How do you prove that a death-born child is alive? Well, you pre-select a Secretary General with Brussels experience and make five countries agree on him.
This is what according to Eurotribune has been happening at the zombie organisation known by its official name "Union for the Mediterranean", an organisation that doesn't even have a website yet (at least none known to me so far), which is an obvious signal in the 15th Muslim, 21st Christian, and 58th Jewish century (hope the figures are correct).
But apparently, Egypt, France, Spain, Tunisia, and Jordan, five countries out of 44, have agreed to nominate Ahmad Massadeh as candidate for the post of Secretary General of the Union. According to other news reports, this represents a consensus of all Union member states.
Mr Massedeh, a former minister, is the current Jordanian ambassador to the EU and NATO, and thus probably a person well known in Brussels - something important for an organisation with a majority of countries being either in the EU or in NATO.
However, seeing the speed with which the almost dead organisation has developed over the last 1 1/2 years, the main task of its Secretary General - if he will be appointed - will be to apply all life-prolonging measures necessary to keep the death man walking.
(found via alvaromillan on Twitter)
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Hearing the new EU Commissioners (next week)
My blog statistics have exploded yesterday and continue to be comparatively hectic today, but I hope things will go back to normal soon since this kind of attention is not what I was or am looking for.
As usual, I tried to report about what I read, see, and think, yet the story turned unnecessary large for this kind of minor issue, especially since to my knowledge Mr Bean never appeared on the front page of the presidency website and never was replacing a picture of of Zapatero as some media report or interpret.
So while some still think a British comedian appearing on a non-permanent sub-site of the Spanish EU Council presidency website is big news despite the right demand that possible loopholes need to be fixed to protect users from unwanted external influences, others like Erik Wesselius on Twitter and Stephen Spillane in his blog remind that next week we will have the hearings of the designated European Commissioners.
Okay, it is not absolutely sure that this will actually happen because the impoverished Brussels officials threaten to go on strike during that time. Still, I hope they are not doing it, slowing down a democratic process that has already been delayed in a grey legal area with the old caretaker Commission being in office for several months by now.
In case the officials might decide not to go on strike against our citizens' parliament or the Commission but maybe just to pay a friendly visit to the Council where the member states don't want to raise the incomes of those living below the poverty line within the EU institutions, there is a wonderful European Parliament websites giving all the necessary background information on the Commission nomination procedure and on the CVs of the designated Commissioners.
In addition, there is also a list of written answers the Commissioners have given to questions put before them ahead of the hearings:
The interesting question still is: Will MEPs try to prevent one or another European Commissioner as they did with Rocco Buttiglione in 2004 or will all Commissioners pass so that the new Commission can take office as soon as possible?
Other blogs on this subject: Matizandrea's blog.
As usual, I tried to report about what I read, see, and think, yet the story turned unnecessary large for this kind of minor issue, especially since to my knowledge Mr Bean never appeared on the front page of the presidency website and never was replacing a picture of of Zapatero as some media report or interpret.
So while some still think a British comedian appearing on a non-permanent sub-site of the Spanish EU Council presidency website is big news despite the right demand that possible loopholes need to be fixed to protect users from unwanted external influences, others like Erik Wesselius on Twitter and Stephen Spillane in his blog remind that next week we will have the hearings of the designated European Commissioners.
Okay, it is not absolutely sure that this will actually happen because the impoverished Brussels officials threaten to go on strike during that time. Still, I hope they are not doing it, slowing down a democratic process that has already been delayed in a grey legal area with the old caretaker Commission being in office for several months by now.
In case the officials might decide not to go on strike against our citizens' parliament or the Commission but maybe just to pay a friendly visit to the Council where the member states don't want to raise the incomes of those living below the poverty line within the EU institutions, there is a wonderful European Parliament websites giving all the necessary background information on the Commission nomination procedure and on the CVs of the designated Commissioners.
In addition, there is also a list of written answers the Commissioners have given to questions put before them ahead of the hearings:
- Joaquín ALMUNIA: Competition. Vice-President of the Commission. (answers)
- László ANDOR: Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. (answers)
- Baroness Catherine ASHTON: High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security and Vice-President of the Commission. (answers)
- Michel BARNIER: Internal Market and Services. (answers)
- Dacian CIOLOS: Agriculture and Rural Development. (answers)
- John DALLI: Health and Consumer Policy. (answers)
- Maria DAMANAKI: Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. (answers)
- Karel DE GUCHT: Trade. (answers)
- Štefan FÜLE: Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy. (answers)
- Maire GEOGHEGAN-QUINN: Research and Innovation. (answers)
- Johannes HAHN: Regional Policy. (answers)
- Connie HEDEGAARD: Climate Action. (answers)
- Rumiana JELEVA: International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. (answers)
- Siim KALLAS: Transport. Vice-President of the Commission. (answers)
- Neelie KROES: Digital Agenda. Vice-President of the Commission. (answers)
- Janusz LEWANDOWSKI: Budget and Financial Programming. (answers)
- Cecilia MALMSTRÖM: Home Affairs. (answers)
- Günter OETTINGER: Energy. (answers)
- Andris PIEBALGS: Development. (answers)
- Janez POTOČNIK: Environment. (answers)
- Viviane REDING: Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. Vice-President of the Commission. (answers)
- Olli REHN: Economic and Monetary Affairs. (answers)
- Maro ŠEFČOVIČ: Vice-President of the Commission for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration. (answers)
- Algirdas ŠEMETA: Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud. (answers)
- Antonio TAJANI: Industry and Entrepreneurship. Vice-President of the Commission. (answers)
- Androulla VASSILIOU: Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth. (answers)
The interesting question still is: Will MEPs try to prevent one or another European Commissioner as they did with Rocco Buttiglione in 2004 or will all Commissioners pass so that the new Commission can take office as soon as possible?
Other blogs on this subject: Matizandrea's blog.
Monday, 4 January 2010
What is Euroblogging?
Nobody knows what Euroblogging is, and nobody ever asks because if one asked there would be a risk to get an answer like this Euroblogging post (or this one).
Euroblogging is the fine art of creating debate where there is no debate, it is the fine art of writing a blog for a tiny multilingual audience that you try to make grow one by one with every article you write.
Euroblogging usually is, as Falk has put it yesterday, extremely "crypotgraphic-technocratic" and the reason is that when you deal with European issues they are usually technical by nature and generally uninteresting. Nevertheless, Euroblogging needs to become "less institutional, less geeky, less boring, more personal, more imaginative, more visionary" as nonformality demands.
Euroblogging is keeping track of a European issue for a year that no one in the tradition media notices during that time, seeing this issue boost for 1-2 days almost by accident, and witnessing the renewed ignorance of what comes afterwards.
Euroblogging is following over 500 blogs in various languages united in the European bloggingportal Bloggingportal.eu as well as several European and national news and document sources, trying to connect the various articles, texts, comments, and sub-debates to a public sphere of European politics that does not yet exist.
Euroblogging is the craft of combining passion for politics and writing with frustration, having too much and too little to write about. Too much because 90% of the important things the EU and other European institutions do are not covered in the daily news and you could write for weeks just to cover the news of a day. Too little because most of the issues are so complex that writing about them would not make a difference because you cannot tell an unknown and overly long story in a blog posts or even a series of blog posts.
Euroblogging usually means to take little snippets you find on the net or elsewhere and to write about them in a way that does at least interest an audience trying to understand what is happening on the European level or in the transnational and pan-European space.
Euroblogging is everyone leaving the purely national perspectives in blogging and relating to blogs in other European countries, writing about topics of common concern and bridging language barriers that are not that high with many web users speaking at least one foreign language and with translation software that helps to understand texts in totally unknown languages.
Euroblogging is being an idealist in a world of bureaucrats and ignorance, Euroblogging is often time-consuming and mostly self-referential, Euroblogging is something you shouldn't start unless you are willing to follow the 10 steps to becoming a Euroblogger.
And naturally, nothing of this really characterises Euroblogging, but writing it down to revise it in a month is also part of Euroblogging.
Euroblogging is the fine art of creating debate where there is no debate, it is the fine art of writing a blog for a tiny multilingual audience that you try to make grow one by one with every article you write.
Euroblogging usually is, as Falk has put it yesterday, extremely "crypotgraphic-technocratic" and the reason is that when you deal with European issues they are usually technical by nature and generally uninteresting. Nevertheless, Euroblogging needs to become "less institutional, less geeky, less boring, more personal, more imaginative, more visionary" as nonformality demands.
Euroblogging is keeping track of a European issue for a year that no one in the tradition media notices during that time, seeing this issue boost for 1-2 days almost by accident, and witnessing the renewed ignorance of what comes afterwards.
Euroblogging is following over 500 blogs in various languages united in the European bloggingportal Bloggingportal.eu as well as several European and national news and document sources, trying to connect the various articles, texts, comments, and sub-debates to a public sphere of European politics that does not yet exist.
Euroblogging is the craft of combining passion for politics and writing with frustration, having too much and too little to write about. Too much because 90% of the important things the EU and other European institutions do are not covered in the daily news and you could write for weeks just to cover the news of a day. Too little because most of the issues are so complex that writing about them would not make a difference because you cannot tell an unknown and overly long story in a blog posts or even a series of blog posts.
Euroblogging usually means to take little snippets you find on the net or elsewhere and to write about them in a way that does at least interest an audience trying to understand what is happening on the European level or in the transnational and pan-European space.
Euroblogging is everyone leaving the purely national perspectives in blogging and relating to blogs in other European countries, writing about topics of common concern and bridging language barriers that are not that high with many web users speaking at least one foreign language and with translation software that helps to understand texts in totally unknown languages.
Euroblogging is being an idealist in a world of bureaucrats and ignorance, Euroblogging is often time-consuming and mostly self-referential, Euroblogging is something you shouldn't start unless you are willing to follow the 10 steps to becoming a Euroblogger.
And naturally, nothing of this really characterises Euroblogging, but writing it down to revise it in a month is also part of Euroblogging.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Spanish EU Council website is not secure?! (Updated 6x)
Update (Tuesday, 00:10): According to a statement of the Spanish government, there has been an XSS weakness in the presidency website.
However, this resulted not in a manipulation of the content of the site itself but in a manipulation of what the user was seeing on the screen (as you can see on the screenshots below). These manipulated websites are supposed to be only accessible through the specific URLs they are linked with and are thus no general threat for the users, the officials say in the statement. I hope I have translated this correctly; the original version applies.
There is also a very informative blog post in Spanish explaining the factual and technical background of this story (via a tweet of the Spanish state secretariat for communication), including the shortcomings and misinterpretations in the coverage of this story.
Update (20:10): The Spanish secretary of state for communication has been issuing a message on Twitter saying that the pictures below are photomontages.
However, these are original screenshots from subpages (not the frontpage!) of the presidency website (the links to these subpages are below in the text although they don't reproduce the original shots anymore). Other users on Twitter confirm this here and here.
More important than the Mr. Bean photo that has been taken up by many was the "hi there" window that opened in my browser when opening the second link provided below - this was definitely some kind of code because it triggered a direct browser activity, and I then had to close the little window that you see on the screenshot.
As I have said in my post, I am no technical expert and I cannot say how grave such kind of things are, but they happened in front of my eyes.
Update (11:30): It seems like the problem has been fixed, both the picture of Mr Bean and the "hi there" message have been removed, the links provided below just show ordinary "no results" pages now.
I am no expert in IT security, but it seems like the website of the Spanish EU Council Presidency is not secure, despite the fact that
At the following web discussions - here, here and here - people say that the site can be attacked due to XSS, and they provided two links - here and here - that brought the following two results on the actual web page of the presidency (though on sub-sites, not on the frontpage), apparently externally embedded code showing a picture of Mr Bean and a message saying "hi there" (both screenshots made at 03/01/2010 23:00):
I suppose that this is no minor problem and needs rapid fixing.
PS.: I was made aware of this problem by alvaromillan on Twitter.
Update: I tried to send an email informing about the issue to the contact address of the Telefonica web team - ue2010 [..at..] telefonica.es - as provided on the Contact site of the presidency website, but the email was returned as "Unknown user". Very, very strange...
Update: At around 10 am I have sent an email to the Communication Advisor of the Spanish Representation informing about the issue.
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Strangers
It was quite warm in southern Germany where I spent this New Year's Eve.
Waking up late on the first day of the new decade, we decided to drive to the fortress of the city and to walk up the mountain on which the castle had been built centuries ago, strong and massively protected by several walls, a monument of the medieval Europe and probably a symbol of the modern Europe, too.
We had almost finished our walk around, when we saw a young child of probably 2-3 years, crying and walking quickly behind his family that had gained some 150 metres of advance. They had probably left the child behind as a disciplinary tactic that you apply sometimes to make little children learn how to behave.
Yet, I still felt sorry for the little infant.
Reaching the child, I asked whether it wanted to take my hand and come with me. I didn't expect a positive reaction, but it immediately took my fingers with its own little fingers and continued walking straight forward. More surprisingly, the little human being stopped crying the moment it was walking by my side.
Together we approached the other family members who were now waiting in the distance, curiously watching the unexpected couple.
I tried to have a little chat with the child, but I received no answer on my questions, and so we continued, silently moving along the high walls of the stronghold with all its political and cultural implications the child would only understand after many years of education.
When we reached the family, the mother (I suppose she was the mother) told me with positive astonishment: "It is quite strange: He doesn't want to walk on our hands, but he immediately takes the hand of a stranger and even stops crying."
She said this in German with a slight but audible Slavic - maybe Czech - accent.
We smiled, I handed over the smallest family member, and wished a Happy New Year to the rest of the family. Leaving them behind, I heard the mother talk to the child in their mother tongue that I couldn't identify since we had departed for some metres already. In any way, it didn't matter to me, as long as the child and the family seemed happy.
And neither the child nor I had thought of the other as a stranger.
Waking up late on the first day of the new decade, we decided to drive to the fortress of the city and to walk up the mountain on which the castle had been built centuries ago, strong and massively protected by several walls, a monument of the medieval Europe and probably a symbol of the modern Europe, too.
We had almost finished our walk around, when we saw a young child of probably 2-3 years, crying and walking quickly behind his family that had gained some 150 metres of advance. They had probably left the child behind as a disciplinary tactic that you apply sometimes to make little children learn how to behave.
Yet, I still felt sorry for the little infant.
Reaching the child, I asked whether it wanted to take my hand and come with me. I didn't expect a positive reaction, but it immediately took my fingers with its own little fingers and continued walking straight forward. More surprisingly, the little human being stopped crying the moment it was walking by my side.
Together we approached the other family members who were now waiting in the distance, curiously watching the unexpected couple.
I tried to have a little chat with the child, but I received no answer on my questions, and so we continued, silently moving along the high walls of the stronghold with all its political and cultural implications the child would only understand after many years of education.
When we reached the family, the mother (I suppose she was the mother) told me with positive astonishment: "It is quite strange: He doesn't want to walk on our hands, but he immediately takes the hand of a stranger and even stops crying."
She said this in German with a slight but audible Slavic - maybe Czech - accent.
We smiled, I handed over the smallest family member, and wished a Happy New Year to the rest of the family. Leaving them behind, I heard the mother talk to the child in their mother tongue that I couldn't identify since we had departed for some metres already. In any way, it didn't matter to me, as long as the child and the family seemed happy.
And neither the child nor I had thought of the other as a stranger.
Spanish Council presidency website is a failure (updated)
I totally agree with The European Citizen and Grahnlaw that the website of the Spanish EU Council presidency is a failure, uninspiring and absolutely not useful for the public.
Anyone who thought that the simplicity of the Swedish presidency website would serve as a model for the future presidencies is obviously mistaken.
So on the first days of the second decade of the 21st century, we see that modern technology and design are still not common sense for EU politics, but rather the exception.
Update: La Oreja de Europa, Jon Worth, and Nosemonkey agree on this, too.
Anyone who thought that the simplicity of the Swedish presidency website would serve as a model for the future presidencies is obviously mistaken.
So on the first days of the second decade of the 21st century, we see that modern technology and design are still not common sense for EU politics, but rather the exception.
Update: La Oreja de Europa, Jon Worth, and Nosemonkey agree on this, too.
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Kazakhstan leading the OSCE in 2010 (updated)
In 2010, Kazakhstan under President Nazarbayev will chair the OSCE, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe including 56 European, Central Asian and some other countries, taking over the presidency from Greece.
And this is what Human Rights Watch told about freedom of expressions in its December 2008 report titled "An Atmosphere of Quiet Repression:
In one of the articles of this issue, Freedom House programme manager Jeff Goldstein asks a question that I find quite relevant:
It is good that for the first time a former Soviet Union country takes over the presidency, but Kazakhstan will have to prove that they can serve all dimensions of the OSCE, including peace in Europe and the protection of human rights and civil freedoms.
In any case, the Kazakh chairmanship shows that organising human security in Europe is not limited to EU countries, and that joining forces in pan-European organisations has to be possible under the leadership of Western as well as under Eastern European countries (and beyond), a fact many in the EU tend to forget.
Update (01/01/2010): There is now the press release for the start of the Kazakh presidency, and the Chairman-in-office website has also been updated.
And this is what Human Rights Watch told about freedom of expressions in its December 2008 report titled "An Atmosphere of Quiet Repression:
In Kazakhstan, journalists operate in an environment of anxiety, faced with constant intimidating lawsuits and, not infrequently, direct threats to their person. Libel continues to be a criminal, rather than a civil, offense and carries stiff penalties. Even when journalists do not admit to outright self-censorship, they speak privately of the tightly regulated environment and topics they do not dare to cover. Threatening phone calls, visits by the police, and successive lawsuits are common. There are no independent television stations, and websites critical of the government are often blocked by the authorities.Yet let's not just focus on one single dimension. But since I am no expert on Kazakhstan, I should point to last year's special issue of the academic journal Security and Human Rights on the upcoming Kazakh OSCE chairmanchip that is worth reading for anyone interested.
In one of the articles of this issue, Freedom House programme manager Jeff Goldstein asks a question that I find quite relevant:
"The importance of who holds the Chairmanship was brought home during the August 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia, when the Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, travelled to Georgia, met with the parties and strongly criticized Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.This is just one of the possible questions to be asked, and I suppose that the next year will be a very interesting year for the OSCE.
Would a Kazakhstani Chairman-in-Office have done the same?"
It is good that for the first time a former Soviet Union country takes over the presidency, but Kazakhstan will have to prove that they can serve all dimensions of the OSCE, including peace in Europe and the protection of human rights and civil freedoms.
In any case, the Kazakh chairmanship shows that organising human security in Europe is not limited to EU countries, and that joining forces in pan-European organisations has to be possible under the leadership of Western as well as under Eastern European countries (and beyond), a fact many in the EU tend to forget.
Update (01/01/2010): There is now the press release for the start of the Kazakh presidency, and the Chairman-in-office website has also been updated.
Euroblogging 2010
Euroblogging 2010 will be:
Anything missing? Any objection?
PS.: The Merchant of Venice has more predictions for the EU in 2010.
- more professional;
- more diverse;
- more policy-oriented;
- more multi-lingual;
- more conflictual;
- still Brussels focused.
Anything missing? Any objection?
PS.: The Merchant of Venice has more predictions for the EU in 2010.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
How the Spanish EU Council Presidency can be a success
In two days, the Spanish EU Council Presidency will take over from the Swedish Council Presidency, and the Spanish will be the first rotating presidency under the Lisbon Treaty system.
The new institutional setting will need some adaptation, people and institutions will need time to find their roles and their routines, and we shouldn't be too critical if some things don't work out perfectly at the beginning.
But in my point of view, the Spanish presidency can only be a success if they try to stay in the background, if they focus less on policy and put all their forces behind the new leadership trio - van Rompuy, Ashton, and (to some extend) Barroso - in order to make them look good.
If van Rompuy and Ashton are able to stand out positively throughout 2010, the acceptance of the Lisbon Treaty could be significantly raised, which is important both for the core EU institutions as well as for the member states, including future presidencies.
This doesn't mean that the Spanish need to reduce the power or influence of the member states, but just that this coming presidency should refrain from the typical instincts of large member state presidencies - try to heavily influence the EU agenda and to receive international attention. This will be in favour of the Council and the member states, letting them focus on the legislative work while giving van Rompuy and Ashton the freedom to get into their roles, both within the EU and on the international stage.
As a citizen, there is a second direction into which I would like to see the Spanish work: Openness and transparency.
I have major doubts that the Spanish are the right country to foster these two, but if they managed to bring in at least some more transparency and openness, this would be a major success for their presidency.
The Council is the second chamber of the political system of the EU, and most of its structures are law-making or law-interpreting in character. These laws are not made for that EU institutions or member state officials but for us, the citizens. We should thus be able to observe every important decision taken, including a more detailed insight into bargaining dynamics and the voting and drafting behaviour of our own and other EU countries.
Only if the Spanish are able to bring about changes into this direction, their presidency can be a real success.
And so at the end of June 2010 we shall ask: Were the Spanish able to communicate with us, the citizens? Did they manage to make decision-making in the Council more visible, more traceable, more understandable? Did they follow the Swedish in communicating on Twitter and in blogs or did they even find other innovative means get us, the interested public, involved in their work? And: Were they able, through their intelligent work, to support the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty changes?
In the last 1 1/2 years we had the "Ego-Presidency" of the French, the "Chaos-Presidency" of the Czechs, the "Efficency-Presidency" of the Swedes - what kind of over-simplifying label will we use for the Spanish after the coming semester?
The new institutional setting will need some adaptation, people and institutions will need time to find their roles and their routines, and we shouldn't be too critical if some things don't work out perfectly at the beginning.
But in my point of view, the Spanish presidency can only be a success if they try to stay in the background, if they focus less on policy and put all their forces behind the new leadership trio - van Rompuy, Ashton, and (to some extend) Barroso - in order to make them look good.
If van Rompuy and Ashton are able to stand out positively throughout 2010, the acceptance of the Lisbon Treaty could be significantly raised, which is important both for the core EU institutions as well as for the member states, including future presidencies.
This doesn't mean that the Spanish need to reduce the power or influence of the member states, but just that this coming presidency should refrain from the typical instincts of large member state presidencies - try to heavily influence the EU agenda and to receive international attention. This will be in favour of the Council and the member states, letting them focus on the legislative work while giving van Rompuy and Ashton the freedom to get into their roles, both within the EU and on the international stage.
As a citizen, there is a second direction into which I would like to see the Spanish work: Openness and transparency.
I have major doubts that the Spanish are the right country to foster these two, but if they managed to bring in at least some more transparency and openness, this would be a major success for their presidency.
The Council is the second chamber of the political system of the EU, and most of its structures are law-making or law-interpreting in character. These laws are not made for that EU institutions or member state officials but for us, the citizens. We should thus be able to observe every important decision taken, including a more detailed insight into bargaining dynamics and the voting and drafting behaviour of our own and other EU countries.
Only if the Spanish are able to bring about changes into this direction, their presidency can be a real success.
And so at the end of June 2010 we shall ask: Were the Spanish able to communicate with us, the citizens? Did they manage to make decision-making in the Council more visible, more traceable, more understandable? Did they follow the Swedish in communicating on Twitter and in blogs or did they even find other innovative means get us, the interested public, involved in their work? And: Were they able, through their intelligent work, to support the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty changes?
In the last 1 1/2 years we had the "Ego-Presidency" of the French, the "Chaos-Presidency" of the Czechs, the "Efficency-Presidency" of the Swedes - what kind of over-simplifying label will we use for the Spanish after the coming semester?
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
2009 - a summary
2009 has been the year the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, and as usual almost nobody outside Brussels has noticed.
What everybody noticed were the European Parliament elections 2009 that have dominated this blog for the first half of 2009. The last election day and the Monday after the elections were the most successful days (in terms of visitors and hits) of this blog in the first semester. I should also remind you of the Th!nk About it! blogging competition where I was invited to moderate a discussion at the final event in Rotterdam.
The second semester was much more quiet with the summer break - until my visits to Hungary where I spoke to local and regional journalists and to the "Brussels bubble" in October. This visit was extremely fruitful, meeting people I only new through blogging and Twitter, and discussing issues that are very relevant to my own research as a political scientist. These days in Brussels have been covered in a four-part series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4.
On 3 November 2009, we finally saw the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty that has put the EU on a new constitutional basis on 1 December 2009 - probably the last "major" reform for at least a decade.
And over the year, we got many new and renewed faces for the top EU posts: Jerzy Buzek as European Parliament President (my comment), José Manuel Barroso as European Commission President (see the very first Chasing Brussels Podcast episode), Hermann van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton for European Council President and "Foreign Minister" (Eurobloggers' comment) as well as Pierre de Boissieu as EU Council Secretary General (comment by Grahnlaw) and his successor Uwe Corsepius (my portrait. Not to forget the new European Commission as proposed by Barroso at the end of November that is awaiting confirmation in January.
Well, and we have seen the amazing evolution of Bloggingportal.eu that has become the point of reference for the Euroblogosphere that I expect to continue to mature in 2010, where we will have to move to more policy-related issues after a year dominated by institutional and personality issues.
I myself am looking forward to 2010, not least since I know my own life will change again as I might move to Brussels for some time in Spring, and I will continue blogging as I did in 2009 - although I don't think I will be able to repeat the amount of almost 600 posts published over the year...
PS: My special thanks this year go to the Swedish Presidency Twitterers and blogging Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt for their work in making the Council Presidency the most transparent ever, serving as examples to build upon in the future!
What everybody noticed were the European Parliament elections 2009 that have dominated this blog for the first half of 2009. The last election day and the Monday after the elections were the most successful days (in terms of visitors and hits) of this blog in the first semester. I should also remind you of the Th!nk About it! blogging competition where I was invited to moderate a discussion at the final event in Rotterdam.
The second semester was much more quiet with the summer break - until my visits to Hungary where I spoke to local and regional journalists and to the "Brussels bubble" in October. This visit was extremely fruitful, meeting people I only new through blogging and Twitter, and discussing issues that are very relevant to my own research as a political scientist. These days in Brussels have been covered in a four-part series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4.
On 3 November 2009, we finally saw the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty that has put the EU on a new constitutional basis on 1 December 2009 - probably the last "major" reform for at least a decade.
And over the year, we got many new and renewed faces for the top EU posts: Jerzy Buzek as European Parliament President (my comment), José Manuel Barroso as European Commission President (see the very first Chasing Brussels Podcast episode), Hermann van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton for European Council President and "Foreign Minister" (Eurobloggers' comment) as well as Pierre de Boissieu as EU Council Secretary General (comment by Grahnlaw) and his successor Uwe Corsepius (my portrait. Not to forget the new European Commission as proposed by Barroso at the end of November that is awaiting confirmation in January.
Well, and we have seen the amazing evolution of Bloggingportal.eu that has become the point of reference for the Euroblogosphere that I expect to continue to mature in 2010, where we will have to move to more policy-related issues after a year dominated by institutional and personality issues.
I myself am looking forward to 2010, not least since I know my own life will change again as I might move to Brussels for some time in Spring, and I will continue blogging as I did in 2009 - although I don't think I will be able to repeat the amount of almost 600 posts published over the year...
PS: My special thanks this year go to the Swedish Presidency Twitterers and blogging Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt for their work in making the Council Presidency the most transparent ever, serving as examples to build upon in the future!
Sunday, 27 December 2009
EU country violating human rights: Secret CIA prisons in Lithuania
How can an EU country host secret CIA prisons violating human rights?
After previous allegations that Romania and Poland hosted secret prisons, it seems like Lithuania was actually having such secret prisons from 2002 - even two since 2004.
If this is true, the EU and its member states should act publicly - after disclosing all the other EU countries involved in similar grave human rights violations in the name of the war against terror.
The EU, the home of human rights and the respect for fundamental freedoms...
After previous allegations that Romania and Poland hosted secret prisons, it seems like Lithuania was actually having such secret prisons from 2002 - even two since 2004.
If this is true, the EU and its member states should act publicly - after disclosing all the other EU countries involved in similar grave human rights violations in the name of the war against terror.
The EU, the home of human rights and the respect for fundamental freedoms...
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
When the euroblogger helps the Council press service
I just saw the press release on yesterday's EU Council which formally approved Uwe Corsepius as Secretary General of the EU Council from June 2011 until June 2015.
I have already written about Uwe Corsepius when he was supported by the European Council earlier this month.
At the time, I wrote the following paragraph:
I have already written about Uwe Corsepius when he was supported by the European Council earlier this month.
At the time, I wrote the following paragraph:
Economist Uwe Corsepius is 49 years old and is the head of the European Policy Division in the German Chancellery - he is thus the EU advisor of Angela Merkel and was, inter alia, responsible the for negotiations ahead of the Berlin Declaration during the German EU Council Presidency that led to the Lisbon Treaty. Jan Seifert wrote about him at the time as being one of the "sherpas" of Angela Merkel (here's a photo of him at the time).In the press release of the Council the information on Corsepius reads like this:
Mr Corsepius is currently head of the European Policy Division in the German Chancellery. He was inter alia responsible for negotiations on the 2007 Berlin declaration which led to the Lisbon Treaty. Mr Corsepius is 49 years old and has a doctorate in economics.Looks like I was able to help...
Press release on Protocoll 14 disappeared from the website of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Two days ago I wrote about the resuming of the ratification process of Protocol 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights by Russia - but it seems that the background information that I have used is not available anymore.
My post followed the publishing of a press release of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in which both the President of the PACE and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe welcomed the approval for ratification of Protocol 14 by the Russian Duma.
The press release could be found here. Now this press release has disappeared - it has been deleted.
You can see that it has been actively removed when you look at the URL:
http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/NewsManager/EMB_NewsManagerView.asp?ID=5137&L=2
This press release with the IDs 5137 (English) and 5138 (French) is not available anymore, while the previous and following press releases with the IDs 5135/5136 and 5139/5140 are still accessible.
Does that mean that the information on the change of mind of the Russian Duma provided in the press release was wrong or that it was just non-authorised?
Update: In a new press release, this time coming directly from the Council, the Secretary General welcomes "indications" that the Duma is going to resume its ratification procedure in January.
My post followed the publishing of a press release of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in which both the President of the PACE and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe welcomed the approval for ratification of Protocol 14 by the Russian Duma.
The press release could be found here. Now this press release has disappeared - it has been deleted.
You can see that it has been actively removed when you look at the URL:
http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/NewsManager/EMB_NewsManagerView.asp?ID=5137&L=2
This press release with the IDs 5137 (English) and 5138 (French) is not available anymore, while the previous and following press releases with the IDs 5135/5136 and 5139/5140 are still accessible.
Does that mean that the information on the change of mind of the Russian Duma provided in the press release was wrong or that it was just non-authorised?
Update: In a new press release, this time coming directly from the Council, the Secretary General welcomes "indications" that the Duma is going to resume its ratification procedure in January.
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Slovenia is embarrassing
Reading that Slovenia continues to block the accession talks of Croatia due to nationalistic considerations is totally embarrassing.
I thought that with the agreement between both countries earlier this year this kind of things would have ended...
I thought that with the agreement between both countries earlier this year this kind of things would have ended...
Monday, 21 December 2009
Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights closer to ratification
I have to admit that I had serious doubts that Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights - the reform of the European Court of Human Rights - would ever enter into force, but now it seems as if a solution was near.
The reform of the overloaded European Court of Human Rights has been halted by the refusal of the Russian Duma to ratify Protocol 14, and there has been a deadlock for over three years - since Norway ratified the document as country 46 out of 47 (at the time 45 out of 46 at the time) in October 2006.
In order to reduce the case-load, an interim protocol - Protocol 14bis - had been put into place after the ministerial meeting in Madrid in May (declaration) and became active in July. Nevertheless, the future of human rights protection in the light of the non-ratification of Protocol 14 was still unclear and is supposed to be discussed at a special conference in Interlaken in 2010.
Now, according to a Council of Europe press release (UPDATE: the press release has been deleted, see my follow-up post), the Russian Duma has finally indicated its approval to the ratification of the document. This move followed a decision by the Committee of Ministers' Deputies (= the CoE's COREPER) last week, which followed a non-public letter sent by Russia in early November (see the last agenda item of the CoE-meeting from 6 November 2009), as we learn from Itar-Tass.
Council of Europe Secretary General Jagland (who is also the Nobel Peace Prize Committee Chairman) is on a visit to Russia right now, probably discussion this issue.
And despite the general urgency of the reform of the European Court of Human Rights, the ratification of Protocol 14 would also allow the EU to join the European Convention of Human Rights as I have discussed in a previous post.
I am still hesitant to applaud but since the ratification of Protocol 14 looks as close as never before in the last three years, I see a light on the horizon and I am hoping that Russia will proceed quickly with the necessary steps to ratify the Protocol.
The reform of the overloaded European Court of Human Rights has been halted by the refusal of the Russian Duma to ratify Protocol 14, and there has been a deadlock for over three years - since Norway ratified the document as country 46 out of 47 (at the time 45 out of 46 at the time) in October 2006.
In order to reduce the case-load, an interim protocol - Protocol 14bis - had been put into place after the ministerial meeting in Madrid in May (declaration) and became active in July. Nevertheless, the future of human rights protection in the light of the non-ratification of Protocol 14 was still unclear and is supposed to be discussed at a special conference in Interlaken in 2010.
Now, according to a Council of Europe press release (UPDATE: the press release has been deleted, see my follow-up post), the Russian Duma has finally indicated its approval to the ratification of the document. This move followed a decision by the Committee of Ministers' Deputies (= the CoE's COREPER) last week, which followed a non-public letter sent by Russia in early November (see the last agenda item of the CoE-meeting from 6 November 2009), as we learn from Itar-Tass.
Council of Europe Secretary General Jagland (who is also the Nobel Peace Prize Committee Chairman) is on a visit to Russia right now, probably discussion this issue.
And despite the general urgency of the reform of the European Court of Human Rights, the ratification of Protocol 14 would also allow the EU to join the European Convention of Human Rights as I have discussed in a previous post.
I am still hesitant to applaud but since the ratification of Protocol 14 looks as close as never before in the last three years, I see a light on the horizon and I am hoping that Russia will proceed quickly with the necessary steps to ratify the Protocol.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
New ARTE formats: "The Blogger" & "Yourope"
Update (11 January 2010): See my reactions on "The Blogger" and on "Yourope" after their first broadcast.
The director of programming of the French-German TV channel ARTE, Christoph Hauser, informs that from 2010 they will introduce two new programmes that are directed at the net and at bloggers.
I have recently praised ARTE and in particular the ARTE blog L'Europe en Blogs, and so it looks really interesting that they now announce to take a closer look at the net in these new formats next year (own translation):
Christoph Hauser: As a far as it makes sense, we will take up ideas that have developed on the net in our programme. With the new European magazines "The Blogger" and "Yourope" we try to make a targeted use of new technologies. "The Blogger" will find its ideas directly in the web. "Yourope" is a format that explicitly doesn't end with the broadcast but that will continue in forums and blogs and that will include its audience."Yourope" starts on Sunday, 10 January 2010, 17:45, and the title of the first programme will be "Networked or entangled - How social networks dominate our life".
Let's see how ARTE will execute these formats and especially whether they will be able to engage with the public or whether they will find an engaged audience. It will probably depend on how intensively they get involved themselves with what is discussed in blogs and forums, and how intelligent they are in realising this in programmes of 30 minutes length.
If they succeed, they might even be able to help to create a transnational European blogosphere, at least Franco-German for the beginning, by bringing together the mass audience (though limited masses in the case of ARTE) of the TV with a smaller but more active audience on the net.
One thing I'd find important is that these programmes will be freely available and embeddable in blogs all over Europe because most of the audiovisual online content of ARTE is only accessible in Germany and France so far. If they really want to engage with a wider European audience, this deficit needs to be tackled.
In any case, these are formats worth trying, in particular since ARTE has the unique position of being a transnational channel with a transnational audience, thus already reaching out to those who might have an interest in European discussions, discussions that we are also trying to create here in the blogosphere.
(Thanks at Kosmopolit on Twitter for making me aware!)
(Updated 22 Dec 09, 11:45)
Saturday, 19 December 2009
Copenhagen & the incapable European Union
I wake up this morning and I see that yesterday's minimal compromise in Copenhagen finished just close to a failure, in line with the failures of the European Union.
The pictures from the negotiations of the "world leaders" show Obama and Wen confronted with Merkel, Sarzkozy, Barroso and the Swedish prime minister Reinfeldt in charge of the EU Council presidency. The pictures show the EU of the many faces, and nobody knows whether they show the EU of the single voice.
The minimal compromise presented to the plenary by the group of 30 leaders including Reinfeldt and Barroso exhibits that the European Union is not able to march ahead on the world stage among 200 countries, to foster agreements that would show us being a positive player, an international agent of change.
The leadership failure of the Danish prime minister as conference president shows a member state of the EU that makes the Union look unprepared, pars pro toto.
The fact that leaders leave the Summit before the deal is finally agreed underlines their lack of judgement, their inability or their unwillingness to lead.
It is a large international meeting and the new European leaders - Ashton and van Rompuy - were not yet present, at least not visibly. The EU appears confused and confusing looking at how it dealt with the Summit, and a clear leadership inside the Union did not seem to emerge.
The question is: Will the EU be able to appear differently in the future, at similar occasions, with a well coordinated External Action Service backing the VP/HR Ashton and a European Council President van Rompuy who is able to stand in the front lines, negotiating for the Union while knowing to keep the many faces of EU leaders together and behind him.
Will there be an EU of fewer faces but clearer messages?
I have doubts. Ashton and van Rompuy look exactly like the two personalities who wouldn't be able to keep the EU crowd together while representing the Union as a strong player at such summits.
We will see as much confusion and as few leadership in the future as we have witnessed during these days of Copenhagen - because the leaders of the nation states prefer confusion over outcome, national pride over effectiveness. And van Rompuy and Ashton are too weak to change this.
The Copenhagen Summit, despite the fact that the world "took note" of the minimal compromise from yesterday evening, has displayed the incapable European Union, the one that knows to play blame-games but that doesn't know to work effectively, the Union that raises doubts whether the Lisbon Treaty will bring any changes to the better in the near future, both regarding leadership and outcome.
(Updated at 11:07)
The pictures from the negotiations of the "world leaders" show Obama and Wen confronted with Merkel, Sarzkozy, Barroso and the Swedish prime minister Reinfeldt in charge of the EU Council presidency. The pictures show the EU of the many faces, and nobody knows whether they show the EU of the single voice.
The minimal compromise presented to the plenary by the group of 30 leaders including Reinfeldt and Barroso exhibits that the European Union is not able to march ahead on the world stage among 200 countries, to foster agreements that would show us being a positive player, an international agent of change.
The leadership failure of the Danish prime minister as conference president shows a member state of the EU that makes the Union look unprepared, pars pro toto.
The fact that leaders leave the Summit before the deal is finally agreed underlines their lack of judgement, their inability or their unwillingness to lead.
It is a large international meeting and the new European leaders - Ashton and van Rompuy - were not yet present, at least not visibly. The EU appears confused and confusing looking at how it dealt with the Summit, and a clear leadership inside the Union did not seem to emerge.
The question is: Will the EU be able to appear differently in the future, at similar occasions, with a well coordinated External Action Service backing the VP/HR Ashton and a European Council President van Rompuy who is able to stand in the front lines, negotiating for the Union while knowing to keep the many faces of EU leaders together and behind him.
Will there be an EU of fewer faces but clearer messages?
I have doubts. Ashton and van Rompuy look exactly like the two personalities who wouldn't be able to keep the EU crowd together while representing the Union as a strong player at such summits.
We will see as much confusion and as few leadership in the future as we have witnessed during these days of Copenhagen - because the leaders of the nation states prefer confusion over outcome, national pride over effectiveness. And van Rompuy and Ashton are too weak to change this.
The Copenhagen Summit, despite the fact that the world "took note" of the minimal compromise from yesterday evening, has displayed the incapable European Union, the one that knows to play blame-games but that doesn't know to work effectively, the Union that raises doubts whether the Lisbon Treaty will bring any changes to the better in the near future, both regarding leadership and outcome.
(Updated at 11:07)
Friday, 18 December 2009
Bloggingportal.eu
Many of you will be heading into the holiday season now and when you come back to life in 2010, you should become a fan of Bloggingportal.eu - if you haven't been a fan until now!
The Bloggingportal is the most comprehensive and most useful compilation of blogs and blog posts focused on EU and pan-European topics and we are close to 500 blogs by now, in many European languages (although English is still dominating), including hundreds of topics and a diverse mix of bloggers.
"Who is 'We' in the last sentence?", you may ask.
We are the editors of Bloggingportal.eu, about a dozen Eurobloggers so far. We are EU officials, communication experts, students and scholars or political activists from different EU countries, and we are tagging (almost) all posts that can be read through the full RSS-feed of the Bloggingportal.
In addition, we are choosing our preferred posts for the front page, mirrored in the Editors' Choice RSS-feed as well as in the Editors' Choice Twitter feed. And we add Europe-related posts from blogs not focused on European affairs to the feed whenever we find them.
But since we are doing this for no money just because we think it is worth promoting discussions about European and EU topics, we are also looking forward to your contribution in order to share some of the work. You can propose interesting blog post or full blogs that should be added to our feed(s).
You can also become an editor. We are especially looking for those of you who can help with less common European languages (since we are pretty much focused on English, French, Spanish, German and only a few other languages so far) or with programming and designing the interface of the platform to make it more user-friendly. So if you want to help to promote good European blog content, feel free to contact us and join the team!
Altogether, Bloggingportal.eu is a great example of a living Euroblogosphere that will hopefully become part of a pan-European blogosphere in the very near future - and we hope that the portal motivates you to contribute by writing your own blog or blog posts on European affairs and to become part of the family!
PS.: And yes, you can also become a fan of the Bloggingportal on Facebook!
The Bloggingportal is the most comprehensive and most useful compilation of blogs and blog posts focused on EU and pan-European topics and we are close to 500 blogs by now, in many European languages (although English is still dominating), including hundreds of topics and a diverse mix of bloggers.
"Who is 'We' in the last sentence?", you may ask.
We are the editors of Bloggingportal.eu, about a dozen Eurobloggers so far. We are EU officials, communication experts, students and scholars or political activists from different EU countries, and we are tagging (almost) all posts that can be read through the full RSS-feed of the Bloggingportal.
In addition, we are choosing our preferred posts for the front page, mirrored in the Editors' Choice RSS-feed as well as in the Editors' Choice Twitter feed. And we add Europe-related posts from blogs not focused on European affairs to the feed whenever we find them.
But since we are doing this for no money just because we think it is worth promoting discussions about European and EU topics, we are also looking forward to your contribution in order to share some of the work. You can propose interesting blog post or full blogs that should be added to our feed(s).
You can also become an editor. We are especially looking for those of you who can help with less common European languages (since we are pretty much focused on English, French, Spanish, German and only a few other languages so far) or with programming and designing the interface of the platform to make it more user-friendly. So if you want to help to promote good European blog content, feel free to contact us and join the team!
Altogether, Bloggingportal.eu is a great example of a living Euroblogosphere that will hopefully become part of a pan-European blogosphere in the very near future - and we hope that the portal motivates you to contribute by writing your own blog or blog posts on European affairs and to become part of the family!
PS.: And yes, you can also become a fan of the Bloggingportal on Facebook!
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Could I talk to the Commissioner, please?!
Citizen-to-institutions communication still looks like a quasi-impossibility at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, and there where it happens you see mixed results - but still results on which basis we can continue working.
I have discussed the issue of European communication already two weeks ago in reply to a blog post by EU Commissioner Margot Wallström and so I do not have to go back to the discussion (see the comments) about the value of blogging and my hopes that at least one or two of the new Commissioners or their staff will be involved with the blogosphere.
But now Margot Wallström has written her very last blog post as EU Commissioner (UPDATE: Well, Margot has added a real Goodbye post) in which she mentions a few of us eurobloggers personally (thanks for the hint at Eurosocialiste and Oscar), and so we have to say good bye, sending warmest wishes to Brussels and Sweden and taking our hats off for the blogging work and insightful posts by Commissioner Wallström.
In the meanwhile, the web editors of the European Parliament are succeeding pretty well in employing Facebook for citizen-to-MEP chats, as Steve can tell in their latest blog post, and maybe other institutions can use the example and do similar things, whether on Facebook (where the crowd is) or on the EU websites (where there should be more crowd).
But there are also less stylish interactions in 2009, interactions in which you still feel the weight of formality that rules the external communication of public institutions:
Andre wrote a letter to the German Foreign minister supporting his decision to reject Erika Steinbach (see my post on that matter), and he actually got an answer from the ministry in the name of the Foreign Minister - although it is pretty sure he doesn't write himself - and strangely enough the answer is both personal in style and standard in content.
And I commented on a blog post of German MP Eva Hoegl, member of the Bundestag (German Parliament) committee for EU affairs and vice-president of the "Europa Union", and today, 9 days after the comment, I got an answer from her office manager via email, an answer that doesn't actually answer my question on the blog, but that should at least have appeared on the blog itself.
The funny thing is that I have interacted directly with MP Hoegl via Twitter these days (she made me aware of the fact that Günther Oettinger will be in the Bundestag this week), so that it is strange to get a kind of formalised answer via email on a blog post comment by the staff of someone who is already using the techniques of direct communication.
All examples show that this kind of communication is still not well established, that one Commissioner blogging doesn't mean a new communication attitude by the institution, that Facebook chats are still experiments, that direct answers from a minister are no direct answers, and that new communication styles and old communication styles even mix with the same person.
The question is: Are we witnessing moves forward, or are these just experiments that will be left aside if they don't bring the immediate results?
I have discussed the issue of European communication already two weeks ago in reply to a blog post by EU Commissioner Margot Wallström and so I do not have to go back to the discussion (see the comments) about the value of blogging and my hopes that at least one or two of the new Commissioners or their staff will be involved with the blogosphere.
But now Margot Wallström has written her very last blog post as EU Commissioner (UPDATE: Well, Margot has added a real Goodbye post) in which she mentions a few of us eurobloggers personally (thanks for the hint at Eurosocialiste and Oscar), and so we have to say good bye, sending warmest wishes to Brussels and Sweden and taking our hats off for the blogging work and insightful posts by Commissioner Wallström.
In the meanwhile, the web editors of the European Parliament are succeeding pretty well in employing Facebook for citizen-to-MEP chats, as Steve can tell in their latest blog post, and maybe other institutions can use the example and do similar things, whether on Facebook (where the crowd is) or on the EU websites (where there should be more crowd).
But there are also less stylish interactions in 2009, interactions in which you still feel the weight of formality that rules the external communication of public institutions:
Andre wrote a letter to the German Foreign minister supporting his decision to reject Erika Steinbach (see my post on that matter), and he actually got an answer from the ministry in the name of the Foreign Minister - although it is pretty sure he doesn't write himself - and strangely enough the answer is both personal in style and standard in content.
And I commented on a blog post of German MP Eva Hoegl, member of the Bundestag (German Parliament) committee for EU affairs and vice-president of the "Europa Union", and today, 9 days after the comment, I got an answer from her office manager via email, an answer that doesn't actually answer my question on the blog, but that should at least have appeared on the blog itself.
The funny thing is that I have interacted directly with MP Hoegl via Twitter these days (she made me aware of the fact that Günther Oettinger will be in the Bundestag this week), so that it is strange to get a kind of formalised answer via email on a blog post comment by the staff of someone who is already using the techniques of direct communication.
All examples show that this kind of communication is still not well established, that one Commissioner blogging doesn't mean a new communication attitude by the institution, that Facebook chats are still experiments, that direct answers from a minister are no direct answers, and that new communication styles and old communication styles even mix with the same person.
The question is: Are we witnessing moves forward, or are these just experiments that will be left aside if they don't bring the immediate results?
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Merkel's coup: Uwe Corsepius will become the next Secretary General of the EU Council
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the German Uwe Corsepius will become the next Secretary General of the Council of the European Union.
Corsepius, who was mentioned as a candidate among others, has been confirmed by the heads of state and government at the European Council meeting on Friday, following agreements made on 19 November as Jean Quatremer knows. He will take over from Pierre de Boissieu in 1 1/2 years, as Angela Merkel informed at a press conference after the summit on Friday.
(UPDATE:) The formal approval of this decision was made on 22 December 2009 by the Council meeting (see the press release that uses parts of this blog post). According to this decision, Corsepius will serve as Secretary General from 26 June 2011 until 30 June 2015.
Economist Uwe Corsepius is 49 years old and is the head of the European Policy Division in the German Chancellery - he is thus the EU advisor of Angela Merkel and was, inter alia, responsible the for negotiations ahead of the Berlin Declaration during the German EU Council Presidency that led to the Lisbon Treaty. Jan Seifert wrote about him at the time as being one of the "sherpas" of Angela Merkel (here's a photo of him at the time).
On the website of the German politics and history channel Phoenix it is noted that he started his career in the Chancellery under Helmut Kohl and climbed up in the hierarchy under Gerhard Schröder. In 2005, Merkel made him head of the EU division in the Chancellery.
Three weeks ago, several German online news magazines published a short portrait (produced by DPA) about him, in which he is quoted with the words: "I am no visionary.", which would fit into the choices made with van Rompuy and Ashton, but which fits much better for the job he will have to do at the Council.
Actually, it seems that, according to several sources like EurActiv, Corsepius was also a possible candidate for Ashton's job, but didn't get it - probably for balance reasons as we know how Ashton was chosen. Therefore it is mentioned in the Frankfurter Rundschau that despite the choice of Corsepius for Council Secretary General, Merkel might still demand that a German becomes head of the European Central Bank - a clear sign that she is showing muscles after renouncing to get one of the three top posts (filled with Barroso, van Rompuy, and Ashton).
The amount of background information on Corsepius on the net is limited, but interesting to note is that Cecilia Malmström, Swedish Minster for EU Affairs and candidate for the next EU Commission, mentions Corsepius first in an a blog post about a visit to Berlin in April of this year. Usually he is described as "descrete", or as a person having relevant influence in German EU politics, for example preventing advancements in the negoations around the new anti-discrimination directive, as ZEIT online notices. In the Financial Times Germany, he is described as having a "boyish" face, with moments of "dash" behaviour. His only direct international experience, according to the FT, was his work at the IMF in the early 90s.
All in all, the choice of a national high level bureaucrat like Corsepius instead of an EU insider like de Boissieu is another clear indicator of the "Coup des Etats" I have criticised recently - member states are trying to secure their influence in the EU by the choice of personalities to counterbalance the new provisions of the Lisbon Treaty.
PS.: And if there are doubts, I'd just like to say that this choice is as bad as any other choice made by national leaders to secure their individual interests instead of promoting the good for all European citizens. These posts should be distributed according to merit, not according to geography and power considerations.
(Updated: 17 Dec 09; 12:30; 23 Dec 09 17:30)
Corsepius, who was mentioned as a candidate among others, has been confirmed by the heads of state and government at the European Council meeting on Friday, following agreements made on 19 November as Jean Quatremer knows. He will take over from Pierre de Boissieu in 1 1/2 years, as Angela Merkel informed at a press conference after the summit on Friday.
(UPDATE:) The formal approval of this decision was made on 22 December 2009 by the Council meeting (see the press release that uses parts of this blog post). According to this decision, Corsepius will serve as Secretary General from 26 June 2011 until 30 June 2015.
Economist Uwe Corsepius is 49 years old and is the head of the European Policy Division in the German Chancellery - he is thus the EU advisor of Angela Merkel and was, inter alia, responsible the for negotiations ahead of the Berlin Declaration during the German EU Council Presidency that led to the Lisbon Treaty. Jan Seifert wrote about him at the time as being one of the "sherpas" of Angela Merkel (here's a photo of him at the time).
On the website of the German politics and history channel Phoenix it is noted that he started his career in the Chancellery under Helmut Kohl and climbed up in the hierarchy under Gerhard Schröder. In 2005, Merkel made him head of the EU division in the Chancellery.
Three weeks ago, several German online news magazines published a short portrait (produced by DPA) about him, in which he is quoted with the words: "I am no visionary.", which would fit into the choices made with van Rompuy and Ashton, but which fits much better for the job he will have to do at the Council.
Actually, it seems that, according to several sources like EurActiv, Corsepius was also a possible candidate for Ashton's job, but didn't get it - probably for balance reasons as we know how Ashton was chosen. Therefore it is mentioned in the Frankfurter Rundschau that despite the choice of Corsepius for Council Secretary General, Merkel might still demand that a German becomes head of the European Central Bank - a clear sign that she is showing muscles after renouncing to get one of the three top posts (filled with Barroso, van Rompuy, and Ashton).
The amount of background information on Corsepius on the net is limited, but interesting to note is that Cecilia Malmström, Swedish Minster for EU Affairs and candidate for the next EU Commission, mentions Corsepius first in an a blog post about a visit to Berlin in April of this year. Usually he is described as "descrete", or as a person having relevant influence in German EU politics, for example preventing advancements in the negoations around the new anti-discrimination directive, as ZEIT online notices. In the Financial Times Germany, he is described as having a "boyish" face, with moments of "dash" behaviour. His only direct international experience, according to the FT, was his work at the IMF in the early 90s.
All in all, the choice of a national high level bureaucrat like Corsepius instead of an EU insider like de Boissieu is another clear indicator of the "Coup des Etats" I have criticised recently - member states are trying to secure their influence in the EU by the choice of personalities to counterbalance the new provisions of the Lisbon Treaty.
PS.: And if there are doubts, I'd just like to say that this choice is as bad as any other choice made by national leaders to secure their individual interests instead of promoting the good for all European citizens. These posts should be distributed according to merit, not according to geography and power considerations.
(Updated: 17 Dec 09; 12:30; 23 Dec 09 17:30)
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