01 May 2007
Shortcuts
If anyone out there is puzzled by the complicated nature of the European Union institutions, this latest report by the BBC isn’t going to help.
Referring to the Commission as the “EC” is confusing to start with: that abbreviation came into use for the European Community when the “Economic” middle name was dropped. Bear in mind that the European Community still, technically, exists (you can find the Consolidated Versions of the Treaty on European Union and of the Treaty establishing the European Community here.
The dual use of the abbreviation “EC” could add to the confusion, although of a different kind, if president Barroso were taken to be president of the EU in place of, as is often written, German chancellor Angela Merkel. In fact, Germany holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union – Mrs Merkel herself isn’t president of anything – even if the presidency website claims “Presidency of the European Union”. (Article 4 of the Consolidated Treaty reads “The European Council shall meet at least twice a year, under the chairmanship of the Head of State or government of the Member State which holds the Presidency of the Council.”) I sometimes kick off discussions about the EU by asking who is its head of state – to provoke a wide range of interesting answers.
Thirdly, president Barroso is described by the BBC as “the European Union's top diplomat”. If anyone is the EU’s top diplomat, it would be Javier Solana, High Representative for CFSP, or possibly Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations, or even Eneko Landaburu, Head of the External Relations Directorate-General. Whoever it is, it isn’t really president Barroso. He is the top politician, not the top diplomat.
So, an attempt by the BBC to take a shortcut makes things worse rather than better. What would really clear up the situation, of course, would be actually to clear up the situation. A unified foreign relations programme as foreseen by the Constitutional Treaty would help a lot. Maybe that idea will survive the coming renegotiation of the treaty in advance of a new ratification effort. I hope so.
Referring to the Commission as the “EC” is confusing to start with: that abbreviation came into use for the European Community when the “Economic” middle name was dropped. Bear in mind that the European Community still, technically, exists (you can find the Consolidated Versions of the Treaty on European Union and of the Treaty establishing the European Community here.
The dual use of the abbreviation “EC” could add to the confusion, although of a different kind, if president Barroso were taken to be president of the EU in place of, as is often written, German chancellor Angela Merkel. In fact, Germany holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union – Mrs Merkel herself isn’t president of anything – even if the presidency website claims “Presidency of the European Union”. (Article 4 of the Consolidated Treaty reads “The European Council shall meet at least twice a year, under the chairmanship of the Head of State or government of the Member State which holds the Presidency of the Council.”) I sometimes kick off discussions about the EU by asking who is its head of state – to provoke a wide range of interesting answers.
Thirdly, president Barroso is described by the BBC as “the European Union's top diplomat”. If anyone is the EU’s top diplomat, it would be Javier Solana, High Representative for CFSP, or possibly Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations, or even Eneko Landaburu, Head of the External Relations Directorate-General. Whoever it is, it isn’t really president Barroso. He is the top politician, not the top diplomat.
So, an attempt by the BBC to take a shortcut makes things worse rather than better. What would really clear up the situation, of course, would be actually to clear up the situation. A unified foreign relations programme as foreseen by the Constitutional Treaty would help a lot. Maybe that idea will survive the coming renegotiation of the treaty in advance of a new ratification effort. I hope so.
Posted by Richard Laming at 15:24
I must tell that I have also seen many times the abbreviation 'EC' and wondered if it stands for the 'European Commission', or for 'European Community'. It is difficult to try and guess what the author was referring to. However, I think that those who name things leave a lot of opportunity for confusion especially that most of the things are 'european... .'Let us take the simplest example of the European Council and that of the Council of the European Union. A Romanian politician who was candidate for the position of Foreign Affairs Minsiter has failed just because it got confused on these terms. It can happen to anybody.
Personally, I would be in favour of using the terms as they are leaving aside the abbreviations. I found annoying when I read a text on different European issues and I find abbreviations of the names of policies or projects that are discussed. And then we wonder on the gap between citizens and the institutions... .
Also, I wouldn't refer to Barroso as the 'top politician' as that would be a term for an elected representitive - whereas a Commission President is appointed by the Council and confirmed by the Parliament.
Godfrey Bloom MEP (UKIP) was debating against Toni Giugliano today in York (great debate btw) and he did not like the BBC either. Luckily in Czechia we do not use the abbreviations for the EU institutions and learnt not to start using the term "European Community", so this is not an issue.
However, we have much bigger problem - with the name of our own country. Some people insist on calling it the "Czech Republic" and others like me prefer "Czechia".
Post a Comment
Back to the top