be officially revealed: Ideas on Europe – a new group blog that I’ve been developing in partnership with UACES, the University Association for Contemporary University Studies.

Describing itself as a place for “informed analysis, comment, dialogue and debate on all things European”, Ideas on Europe is intended as a non-partisan, multi-national, not exclusively political portal for academics working in the field of European Studies – taking in politics, economics, history, sociology, public policy, culture, geography and more – to engage with those of us outside the ivory towers as well as those within.

At the moment we’ve got nearly 40 contributors on board – a number that’s set to rise considerably – ranging from postgrad students to named chairs at high-profile universities. Some of them have begun to make their first forays into blogging, with posts from Jaani Kaerne (from the University of Tartu in Estonia), EUoplocephalus (from the University of Surrey in the UK), and (in German) Vanessa Buth – as well as a few from me – leading the way.

Among even this initial contributor base, there is a broad range of expertise and experience – with blogs dedicated to subjects like welfare, migration, security, energy, north Africa, and education, as well as more generalist contributors. Now that the site is going public, we should start to see a bit more activity from these early adopters.

Many of the areas we aim to end up covering are currently sorely under-represented in the world of Euroblogging – not to mention the relative lack of academic contributors to the various online debates, most of which are currently dominated by a combination of enthusiastic amateurs and professional political types – so I very much hope that those of us who’ve been active in this section of the internet give the site and its contributors our support, encouragement and advice as it starts to get off the ground over the next few months. Not least because the vast majority of our contributors have never blogged before – nor, indeed, taken part in online discussions.

I’ve already answered some questions about Ideas on Europe’s aims and intentions over at Kosmopolito (which now has its own presence on the new site) and also at Blogactiv, but naturally enough, I’m happy to answer any more that anyone may have here.

For those that missed the Twitter heads-up, I was back on BBC World News Today last night discussing the European election results. The programme itself can be watched on the BBC’s iPlayer here for a short while – the segment I’m featured in starts around 17 mins and 29 secs in – and I’m working on getting an alternative version up for non-UK types, which I’ll add as an update to this post as and when I can.

Update: Below the fold – an alternate video source for international readers.
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Check me out – BBC World News Today earlier (broadcast c.7pm UK time on BBC4 and BBC World), discussing the EU Elections – I’m a regular media whore.

If you’re based in the UK, you can get my slightly nervous pearls of off-the-cuff wisdom (and check out the unflattering profile view) here for the next week or so. It’s on the BBC’s iPlayer, so non-UK Nosemonkey-watchers are out of luck, I’m afraid. (Unless you happen to know the dark arts of setting up UK proxy servers to get around the geographic block, that is. *ahem*)

Websites name-dropped for finding out more about how to come up with a considered vote were EUprofiler.eu and VoteMatch.eu – both very much worth checking out.

I’ll be back discussing the result a week on Monday, by the sound of things.

Update: Below the fold, my handsome visage. (I need to lose some weight…) And – for I don’t know how long – a non-geographically-specific video thingie
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The perils of being a freelance writer/editor/sub in the current economic climate have finally started to hit home, and as from May I’m set to be about £1.5k a month down on my current earnings – not a nice situation for anyone, I’m sure you’ll agree.

As such, I’m actively on the lookout for new gigs: Writing, editing, sub-editing, in print or online, on pretty much any subject-matter – I have worked professionally on everything from book reviews for the academically-inclined Times Literary Supplement to write-ups of Big Brother, with a strong background in film and travel, and specialise in structural editing, fast but accurate subbing* and translating content from print to the web.

I have a good ten years’ professional experience across print and the web, ranging from large-circulation glossy consumer magazines through ISP portals with several million visits a day, and am competent in Photoshop, Quark, InDesign, and across a range of content management systems.

Companies worked for include AOL UK, Archant, BBC Worldwide, Gibson Square Books, Haymarket, the House of Commons, the Law Society, News International, openDemocracy, Pageant Media, Publicis-Blueprint, Virgin Publishing and Visual Imagination.

Publications my work has appeared in include The Belfast Telegraph, The Big Issue, Britain magazine, The Camden New Journal, The Dublin Informer, The Ham & High, The English Garden, Heritage, Heritage Cities Planner, The Irish News, London Planner, The Manchester Evening News, The Metro, Pink News, The Press Gazette, Realm, The South London Press, Starburst, The Sunday Telegraph, Wales on Sunday, The Western Daily Press, and The Yorkshire Post.

A basic CV can be found here for those that may be interested, and references can be sourced on request.

If anyone has anything coming up that I may be able to help out on, please do get in touch via nosemonkey [@] gmail.com or info [@] jcm.org.uk – I can offer competitive rates, and all offers will be gratefully considered. (I also have a tendency to be far too honest and am a bit of a perfectionist, so I won’t take anything on if I don’t think I can do a good job.)

Bleg ends. Normal service (or lack thereof) will resume shortly…

* Note: My professional subbing/editing skills may not be too apparent on this blog, as most posts are first drafts. I’m not getting paid for it, you see…

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.

I’ve come to a conclusion over the last couple of weeks. It’s something I’ve known for a while, but never quite expressed so succinctly as I’m about to:

I’m interested in politics, but I don’t CARE about politics.

Unlike most political bloggers (at least, it seems like this much of the time), politics is not my life. There are countless things that I’m more interested in and that I actually care about. Film, art, literature, history, beer, whisky. I could have started a blog on any of these, but I happened to pick EU politics because it would present a challenge. An academic challenge.

Yes, I’ve had political jobs in both Westminster and Brussels. Yes, I think the EU is more good than bad, and that European political/economic integration is a nice idea.

But if the EU were to end tomorrow, would I care? No.

If I were to be allowed no more beer, whisky, history books or films from tomorrow, however? Damn straight – I’d be distraught.

The longer, rather more coherently-argued version of this summary of my political outlook, for those who missed it a couple of years back, can be found here. It all still applies (bar parts of point 8, written before the current recession), and it remains the most coherent statement of my political outlook I’ve come up with. If you haven’t, I’d urge you to have a read.

And no, this isn’t an “I’m quitting blogging” post, in case you were wondering – I’ve done several of those before. It’s just that this blog’s approaching its 6th anniversary, and I’m starting to think about priorities and possible changes of direction again.

With so many new EU blogs recently arisen, the need for me to comment on everything (not that I ever did) is diminishing rapidly – if there was ever a need in the first place. With the EU entering a pre-election period in which party politics is set to dominate (something in which I have no interest), the question is where to direct my limited time, effort and interest to put it to its best use.

Suggestions welcome.

I picked a bad time to be insanely busy, what with the traffic leap brought by the Weblog Awards shortlisting coinciding with the latest round in the Russia/Ukraine gas dispute (something I’ve been keeping an eye on for a few years now), a rumpus over a silly bit of “art”, and now the uproar over the EU’s ban on (some) pesticides (which according to many hysterical parts of the British eurosceptic press is as good as a death warrant for the carrot, giving them another handy load of fruit’n'veg-based nonsense to go on about now that the straight bananas and curvy cucumbers myth’s finally been killed off).

And now I’m buggering off to Japan for two weeks (a trip that will see the number of times I’ve been to Tokyo overtake the number of times I’ve been to Paris, which doesn’t seem right at all).

While I’m gone, the EUtopia Netvibes Universe and EU Blog Directory should keep you entertained – and I’m planning a long-overdue update of these when I get back, so please leave any suggestions for new entries in the comments. I’ve spotted quite a few new EU-centred blogs since the start of the year, but have probably forgotten to take a note of most of them – and there’s about to be a bunch of new ones on the scene courtesy of the Think About It EU blogging competition.

Oh, and after an absence of a few years, it looks like the UK’s got a new pro-Euro campaign. For reasons best known to themselves their report is only available as a (256 page, 4.5 meg) PDF at the moment, and their website is nothing more than a very basic WordPress job that looks like it was knocked up in 5 minutes, but the list of contributors includes some good names. Should be worth a read – I haven’t had the chance yet, but plan to have a look through on the plane. (If that doesn’t send me to sleep, nothing will…)

Back February. Keep an eye on things for me, eh?

Update: Actually, scrap that. Vote for Created in Birmingham instead. Never heard of them before, but they seem to have the best chance of preventing mad borderline racist Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips from winning. Last year the Best UK category was taken by the barking Stalinist Commie Neil Clark (him of “Iraqis who work for the British deserve to be raped and tortured to death and so do their families”* fame) – let’s not have a repeat of the most idiotic maniacs ruling the roost. There’s enough of that on this here internet already, thanks very much.

While you’re there, check out the Best European Blog poll – where this place is arguably a better fit, and consider chucking a vote to Kosmopolito or Siberian Light. And then lend your support to uber-Euroblog A Fistful of Euros, inexplicably shortlisted in the Business Blog category.

Update 2: At the request of Mr Clark, this post has been amended. He claims not to be a Stalinist and asks me to provide evidence that he has ever said nice things about Uncle Joe. Not being of a McCarthyite mindset – and not having the inclination to read any more of his dross than is necessary – I’ll take him at his word, having merely referred to him as one having seen him described as such on numerous other blogs whose opinions I respect rather more than I do his.

* Mr Clark also seems incapable of grasping the concept of the satirical paraphrase, so to be clear, he has never written the statement “Iraqis who work for the British deserve to be raped and tortured to death and so do their families”. That was instead my own short summary of this horrifically callous and smug article that he wrote in August 2007, in which he strongly hinted that he felt that reprisals against Iraqi “quislings” (that is a direct quote) were justified, and stated explicitly that “The true heroes in Iraq are those who have resisted the invasion of their country” (another direct quote), thereby explicitly giving his support to bomb-throwing murderers of women and children along with those Iraqi nationalists who have used more traditional and less abhorrent methods of armed resistance to the occupying Coalition (and subsequently UN) forces.

It is perhaps worth noting that Mr Clark did not take exception to me calling him barking or referring to him as an idiotic maniac. I think we can now see why…