Writing for (y)EU » eu

Frankly about lingua franca

Anete — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:44:21 +0000

Out of different practical reasons EP’s Facebook page similarly to this blog is being updated only in English (apart from casual insertions in other languages). Our fan community is continuously and quickly growing but how long can we justify our monolingual existence in the main social network of the world? And should we at all?

English has become a real lingua franca and without any doubt this provides many advantages, but aren’t we going against the principle of multilingualism and depriving some while giving advantages to others, especially if they represent a certain political wing? Aren’t we actually giving the floor and stage to, for example, British eurosceptics who can demonstrate all their eloquence here? And don’t we make look some genuinely clever people less educated because of their lacking language skills? It’s not the same to debate political issues as to comment on your latest pub experience. Besides, more than one-third of European adults aged 25 to 64 perceive that they do not know any foreign language.

A menu in a restaurant in Vosges mountains

According to a Eurobarometer Survey (2006) 13% of EU citizens speak English as their native language. Another 38% of EU citizens state that they have sufficient skills in English to have a conversation. 77% of the EU citizens consider that children should learn English as their first foreign language. In 19 out of 29 countries polled, English is the most widely known language apart from the mother tongue, this being particularly the case in Sweden (89%), Malta (88%) and the Netherlands (87%).

Even if you do get the meaning of our updates and the comments by other fans and can put a sentence together, it’s not the same as grasping all the subtleties of a debate and express yourself convincingly and with grace – this is something most of the people only can in their mother tongue(s). Not to mention the possibility to misunderstand something or to be misunderstood completely, thanks to e.g. the good old “false friends”.

Interesting enough – most of our fans with a huge difference come from Italy, then followed in close distances by Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece and Spain – countries, with exception of Germany, where, I would say, the use of English is not particularly prevalent and extensive. Italy is even one of the six Member States who had a majority of mono-linguists in 2006 (59 percent).

All the EP’s information offices in the respective EU countries have a Facebook page, too, but isn’t it all about creating a common space for debate?

How far does our duty go to involve the citizens? You could argue that we are already pioneers by using the social media to ensure a dialogue with citizens, that it’s not a legal obligation, that it’s not so serious anyway, that in any case not all the people are willing to participate in open debates (although they might be more than willing to vote or express themselves in other anonymous ways), not everybody will want to sign up on Facebook to participate in the debates and so on. But still there is a little something in us that says: can’t we do better?

It’s a tough nut for us to crack. We have tried a translation app called “Bing” from Facebook but for some reason it appears in only about half of the posts written in a foreign language, besides this is just a machine which makes lots of (often very funny) mistakes and which will need another 15-20 years to achieve acceptable degree of accuracy. To involve real translators would be too costly and time consuming. And would have to use English as a relay language anyway, otherwise we would have to cope 506 possible combinations of 23 official languages of the EU. And not everything is translatable! Volunteers, like this project conceived by Luis von Ahn? (watch the TED video, it’s great) An excellent idea with a huge potential but who would be our volunteers and would it be quick enough for our debates and chats and also reliable? So what is the solution? Is there any at all? Maybe we should forget about our concerns and see this as a tool for learning English? Whatever way we choose it’s hard to resist the magic of seeing Europeans discussing European issues and their personal experiences freely across the continent.

Togo or not Togo…

Florent — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:20:43 +0000

Moderating the press conference (on the left Mr Assarid and Michel, on the right Mr Aguiriano, Director-general for DG EXPO (Thanks to my colleague Istvan for the pic)

This is a blog post I was supposed to write some time ago… But somehow I couldn't find the time to do it last week. Now I sit comfortably in my chair in lovely Strasbourg (yes, it's plenary once again), watching the Christmas market under the snow outside (or almost) and I can remember those sunny and bright days I spent in Lomé, Togo, at the end of November…

It all started with the boss (aka Steve) popping up in my office, a little bit embarassed. "Well, Florent, I'm afraid some people will be jealous…" Our sister unit, "the press" as we call it, had no French speaking press officers to cover a Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Togo… So we were asked to help them, and as French editor I was the first to get the offer.

It was a bit unfair, I must admit, as I already went to Tunisia for another mission last July. Missions are something rare in our unit, and two missions abroad in the same year was stretching the limits.

It took me about half a second to weigh up the pros and cons… And to accept the mission, of course not out of personal interest but to fulfil my duties and stay loyal to my beloved institution.

First times are always something special

I had never been to "black" Africa before and the first thing I would say now that I'm back is that I would like to return there. The country, as I could see during the 5 days of work and the 2 free days I had at the end of the mission, is really poor but people are extremely friendly. Yes, if there is richness in Africa, it's definitely the people.

The natural comparison that comes to my mind is always the one with China, where I went for several long trips. Togo seemed much poorer. Lomé is the capital and main city but you do not see more than 10 buildings in the whole town that have more than five or six floors. Industry and business seem to be non-existent. The hospital we visited with a delegation of MEPs and African, Pacific and Caribbean (ACP) MPs was hosting a lot of… Chinese doctors and nurses. Many people were sleeping outside, along the roads. And unemployment hits -officially- above 30% of the population (it may be even higher in reality). With 60% of the population being under 25, it would be the "land of hopelessness" if people had no such a positive attitude…

An impressive audience for the opening ceremony (thanks to my colleague Istvan for the pic)

First day, first date

I did not tell you yet what exactly I was doing there. So, here is the explanation. Elected representatives from the EU and the ACP countries meet twice a year, alternatively in Europe and in an ACP country, to discuss development. This has been decided in 2000, when both parties agreed in the Cotonou agreement on a stabile framework for their relations. The Joint Parliamentary Assembly, which gathers 78 MEPs and their counterparts from the 78 ACP countries, is a unique area of discussion for the representatives that control the governments' actions.

My job was the one of a press officer, as I said. I wrote press releases in French (another colleague took care of the English ones), something similar to what I do for La Une ("Headlines" page) maybe just a bit more factual and less free. I moderated the press conference and the press breakfast with the co-presidents of the Assembly, Louis Michel (Belgian MEP and former commissioner) and Assarid Ag imbarcaouane from Mali. And, last but not least, I was answering to journalists on the phone.

Ads for AIDS prevention were all over the place.

The first call I got was from a nice young lady that saw me during the press conference. She wanted to meet me – why not? But she could not come to the office. So she proposed to meet at my hotel at 8PM. Well… It sounded strange and not 100% professional… Following the advice of my experienced fellows from the Press unit, I asked whether it was about the Parliamentary Assembly or not. "Well, it's a bit about it and mainly about other stuff", was the answer. Gosh. I had to decline the "rendez-vous". I didn't know being a press officer was also about turning down this kind of requests. Damn, I was so naive, wasn't I?

A premature conclusion

This blog starts to be too long, so let's come to a quick conclusion, if you've not already left. I discovered a new continent and a new job. I liked being in contact with MEPs and journalists. I did not like very much the writing of the press releases since there is no creativity behind it. And I liked following the multicultural debates (yes, in such an Assembly multiculturalism takes another significance!) on the impact of public debt on development, on the fight against malaria, on the Arab Spring, on the situation in the Horn of Africa…

The political situation on the spot was also very sensitive. The country is in a democratic transition, with the actual president being the son of the dictator that held power for 38 years. There was a big debate about nine MPs that were "dismissed" for changing their political party. MEP Louis Michel was rather in favour of this decision, many journalists again – a very hot topic. The reasons behind are quite complex and I can't go into details but it generated some hostile press coverage and rather virile interventions during the press breakfast. Another challenge to master – really interesting from a professional and personal point of view. Yes, you get the feeling you're in the political business and not only watching it from the outside!

Yes, you get the feeling you're in the political business and not only watching it from the outside!

We also got the chance to be invited for dinner by the Togolese correspondent from Radio France Internationale, and we spent the whole evening discussing the political situation. It was a really enlightening debate that offered us to understand the situation much more in depth.

Get out and you'll see!

Getting out of the office, meeting new colleagues, working directly with MEPs, being on the spot and not hidden behind a screen is always worth it, being it abroad or not, being it in Africa or not. Now I'm waiting for the next opportunity and, as it won't come before a long time, I just hope other colleagues will have the same opportunity and share their experience with us…

Integration best way to make online gambling safer

Olav — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:14:36 +0000

The European market for online gambling has increased enormously over the past decade and today 10 % of all gambling takes place over the internet, via mobile phones or interactive platforms. There are almost 15.000 gambling websites in Europe and the annual market volume is in excess of 10 billion euro.

I have never tried online gambling myself, but I play real "physical poker" with four friends once a month. We only play for symbolic amounts and I have never lost more than 15 euro in an evening – but the thing with poker is, that you simply have to play for something, otherwise it's boring and the bluffing part doesn't give you the adrenalin kick that you need.

The internet makes it possible for people to gamble wherever and whenever they want: in their homes or offices or via their smart phones. For me gambling is first and foremost an excuse to have an entertaining evening with friends, and I think the whole social aspect gets lost with online gambling.

Studies show that the growth of internet gambling sites has increased the number of "gambling consumers" considerably. Expert's fear that an increasing number of people risk ending up as so called "problem gamblers". Problem gambling or compulsive gambling characterises gamblers who can't stop gambling, even when it affects their personal lives and economy negatively.

The increasing opportunities for online gambling do not necessarily result in more "problem gamblers"

However, the increasing opportunities for online gambling do not necessarily result in more "problem gamblers", if we are to believe a recent report by the European Commission. It concludes that online gambling "do not appear to have given rise to problem development or addiction at a higher rate than in the offline environment" and that online gambling even provides "good opportunities for close monitoring of individual gambling behaviour and early detection of problem development".

So maybe we basically just need to convince the traditional gamblers at casinos to make their bets online instead, since this way the gaming authorities in the member states will have an easier job identifying "problem gamblers". But how exactly will gaming authorities be able to spot "problem gamblers" and vulnerable consumers in such a huge and diverse market with thousands of gambling websites?

What the MEPs propose…

The members of the European Parliament adopted earlier this month a resolution, which recommends legalizing online gambling throughout the EU, while avoiding state monopolies.

Why? Do we need more gamblers than we already have? Well, at least not more "problem gamblers" or "illegal gambling operators" if you ask the members of the European Parliament's Committee for Internal Market and Consumer Protection.

According to the MEPs, the main problem is not the gambling itself, but the consequences associated with an unregulated market for online gambling. Today EU Member States are free to choose their own rules for online gambling, which has created a very fragmented market. While some countries have restricted online access to various games, others have legalised nearly any kind of bookmaking activity.

The rising illegal market for online gambling has been fuelled by the legal uncertainty surrounding the market. MEPs want to create a common European approach to online gambling in order to create a more stable market, fight illegal gambling and protect vulnerable consumers.

The idea is to encourage member states to introduce licensing models which makes it possible for gambling providers meeting the conditions imposed by the host member state to apply for a licence. This way the market will become more transparent and it will be easier for consumers to distinguish between licensed and black listed operators.

In order to protect vulnerable consumers The European Commission should develop "common standards" and take "joint action" against online gambling operators which operate without the required national licence. The MEPs also want to make it possible to block transactions between credit card issuers and blacklisted gambling providers. What the MEPs basically hope for is common European standards and a more integrated market.

Resistance to a common framework has mainly come from countries with the most liberal gambling laws, such as the UK and Malta. Other countries with stricter rules have in general argued for greater control across the EU.

It remains to be seen whether legalizing online gambling throughout the EU and creating a more integrated – and regulated – market will result in "less problem gamblers", "fewer illegal gambling operators" and "better protection of vulnerable consumers".

Buzzing off: the EU and the honey bee

Kurt — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 22:09:32 +0000

For many the death of honey bees seems like an unimportant matter. I'll readily admit that to me the death of bees ranked somewhere between the death of a dialect in Tanganyika and the death of one of my blobs of ice-cream that fell on the hot concrete in August of 1989. I thought 'they're cute, their honey is nice in yoghurt and they make good cartoon characters', but from that to actually being an animal of vital importance seemed like an unreasonably huge leap.

Writing an article on the death of bees I discovered (whaddayaknow – you can actually learn stuff at work), that the death of this puny little insect would have a tremendous impact on Europe's food production and environmental stability.

The logic behind it is pretty fool-proof. Bees are the Barry White of the plant world. Most plants are pollinated by them. No plants means no food. Obvious, really.

But what can the EP do about it?

For starters, the EP called on EU countries to pool their research on disease prevention and research funding should also be increased. Rules on veterinary products for honeybees should be made more flexible and incentives should be provided to pharmaceutical companies to develop new products to treat diseases such as the Varroa mite. Another factor affecting bee health is the presence of toxic agents, such as pesticides, so training should be provided to reduce their use.

Roughly 80% of plant species and food production in Europe depends on pollination by bees and more than 600,000 EU citizens work in the beekeeping sector (directly or indirectly).

Not bad for a buzzing little thing smaller than a bottle cap.

Time for selFB-confidence

Raffaella — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:00:18 +0000

The FB page of the European Parliament rocks, and we shouldn’t be afraid to say it. As Florent wrote on his post, we’ve the broadest EU community and the biggest Parliament’s presence on Facebook in the world.

I’m honoured to work at this project, and I want to invest myself to make it bigger, nicer, and more powerful. It is a lab of experimentation and creativity, as it tests the potential (and pushes the limits) of institutional communication. Nowhere else, as far as I know, there is a community from so many different countries discussing political issues among them. I was literally touched by the post on Thailand, when we talked about the riots in Bangkok. Some Thai people commented on it and many, many Europeans expressed them their solidarity and their sorrow, but also discussed the political situation there.

With over 76.000 fans, each post seen at least 100.000 times, and over 1.000 interactions per week, I think we shouldn’t be shy and say that this is one of the most successful experiences of communication on EU affairs ever.

Football time: the genius of Fred "en jouant avec son 'toshop"

Positive feed-back

In fact, we don’t need to auto celebrate ourselves, because we have a lot of positive feed-back, from inside and outside the House.

The other EU Institutions consider us frontrunners, and want to exchange experiences. The last example: a communication officer from EuropeAid at the Commission said he is “a big fan of the Facebook editorial team of the Parliament” and he would like to share with us some best practices.

After the chat with Heidi Hautala on human rights on Facebook, her assistant wrote to me that the results were “very impressive” and that the MEP “was very happy to participate and would do it again for sure :)”, encouraging us to “continue the excellent work!”.

FB fans appreciate our work, and they expressed it many times. Just over the last week, Marcello Toni thanked us for organising the chats, Tremopoulos Michalis encouraged us to “keep up the good work!!”and Mark Valdam said he likes “funny organisations like the EP :-))”.
…and some secrets to reveal
So far so good. Of course we can do much better, and I’ll write another post on what we can and should do in the future. For the time being, just two little confessions.
1) It is a serious thing – When “the pillar” left, I didn’t sleep for one week. I was given more or less informally the responsibility of coordinating the magic Facebook team, and this gave me a good dose of stress. The page took off and grew thanks – among others – to the creativity, restless effort and “geekiness” of Christian. I don’t know if I can keep up, but I will do all my best because I believe that this communication platform has a great potential to get Europe a little bit closer to citizens, but also to get citizens closer to European decision makers, and maybe most important, to get Europeans closer to each other.
2) But you don’t have to take yourself (and the others) too seriously. Do you know how the best posts that we publish see the light? Normally we exchange tonnes of emails, and at some point somebody comes up with a funny, sometimes hilarious email, that the others – crazily enough – take seriously. And then it goes on Facebook and gets a lot of comments and “likes”: the magic of Facebook!

For me, the important thing is to keep this spirit alive and…enjoy your work!

Writing for the EU: creativity lost?

Karim — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:00:26 +0000

Belgian service providers are like an episode of Prison Break. Every time you think things can’t get worse, they continue surprising you. There, I’ve put it on paper: my own opinion (although probably shared by many expats here in Brussels). Sharing my opinion with others through written media is something I’ve not been doing for quite a while, especially since I’ve been writing for the European Parliament’s website.

As a student of Journalism and afterwards as a student of Political Science, I could pretty much write whatever I wanted. I could choose my own subject; sometimes “play” with it a bit and often include my own opinion in it… Working for an EU institution requires much more prudence.

Basically here’s how it works. Every article published by the editors should be non-biased, well-balanced and especially not include any non-relevant opinion whatsoever. Isn’t this boring and non-challenging work? Especially for someone who has worked as a “real” journalist?

“You cannot ask someone to be creative on command” a friend once told me

It’s true that I have even written some columns back in the School of Journalism as an editor-in-chief of the local newspaper. I was also involved in setting up a sports website and wrote some columns for them as well. Creative writing is pleasant; however it can be quite complicated as well. Being creative namely is something that sometimes is not so obvious.

A friend of mine is a year older than me but still studying. Yes, some call him the eternal student. Out of the three (!) studies he didn’t finish – he’s supposed to finally finish another one soon – one includes engineering. When I asked him at the time why he quit this study, he told me “you cannot ask someone to be creative on command”. A rather philosophical phrase indeed, but it has plenty of valour I’d say.

Being creative can be difficult, especially when it has been a long time since you’ve written something creative. Basically this is what I noticed when I was asked to write this piece (yes, I’m also the guy who still hasn’t written an own description of himself under “The team”).

So did they deprive me from all my creativity in writing ever since I took up this job? No, fortunately not. We can be creative in our own way. The way we construct our articles requires choices, choices which demand your creativity. So we should definitely not complain, especially since this team consists of plenty of creative minds. It sometimes makes you wonder: how do they do it?

European Parliament “Question time” – can it deliver?

David — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:42:35 +0000

Many people are hoping that question time at 3 pm this afternoon will deliver a lively and memorable debate when Members bowl questions at Commission President José Manuel Barroso. To move things along and prevent waffle they are limited to 1 minute – for the question and response.

EC President Barroso will face MEPs for a Q & A this afternoon

Questions on any subject will come from the political group leaders for the first 30 minutes followed by questions on the economic and financial crisis from any MEP who catches the eye of the Speaker.

Whether it will develop into a UK House of Commons style question time with a full House and plenty of drama remains to be seen. Probably not, as every parliament has its own particular style and culture.

It will also be a first for the Web Communication Unit as we attempt to follow the debate on twitter – come and see how we get on. Join us on Europarl_EN

It’s a man’s world

Lena — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:39:26 +0000

Politics: ‘a male-dominated world’

On my way to work this campaign caught my eye: A photo of a man and a woman and the question: “Is your work valued the same?” Yes I like to think so. And that as woman I have the same career opportunities as a man. But statistics gives another picture.

Women in Europe are paid 17% less than men. There is under representation of women in leading positions, in the board rooms, in politics, and inequalities often prevails in work and family life in general.

Just look at today’s (6 March) visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the EP. She attracted a huge interest, could any European do the same?

For the European election campaign we were discussing ways to illustrate gender equality acheivements over the last 30 years. One idea was a photo from 1979 and one from 2009. We tried to think of current women in politics well known all over EU. Margot Wallström, and …? Not many other names came up. Famous faces we realised are often American.

Just look at today’s (6 March) visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the EP. She attracted a huge interest, could any European do the same?

A European West Wing

EP Vice-President Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou made reference to a fresh Eurobarometer survey in an EP seminar this week: “83% of women and 76% of men agree that women can bring a different perspective to politics”. The survey also shows that women are less interested in European politics than men.

How can women’s interest and participation be boosted? I think more inspiring female politicians, leaders are crucial. Off course we real life “role models”. But imagine also the impact of TV-series? I really liked the (American) “West Wing” … Couldn’t something similar, set in Brussels, boost interest and participation? A European West Wing (“Place Luxembourg” ), with a female President Bartlet …

Just some thoughts ahead of Sunday’s International Women’s Day. Any other ideas on how to promote women in politics?