Tag: Institutions of the European Union

Should Bloggers get Accreditation to EU Institutions?

My Press Badge and Blogger Name Badge from Th!nk1

M van den Broeke on Twitter asked this question,

Should serious EU bloggers get some sort of accreditation to EU institutions? But on what criteria?

Firstly I say fair play to her for bringing up the question. Its one that should be asked more, and not just by the EU. I must say Irish political parties have been good at facilitating bloggers, so maybe other institutions should start soon?

But back to the question at hand. As pointed out by Charlemange of the Economist and Jean Quatremer of Liberation (French) the press corp in Brussels is shrinking. There are now only 752 journalists with accreditation compared with 1,300 back in 2005.

Newspapers depend more now on wire-content for EU stories and they consistently make mistakes ( eg, Saying the ECHR is part of the EU!!!) Can bloggers bridge the gap?

Much of the original content about the EU is now written by bloggers. Simply because there is not enough journalists to cover everything the EU does. But of course bloggers have a number of hold backs, day jobs, time, and money. But some bloggers are excellent specialists at subjects and having accreditation may allow them to build on their expertise and get more informed stories out there.

But how do you define a serious EU Blogger?

  • Is it someone who only follows EU Politics?
  • Is it someone who the majority of their content is about the EU?
  • Is it someone who knows a lot about the EU?
  • Is it someone who lives in Brussels?
  • Should be limited to someone with a high number of visits?

That is the hard part of deciding whether of not bloggers should be accredited.

Personally I think they should be. But who should be left into the Brussels bubble is the question?

Should a separate list be maintained for those bloggers outside of Brussels?

Its time we had this conversation.

What do you think?

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Hattip to Julien Frisch for the topic

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Introduction to the EU

The College of Commerce Cork is introducing a new night course on the EU. I recieved the following via email

Introduction to the European Union

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the range of issues concerning the functioning of the European Union and to raise the awareness about Ireland and its role within the EU. It aims to help learners develop an awareness of their opportunities, rights and responsibilities as European citizens and to enable them to actively engage with the European dimension in their lives.

The course is divided into the following units:

Unit 1: History of the European Integration

Unit 2: EU Institutions (How does EU work?)

Unit 3: EU Policies (What does EU do?)

Unit 4: Europe and its Citizens

Night: Wednesday

Time: 7.00 – 9.00 pm

Duration: 10 weeks

Course Fee: €110

Commencement Date: Wednesday 30th September 2009

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact the College on 021- 4222100 or Natasa Callinan at ncallinan[at]ccoc[dot]ie

This could be interesting if you want to learn more about the EU.

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