Never on Sunday? Hmm. Though it was not the first time that I heard an excuse about not voting, it hurt. The reason is difficult to explain. It goes beyond the fact that I work for the European Parliament, beyond my strong faith in the EU. How can I tell people that (whatever) their vote is valuable without being labelled as a brainwashed eurocrat? I am searching to do it through a story… Maybe Europe is an ugly frog that can turn into a prince if we kiss it? No, that’s not it. How is Europe (conveniently?) seen today by many people? As a big bad wolf. That’s it, that’s my story and that’s my reason for voting, however over simplistic it might look to some.

Europe, a big bad wolf? - Photo by dinonikk on Flickr

Once upon a time there was a big bad wolf called Europe (the taurus story is a myth as we all know). While walking in the forests, it devoured all human beings it crossed: bad and good. They made him move to the left, to the middle or to the right -according to where his stomach weighed heavier. Sometimes the human activity inside of him brought the best out of him -some people made him lean to a field and think “why not plant a flower here?”- or the worst -some made him crash all flowers it met on its way… The reactions among the people that were lucky enough to stay out of his stomach varied: others watched him with fear, anger or disgust, while others with awe, astonishment, sympathy or just indifference. Whatever their feeling, they just watched him, unable to take responsibility and act to change a situation that deep down they did not really like. Sometimes they even said “why bother? The big bad wolf is too far to reach me!”. Until the big bad wolf invaded their secret garden and smashed their own flowers. And then they cared but it was a bit too late to act… “The rest is silence” (as Shakespeare would say).

I might be caricaturing, but I am sure you all know what am talking about. Responsibility for our (in)actions. Whether the EU is “too far” and can communicate with us as well as a wild animal, there is no excuse for inactivity. And by inactivity I mean not voting in the forthcoming June elections of the European Parliament. The wolf in my story devoured everybody it met without distinction, without asking for permission, but luckily in today’s democratic world we can have our say as to whom it will absorb via one very valuable but at times disregarded thing: our vote. Am not saying the European Parliament is indeed destroying every good thing on this planet -I believe quite the contrary in fact- but I can accept the idea that there are good and bad people in it, some efficient ones and some inefficient. Just like everywhere else in our society. But it could be that the EU goes into a whole different direction than the one we want it to go. Do we really want to stand by and watch our worst fears turn into reality? It’s up to us to make the reality the way we want it to be… And to have no regrets whatsoever -because, whatever the outcome, at least the not yet born will not blame us for being passive observers.

Lack of knowledge about “complicated EU stuff” and no time to read the online election pages that we work so hard for or the myriads of relevant information available online or on paper?

Lack of knowledge about “complicated EU stuff” and no time to read the online election pages that we work so hard for or the myriads of relevant information available online or on paper? Here is the one thing you need to know in order to vote on 4-7 June, apart of course from the exact date of the election in your country: just like you have representatives in your national parliament, that you elect, you have also representatives in the European Parliament (coldly known as “MEPs” though they are as normal as the rest of us -and by “normal” I mean who laugh and cry too at times and who act according to their beliefs). They represent the citizens of the current 27 EU member states (yes, you too!) and decide on some issues that affect our daily lives -so yes, that would make their selection quite significant. It is as simple as that in my view.

Troubled about who to vote for? The political world obeys no fixed compass. Just follow your heart and choose the ones that you feel will plant the most flowers. Lets make Europe flourish in all possible ways -not only in spring but also in the summer (as of June) and in all the (difficult?) winters to come… Whether we “happily live ever after” (“and go to the sea shore” as Melina Merkouri adds in the unmemorable film “Never on Sunday”) or not is up to nobody else but ourselves.

Seen our site lately?  Of course you have, but just in case you have been away, distracted, hospitalised or otherwise indisposed, you should have a look.  There is a welter of new elements: as well as the standard banners, we can now publish two mini-banners (which are in fact stories), there are photo galleries, there are so-called “visuals” (the three graphical links between the news articles and the features, and there are “ads” (the vertical series of three boxes below the visuals, which we can use for “quote of the week”, “figure of the week”, “did you know?”, etc. type elements).  These things are not necessarily there all the time – we can mix and match a bit – but collectively they give a much more interesting graphical look to the page and give us more editorial options. Combine all this with some serious efforts we have been making to sharpen up the content from a journalism point of view, and we really feel we are making progress.  Yes, we’re lookin’ good!

But are we?  As evening draws in and the shadow of the night descends on the web-editor’s soul, questions niggle.  Why are there fewer visits to our site than at the same time last year?  Why did a speaker at a webby event (EIF organised) I attended last week (admittedly somewhat incoherent and full of herself) hold up Parliament’s website as an example of people living in a bubble, out of touch with real people?

To doubt is to be alive, I suppose, and however much progress we make we are still a public institution and unlikely to be at the cutting edge of the creative web.  And, yes, we could still do better.  But as I calmed down, I realised that the throwaway disparagement of the web-event speaker was largely based in ignorance, unrealistic expectations (she wanted us to be Obama’s election campaign transplanted into the European Parliament), rather more justifiable criticisms of other, neglected parts of the site and indeed a group-think driven desire to be provocative for the sake of it. We’re not Obama, but in our peer group (for example: this, or this, or this) we’re ahead of the game.  As for the visits, it transpires that our part of the website is doing well, with people reading more of our pages than before.  All the same, we badly need a promotional campaign…

At the aforementioned webby event, another speaker was on hand to sow more fruitful doubts and concerns. Paddy McGovern, founder of RocktheVote.ie (see also US version, not least for the neat intro video) and mycandidate.ie, was there to talk about his ideas on voter engagement.  Here was a man full of pithy detail and telling anecdote. What I took from him was not so much what to do – which I suspect changes every time – but the message that you have to do something and that that something has to be a bit different. Once more, the message was that having a great website is all very fine, but what really counts is your ability to get out there and get people interested.

If this blog were live, which it isn’t yet, I’d be really interested to hear what other people, “out there” in the real world, think about all this. I hope some day to get this feedback.