The EU is planning to stage a Eurovision-style song contest and organise cake-baking competitions, under a public relations offensive celebrating the 50th birthday of the EU next year.The celebrations are part of Brussels' drive to win the public's sympathy after French and Dutch citizens voted down the EU constitution last year, according to Reuters."We have big plans to make the EU more punter-friendly," one EU official told the agency.
The campaign begins this month with the launch of a competition to find a logo and slogan for the EU's 50th birthday.In 1957, the six founding member states of the EU established its predecessor, the European Economic Community, in the Treaty of Rome.The ultimate choice for the logo and slogan will be left to citizens in a popular vote, according to a document outlining the plans.
One highlight of next year's festivities will be an EU-wide song and dance party, proposed by Belgium, modelled along the Eurovision song contest, which enjoys huge popularity."We want to show the EU can dance," says the document, with live television coverage planned across the union.But new member states in particular are reportedly unhappy with the song and dance contest idea."They feel people are being forced to dance and sing, like they were by the communists," said one EU diplomat according to Reuters.
HT: Instinct de survie.
That is what the EU needs, of course. Another eurovision contest.Are they fool or just stupid? What we need is more investment, more competitivenes AND to clarify what is going to be our future. Not another idiotic Eurovision contest.
But all they are doing is asking for new subsidies. France are Italy are asking for it because of the "crisis distillation":
The stand-off is expected just before Mariann Fischer Boel, the EU’s agriculture commissioner, unveils her ideas for reform of EU wine subsidies. She said last month she would try to push through a “bold reform” to force the European wine sector to reduce capacity and help it regain market share from New World competitors such as Australia and Chile. The controversial system of crisis distillation, which cost the EU €180m ($233m, £123m) last year, will be one of the main reform targets.
A spokeswoman for Ms Fischer Boel said the high distillation demands made by France and Italy “merely reinforce why a radical reform is so important. It is a tool that was meant to be there for crisis but has become a depressingly regular feature of the regime over the last two years”.
Sent to 123 open trackback weekend.
technorati tags:European+Union, France, Italy, Eurovision+context, crisis+distillation, wine+market
Open Trackback Weekend #5
I’m starting the weekend early so feel free to post all weekend long…