Media & the Information Society

www.europeandme.eu

Following The Euros’ interview with its editor Lucy Duggan earlier this month, our website of the month is our fellow European web magazine Europe&Me!!! Launched in September 2007, the English-language project aims to “make Europe personal” for young people.

This means, as Lucy told us, “focusing especially on how being European affects our everyday lives - our love lives, our cultural lives, our sex lives... how it affects the way we tell jokes, the jobs we choose to do, the way we understand our history”.

The magazine, which is published every three months, has five principal sections, which have the initially bizarre-sounding names of Brain, Heart, Diaphragm, Baby and Legs. Lucy explains “our sections are named after parts of the body, because we want our readers to find something for their ’heart’ as well as for their ’brain’, for example”. So roughly speaking, articles in Brain make you think, Heart’s pieces provoke feelings and emotions, Diaphragm’s funny oddities make you laugh, Baby is about sex and love, and Legs inspires taking action and getting involved.

Europe&Me also aims to write about topics that interest people all over Europe, rather than just in one country. Having 125 writers and nine editors spread out all over Europe must certainly make this task easier! It also aims for equality as far as European countries are concerned, as Lucy says,” I think we also manage to give “smaller” countries space in the magazine, rather than focusing on ‘big players’”.

To give a few brief examples, this edition includes articles about, amongst other things, human trafficking, a Spaniard and a Pole who met and fell in love on Erasmus, writing cover letters, sex with robots and the top five bridges and tunnels of Europe. All issues that are relevant and fascinating for young Europeans, some that they can personally relate to, some that are thought-provoking. And all certainly a million miles away from the image of faceless Brussels bureaucrats by which for too many, Europe continues to be symbolised.

Image sourde : E&M Magazine

On 28th February, the European Parliament received a petition containing almost 2.4 million signatures against the implementation of ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement. The petition called for MEPS to “stand for free and open Internet and reject the ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)”.

What is ACTA? ACTA is an international treaty which aims to create an international standard for the protection of intellectual property rights. As the name suggests, it tackles trade in counterfeit goods, but also features provisions for clamping down on copyright breaches on the Internet. The European Union and 22 of its Member States signed the treaty in January 2012, and it has also been signed by the US, Canada, Australia and Japan amongst others. However, no country has yet ratified the treaty, which needs to be ratified by six signatories before it can come into force.

Why is it so controversial? The EU claims that ACTA will benefit its citizens, as it will help to protect European innovation and ideas. But as the petition clearly demonstrates, there are many who do not share this view. Kader Arif, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for ACTA, resigned in January after the EU signed the treaty, claiming “I will not take part in this masquerade”. Opponents feel that it is undemocratic and that it breaches fundamental human rights such as privacy and data protection, and free speech. The website Stop Acta describes the treaty as “a lethal weapon against your rights” and claims that, in making ISPs responsible for what their users put online, it will result in censorship and control over what is published on the net.

There is also fear that ACTA will be detrimental to those in Third World countries, particularly in relation to medication. Due to new rules concerning patents, ACTA would potentially criminalise generic drugs, which are described by the WHO as a pharmaceutical product, usually intended to be interchangeable with an innovator product, that is manufactured without a licence from the innovator company and marketed after the expiry date of the patent or other exclusive rights. As they are considerably cheaper than their branded equivalents, generic drugs are often used in Third World countries to tackle diseases such as AIDS. As Kader Arif explained “This [ACTA] means the patent holder can stop the shipping of the drugs to a developing country, seize the cargo and even order the destruction of the drugs as a preventive measure”. This would be devastating for developing countries.

MEPs are to discuss the pros and cons of ACTA in the following weeks. Parliament cannot amend ACTA, it can only approve or reject it. In the case of the latter, the agreement would fail. In the case of the former, more protests would doubtless follow on European streets.

ImageSource: European Parliament Audiovisual Service

The smooth launch of the Hungarian Presidency has been marred by the controversy surrounding the adoption of a media law in Hungary. The law, which has been called into question by the EU’s Digital Agenda Commissioner, contains a number of provisions that have caused concern. The “obligation to provide balanced coverage” has been criticised as undemocratic and in breach of the right to freedom of expression. Both European and World Newspaper Associations have voiced their objections to the law, which they argue would unreasonably subject journalists to restrictions and fines. The provisions have been scrutinised by Commission officials who now require that Hungary submits “observations” in order to address their “serious doubts” as to the law’s compatibility with EU law. Failure to do so could result in the launch of infringement proceedings against Hungary, which would undoubtedly undermine their Presidency programme for the next 5 months.

Photo:Flickr, GiantsFanatic

150 EU citizens from the 27 Member States will meet with top policy-makers tomorrow in Brussels for the 2009 European Citizen’s Consultations. The citizens will hand them their recommendations concerning the economic and social provocations that the Union faces. This event involves 250 000 online users and 1 600 randomly selected citizens from all the Member States whose task it is to recommend actions at the EU level. The recommendations will include “calls for wide-ranging measures to boost Europe’s economy, tougher supervision of the financial markets, more focused spending on research and innovation, increased investment in sustainable energy, the fight against poverty, promoting a better work/life balance, and action on education.”

European Citizens´ consultation

The website of this week is known to all YouTube. The latter has teamed up with the EuroNews in an attempt to cover the 2009 EU elections. It is an effort to increase the interest and the participation of the EU’s citizens to the elections of June. In the framework of EU 2009 Elections Communication Campaign, YouTube launched the Questions for Europe video which encourages voters to “share their views and preoccupations.” Moreover, the video asks for the voters questions, informing them that “we’ll make it our business to find the answers, whether it’s seeking expert advice or even relaying your questions to the MEP candidates themselves.” The outcome did pay off considering that in two days the channel managed to become the third most subscribed reporter channel in France.

Libertas is the newest party to emerge hoping to contest seats in the upcoming European Parliament elections. It was founded by the controversial Irish businessman Declan Ganley, who spearheaded the ‘No’ vote campaign ahead of last year’s Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland. Just this week, Ganley announced his aim to have at least 100 candidates run in June’s EP elections. Libertas paints itself as a pan-European democracy based on the values of transparency and accountability. Critics say the proposed party, which has already been marred by controversy (for example, questionable party lists) contradicts Ganley’s euro-sceptic stance. Nevertheless, the website and party itself sparks interesting and important debate on EU values and future outlooks.

Libertas.eu

The 2008 European cultural year has been all about intercultural dialogue. The European Union as a unique interplay of different cultures, languages, religions and traditions has been the focal centre for discovering the other throughout 2008. The European Commission supported different European, national and thematic projects with a budget nearing 2,4 million euros. It focused on migration and integration issues, education and youth projects, and many others. More than 300 projects applied. The resonance of this community project was very positive at the end of the year. Without a doubt, it has contributed to raise awareness on the wealth of European diversity. However, it cannot dissimulate that most European citizens remain sceptical towards the EU and only few are in touch with European projects. 2009 will focus on the themes of creativity and innovation.

Information about the different projects 2008 can be found under: European Year of the Intercultural Dialogue

Photo: www.interculturaldialogue2008.eu

We announced it last week with the launching of the new website: after months of preparation, the Euros are finally on the Italian web….and watch out because it’s really something!!! A truly moticated team with already over fifteen members. Led by Marco Amici (Editor in chief), Guido Sala Chiori (deputy editor) and giulio Bolaffi (responsible for the Italian Society), Gli Euros will enable you to discover European current affairs with a bit of sun and a flight of literature (and gesticulations,…which we leave to your imagination…). Italian or Italians-to-be? Don’t hesitate and without delay visit the Euros’ Italian website!.

That’s the number of Europeans that use the internet on a regular basis, with 80% of users having access to broadband connexions. The EU has made huge progress in this area over the last couple of years. However this bright picture is slightly tainted by the fact that 40% of Europeans never use the Internet, with a peak for Romania where 69% of the population has no access to Internet. There is still a significant divide between urban and rural areas which the liberalization of the telecommunications sector has not helped bridging. Indeed private operators are tempted to cherry pick the most dense and profitable areas to build their infrastructure to the detriment of isolated communities…

Let us talk about it. Dialogue is always a good thing right? This must have been what was on the mind of the European Commissioners when they adopted in October 2007 a proposal to baptise 2008 the ‘European Year of Intercultural Dialogue’. To be sure, there are plenty of different conflicts that should be treated to a bit of peaceful pow-wow dialogue in 2008. The status of Kosovo, why the Lisbon treaty is not submitted to a referendum in most EU countries, EU-Russia relation, Turkey’s place in Europe, tensions between different religious or national communities and all the other conflicts that are impossible to predict but will arise in 2008. Dialogue might not always bring luck in the short run but in the long run it helps to see things from the other side of the spectrum. So please, go ahead and dialogue.

Official homepage of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue