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Frugal style not much to reporters' taste
By George Parker in Brussels
Published: June 24 2005 03:00 | Last updated: June 24 2005 03:00
When Britain assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union, a collective groan goes out around national capitals and among the foreign press.
While some countries treat the presidency as a chance to showcase their beautiful cities and burnish their European credentials, the UK tends to take a different approach.
As usual, the British presidency will be done on the cheap. Gordon Brown, the chancellor turned down a request by the Foreign Office to spend £15m on the presidency and cut the budget in half.
Instead of lavish conferences in stately homes, the summit circus will this year be heading to resurgent industrial cities such as Belfast, Gateshead and Manchester.
Foreign journalists hope it cannot be worse than the last British presidency in 1998, when they were crammed into tiny press rooms and required to pay for sodden sandwiches and British Telecom phonecards to file their stories. The British sometimes fail to understand that their spell in the EU hot seat is supposed to be an occasion when national interests are suppressed in the European interest.
You mean you might not get a free ride on the backs of the British tax payers. I for one hope you're very uncomfortable
"During the last UK presidency, each British minister would end the final press conference by proclaiming a British triumph," observed one EU ambassador.
Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's press chief, helpfully distributed a list of contentious British "triumphs" halfway through the 1998 presidency, to the fury of other countries.
The presidency will at least force British ministers to speak to foreign journalists and spread their message beyond the national press - something Tony Blair did with considerable success in Brussels yesterday. Uniquely among EU leaders, Mr Blair seldom holds press conferences at European summits, in sharp contrast with President Jacques Chirac who holds forth at great length - usually at Mr Blair's expense.
Meanwhile, Mr Brown and other UK ministers often go to elaborate lengths to exclude foreign journalists from their briefings in Brussels, which are often conducted under conditions of utmost secrecy. "It's not even in their own interests to do this," says Michael Stabenow, of the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "It's easier to carry your message if you use foreign journalists."
Why would you want to avoid, for example, a French reporter? That seems like a pleasant combination to me.
For all the criticisms, the professionalism and cunning of the British diplomatic service mean that UK presidencies often turn up some spectacular successes.
José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, has praised the British trait of pragmatism such as in 1992, when John Major, former Conservative prime minister, took over at a time of crisis: Britain had been ejected from the Exchange Rate Mechanism and the Danes had rejected the Maastricht treaty. Against the odds, he brokered a deal on the EU budget.
Mr Blair is hoping history will repeat itself.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/90f51a70-e4...00e2511c8.html
By George Parker in Brussels
Published: June 24 2005 03:00 | Last updated: June 24 2005 03:00
When Britain assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union, a collective groan goes out around national capitals and among the foreign press.
While some countries treat the presidency as a chance to showcase their beautiful cities and burnish their European credentials, the UK tends to take a different approach.
As usual, the British presidency will be done on the cheap. Gordon Brown, the chancellor turned down a request by the Foreign Office to spend £15m on the presidency and cut the budget in half.
Instead of lavish conferences in stately homes, the summit circus will this year be heading to resurgent industrial cities such as Belfast, Gateshead and Manchester.
Foreign journalists hope it cannot be worse than the last British presidency in 1998, when they were crammed into tiny press rooms and required to pay for sodden sandwiches and British Telecom phonecards to file their stories. The British sometimes fail to understand that their spell in the EU hot seat is supposed to be an occasion when national interests are suppressed in the European interest.
You mean you might not get a free ride on the backs of the British tax payers. I for one hope you're very uncomfortable
"During the last UK presidency, each British minister would end the final press conference by proclaiming a British triumph," observed one EU ambassador.
Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's press chief, helpfully distributed a list of contentious British "triumphs" halfway through the 1998 presidency, to the fury of other countries.
The presidency will at least force British ministers to speak to foreign journalists and spread their message beyond the national press - something Tony Blair did with considerable success in Brussels yesterday. Uniquely among EU leaders, Mr Blair seldom holds press conferences at European summits, in sharp contrast with President Jacques Chirac who holds forth at great length - usually at Mr Blair's expense.
Meanwhile, Mr Brown and other UK ministers often go to elaborate lengths to exclude foreign journalists from their briefings in Brussels, which are often conducted under conditions of utmost secrecy. "It's not even in their own interests to do this," says Michael Stabenow, of the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "It's easier to carry your message if you use foreign journalists."
Why would you want to avoid, for example, a French reporter? That seems like a pleasant combination to me.
For all the criticisms, the professionalism and cunning of the British diplomatic service mean that UK presidencies often turn up some spectacular successes.
José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, has praised the British trait of pragmatism such as in 1992, when John Major, former Conservative prime minister, took over at a time of crisis: Britain had been ejected from the Exchange Rate Mechanism and the Danes had rejected the Maastricht treaty. Against the odds, he brokered a deal on the EU budget.
Mr Blair is hoping history will repeat itself.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/90f51a70-e4...00e2511c8.html