Kosmopolito » EP elections

Quotes of the week (V)

Kosmopolit — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:10:09 +0000

Just a reminder: there were actually European Parliament elections last week…

Francisco G. Basterra (El Pais)

Global Vote, local mindset.

Lykke Friis

The EU elections are like a European soccer championship played in each national league with aggregated results.

Evenimentul Zilei

Send in the Clowns.

NikOs

To the 57% of Europeans: Not voting and at the same time speaking about a democratic deficit in the EU is pure hypocrisy

Kainde Manji

Nick Griffin is now a migrant worker. I wonder if he appreciates the irony…

Senior Swedish diplomat (on enlargement)

…the EU integration process is a qualifying process not a negotiation

A diplomat

It is not a pretty sight to have prime ministers drafting texts

Jason O Mahony:

Could it be that it was impossible to negotiate such a document between such a diverse bunch of reformers, religious conservatives, and people who are, shall we say, a little too fond of the stiff right arm?

Martin Kotynek

Finde ein Problem, das nicht existiert. Mache einen Riesenwirbel darum. Gib vor, es gelöst zu haben. Lass Dich dafür feiern.

Christian Meier (kressreport)

Es gibt sehr, sehr wenig, sehr qualifizierte Berichterstattung über Europa.

Leonard Novy

All das ist nicht nur banal und inhaltsleer – das ist praktizierte Europaverachtung (…) es bleibt es im Wahlkampf bei pro-europäischen Lippenbekenntnissen, populistischer EU-Kritik oder nationalen Themen

Christiane Schulzki-Haddouti

Zu komplex, zu schwierig, nicht in zwei Sätzen zu erklären. (…) So lange die Relevanz von Europa nicht täglich deutlich wird, so lange nur die nationale Karte gespielt wird, so lange werden die Bürger sich auch nicht an die Urne bemühen.

European Parliament elections!

Kosmopolit — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:20:23 +0000

Here we go: it is the last day of the European Parliament Elections. I guess everything (for example here or here or here) has been said – no need to add anything. If you don’t know who to vote for – EUprofiler and Votematch might help.

The only advice I can give you, is the following: Do not use the elections to punish your national government. Base your decision on what the candidates actually want to achieve in the European Parliament. Evaluate the programmes of the parties and candidates baring in mind the competences of the European Parliament as an institution in the EU system.

Now, just go out and vote! It’s your choice.

Sorry for the rather infrequent blogging lately. I am rather busy at the moment and unfortunatly that will not change until mid July.

How to explain a political process with a video?

Kosmopolit — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:26:25 +0000

The brilliant people at Common Craft just released a great video that explains the US elections in ‘plain English’! If you don’t know their other videos (mostly about internet issues) you really missed something and I strongly recommend them to you. Basically they “make complex ideas easy to understand using short and simple videos.”(mission statement!) But now enjoy “Electing a US President in Plain English”

“Make complex ideas easy to understand” … sounds like the EU needs something like that. Although the EU started experimenting with online videos lately, it still lacks creativity and a certain “online buzz”. Most of the videos about the EU (not only EUtube!) are either pure news reports or have a political motivation. However, one of the greatest problems of the EU is that nobody understands what exactly it does and how it works (which can also explain low turnouts at European elections). Unfortunately EUtube as well as other video producers do not address these issues. Short simple online videos could help people to learn and think about the EU. Maybe the video on US elections can turn into an inspiration to produce similar videos about the European elections or the EU decision making process …in plain 23 languages!