Anyway, it was a world premiere:  The  first time ever that bloggers were accredited (as bloggers!) to an official EU institution! OK, it was just a pilot project but nevertheless a very interesting endeavour – now a lot depends on whether the EU institutions continue the process and whether there are actually enough bloggers that would be interested.  At the moment I am quite optimistic for the former but not for the latter.

If you have not followed the story: The idea of getting a press accreditation for bloggers at EU institutions has been discussed for quite a while in the blogosphere and within the institutions.  The #EUpilot however would not have happened without the Hungarian Council Presidency.  As part of their “Blogger outreach” (also a novelty in the institutional machinery in Brussels!) they organised several background briefings with Bloggingportal.eu editors and other bloggers (unfortunately I missed all of them so far…) Anyway blogger press accreditation would have not been possible without these meetings and the determined officials of the Hungarian Council presidency.  Thanks a lot for this – and let’s hope other presidencies and other institutions (!) learn from this pilot project! (It is actually a weird twist that the most secretive EU institution was involved in the pilot project – and not the most obvious one: the European Parliament!)

What happened in the Council you might ask? Well, this week there were two bloggers that covered the EU Competitiveness Council (and parts of the Foreign Affairs Council). But you should really read the original stuff including the preparatory blogging and the live tweeting:

Preparatory blogging: I, II (and a  German translation!)

Live blogging day 1

Live blogging day 2

#EUpilot on twitter

So, thanks a lot @ronpatz and @europasionaria for a great blogging and tweeting coverage! Let’s hope that some journalists read the stuff and re-consider their strategies on how to cover council meetings – and how to make it more interactive and interesting. It is really not rocket science

But why is this pilot project so important?

My two basic (and possibly naive) cents:  Treating bloggers like journalists is important because of two reasons. First of all, bloggers are citizens and basically every citizen can become a blogger without much effort. (ok, you need to open a blog and start writing…) The point is that not only journalists but also non-journalists have access to formerly restricted institutional environments. You don’t need to work for a newspaper or have a press pass to have access. Second, it can be a (small and symbolic) step for  institutions to open up to normal citizens. Not because it is that exciting to cover press conferences and do some doorstep interviews – no because it can help demystifying  institutional practices and it can become useful in challenging myths. It might even improve press coverage and can increase public scrutiny (at least theoretically). Obviously if we think about transparency in EU institutions this is hardly enough – a lot of other stuff remains to be done!

Now, what is the the way forward?

First of all, I think, we need to spread the word a bit. For the EU institutions it was quite an achievement. At the same time it is good to know that with a bit of determination a handful of officials can make things happen. So please spread the word.

The aim is to get a permanent, institutionalised and easy procedure that would allow bloggers to have the same rights as accredited journalists within the EU institutions.

But we also need to get more bloggers on board. Not only ‘eurobloggers’ but also subject specialists. Most EU policies are sector specific, so coverage is often difficult for generalists – and generalists do not necessarily contribute to a better media coverage. We hope there will be similar opportunities so if you are a blogger and you want to get involved in future events and campaigns do follow bloggingportal and/or contact us!

The problem is obviously Brussels. Most bloggers that might consider participating in such a process do not live in Brussels. Travelling to some EU meeting is out of the question – it is a budget and a time issue. Most bloggers do have proper jobs. So even if the EU opens up for bloggers I suspect that not many will take advantage of this.  Somehow a blogging link between the EU level and the national and subject spheres needs to be established. Any ideas are most appreciated – although there are enough ideas but not enough people that get involved.

“Entropa”, as the project is called, is a joint creation by 27 artists, one from each Member State, each of them depicting their country by means of commonly used stereotypes. The Czech artist David Černý, who conceptualised the project, managed in this way to extract the stereotypes from their natural context (the us/others dychotomy), “internalise” them through the visions of the local artists and put them together only to symbolise the impossible match. A messed-up map of Europe, where the rigurously drawn geographical borders become unbridgeable gaps, and where mental barriers are created through stereotypes. The installation might seem utterly non-esthetical and unfitted; but, baring in mind its purpose as a warning, isn’t it just the way it should look?

The concept behind the installation is summarised by Milena Vicenová, the Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the European Union:

The freedom of art as an extension of the freedom of speech is the core value of democracy. There are many barriers to integration and cooperation in Europe. Stereotypes are such barriers. When we point out the stereotypes we begin demolishing them. Making fun of prejudice destroys it most efficiently.

The stereotype installation shows in a very figurative manner German highways, France strikes, Italian football, as well as Dracula in Romania and IKEA in Sweden. A more political approach, mirroring the debates on Europe, was taken in the case of UK and Czech Republic. The UK is missing from the installation; its physical absence symbolises the negative attitude the British are seen as having towards the EU. Another stereotype. And what better prejudice can represent the Czech Republic in a European context than President Klaus and his controversial ideas? Diversity issues and tolerance are also touched upon in the cases of The Netherlands and Poland. A presentation of the project and each of its 27 components can be found here.

Critics complain about the dimensions of the installation and the noise it makes (and it only starts “living” on 15 January!). Even though one might argue if its place is in the Council building or rather in a museum, the idea behind the installation and especially its non-abstract nature are an appropriate starting point for European debates on barrier and borders constructed through national(ist) perceptions. In order to reach out beyond the Council bureaucrats and stir a real European debate, the installation (which only weighs 8 tones) should tour the marketplaces of (medium-sized) towns across the EU.

An exclusive photo of the installation:

and the “French – German axis”:

Update 13.1.2009: Now it is getting interesting: Conceptual art at its best. As a Czech Newspaper revealed today David Cerny fooled the art and the political world. There are no 27 artists, all CVs are invented by the artist himself and it was only him that created the installation. Basically the debate around the project is also part of the installation. Art and discourse are one.

Now, of course this has political implications: Did the Czech EU Presidency know about this? Apparently Cerny signed a contract to work with 27 artist on the piece…did he breach the contract or was the Czech Government aware of it? (Hat-tip: Coulisses de Bruxelles) According to Reuters the artist said he had deceived the government: “We knew the truth would come out. But before that we wanted to find out if Europe is able to laugh at itself,” Cerny said. Interesting detail of the story is also that apparently no tax money was used for the art project and all costs were covered by the artist himself! And I agree with Bruno Waterfield (who also has more details!) that this story ain’t over yet.

Update 16.1.2009: Mission accomplished as controversy continued: Bulgaria demanded to remove the Bulgarian piece of the installation, the Czech presidency apologized (good speech here). Don’t understand why Czerny also thinks he has to apologize… And the installation started its own “life”, so watch the video:

Entropa: Czech artist David Cerny speaks out

Update 15.31: This is not a chat! Dear Czech Council Presidency, if you announce a chat you should think what a chat involves: A chat refers to a conversation with interactions, a live element and direct questions!! Answering questions that have been formulated before the start of a chat is ok but without the possibility for follow up questions it is not a chat! If you only intend to do something like this please use another term as chat implies something completely different! This has nothing to do with modern internet communication in a “web 2.0″ era in the year 2009! Very disappointing.

Chats in January include:

9 January 2009  Alexandr Vondra, Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs (Topic: Czech Presidency of the European Union 2009 and results of the informal meeting of the General Affairs Council)

19 January 2009 Ivan Langer, Czech Minister of the Interior (Topic: Results of the informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council)

26 January 2009 Petr Nečas, Czech Minister of Labour and Social Affairs (Topic: Results of the informal meeting of the Employment and Social Affairs Council)

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