“political class detached, remote, incompetent, venal, illegitimate”. Neat #EP2014 explainer video from @guardian. Quote from European elections: union left sullen by fury and frustration with political class

Great example of modern US longform content from Vox, where they use a specific style to link to one of their 'content cards'. Plus a killer quote on the 'blame Brussels' syndrome: "... banks that owned eurozone government debt were saved, and so were institutions around the world ... Meanwhile, politicians got to take credit for keeping their c…

The mind boggles ... "perhaps the creepiest outgrowth of cryptocurrency 2.0: distributed autonomous organizations, or DAOs. Based on charters taking the form of code on a peer-to-peer network, these are entities that could automate many of the tasks of a conventional organization with varying levels of human input. For instance, a DAO could act d…

"it looks like web firms operating in the EU are about to face a very different regulatory landscape. This would include much higher fines for breaches of data protection law in the EU, the limited right for citizens to demand the erasure of their personal data, and strict limitations on what can be done with EU citizens’ data outside the union. A…

FalseA German journalist and camera crew have fun with the EP gravy train in “Scandale au Parlement Européen : Argent facile, champagne à gogo et autres privilèges. This sort of film iseasy to make and so becoming commonplace. And people in the Brussels Bubble wonder why they are not so widely loved elsewhere?

worth repeating for everyone who thinks that the path to democracy in the EU is measured in column inches...

Original linkTonight I'll be toddling along to Grilling Kippers, a UKIP-focused anti-Eurosceptic campaign from deep within the Brussels Bubble.

Great idea for explaining EU affairs or just wishful thinking? "A new game called Fantasy Geopolitics (think Fantasy Football meets Model United Nations) is radically changing the way high school students in Minnesota are interacting with the news." - How a High School Teacher Is 'Gamifying' World News

A good pro-EU article ends with: "How dare these foreigners impose on us clean beaches, food labelling, consumer protection, lead-free petrol, road safety, access to healthcare abroad, cheaper mobile phone charges and real chocolate? ... If we want to bathe in sewage, landfill our countryside, guzzle mechanically recovered meat, and pay through t…

Davastating analysis in the FT of "... three visible failures: First, the economic, financial, intellectual and political elites mostly misunderstood the consequences of headlong financial liberalisation ... The rescue was necessary. But the belief that the powerful sacrificed taxpayers to the interests of the guilty is correct. Second, ... a gl…

"Change of direction speaks volumes for change in German attitudes triggered by the euro crisis." ... Maybe some EU functionaries need to get out of their luxury offices now and then, and talk to the people. Then they'll be able to carry out policies which are rooted in practical life." - Key centre-Right German party adopts new hardline Eu…

by RAND: "What will be the key societal challenges that the EU will need to address within the next two decades? ... a review of literature, data and insights from over 200 international experts ... explores evidence and uncertainties underpinning global societal trends and the challenges they provide for policymakers. ... put in place a lastin…

via @bloggingportal. @poljourno finds no smoking gun: "... the European Union is still seen as a niche topic by the media in most EU member states. Ask the man on the street about the activities of the Brussels Bubble and you will also be met with a shrug and a ‘who cares’, in the majority of cases. But a fascinating documentary The Brussels Busi…

"The European Endowment for Democracy has been created to promote the European values of freedom and democracy. A joint effort of the Member States and European Union institutions, the European Endowment for Democracy remains an independent private law foundation with its seat in Brussels. Fostering - not exporting - democracy and freedom The Eur…

How nice to see the Brussels Bubble meme continue to spread ... ;) "In a damning indictment of efforts in Brussels to promote stronger public attachment to the EU through the European Year of Citizens 2013, Emily O’Reilly said the campaign was “not succeeding”. ... the new office holders needed to be courageous enough to address the union’s demo…

"Learn about the European Union, how it works, why it matters and what it can offer you. Regardless of where you live, the EU not only affects your life but may also transform it. This course aims at empowering you, your family, business and community in Europe and beyond and will enable you to discover jobs you were not aware of. "

Andy Carling brought in George Parker “one of the original Madison Avenue advertising legends, immortalised in … Mad Men … and some other ad and brand experts from the commercial world” to take a look at the  ‘Act. React. Impact.’ video, and assorted publicity material.The results are it’s pretty damning. Some choice cuts:”this travesty is suppose…

"The MyVote 2014 tool is the latest in a series of tools of this sort ... but this time it’s different in one crucial way: MyVote 2014 uses data about MEPs have voted in the past (between 2009 and now to be precise), and uses this as the data for the tool. This makes the outcomes of the MyVote 2014 tool more solid than previous efforts. Rather tha…

Too many priceless lines in here to quote individually! QI - Euro Myths

This is simply brilliant.

A while back I was invited to make a 10minute presentation to "Civil Society Day", held at the EESC. Kwinten Lambrecht asked me to upload the ppt, and others asked for followup links, hence this post.

At last, an opportunity to blog about gardening and EU comms in the same post.

Last year, in the runup to the first EuropCom conference, I gave it a bit of a hard time. My cynicism was confirmed by many I knew who went, describing it as a conference about Web2 and social media which allowed little or no participation. Oops.

This is the sort of post which could get me into trouble for a number of reasons. Particularly as I'm going to comment on the celebrations to be enjoyed next month at the Festival of Europe, where one can do everything from "seeing the political groups at work inside the European Parliament" to "experiencing a fest…

A longer version of an article I published recently in NewEurope

The lack of specialists in EU-oriented blogs is impeding the development of the European online public space.

That's right - curation. Now officially Web2.0-buzzword-of-the-month (not quite sure which one).

So the debate about the Euroblogosphere, or the Eurosphere, or the European Public Sphere, or web2eu, or the European online public space, of whatever-we-call-it-next-week, has sparked again into life, like a Frankensteinian monster with dodgy spark plugs screwed into the base of its neck.

One of the topics I've been developing on this blog for quite some time came up at last week's get-together organised by the Belgian IABC chapter: the need (or not) for social media guidelines for EU staff.