European Union’s citizens will elect their parliament in June.

/e-politik.de/ launched a blog covering the upcoming European Parliament elections. We give an overview of current politics and events, parties and programs in all member states, from A as in Austria to U as in United Kingdom. Read here what we have posted in the last days and why Bulgaria’s capital is smelly. By Ulrike Brandt, Sebastian Knecht and Amelie Roth

Austria: Politicians have to attract the young

Since two years young people in Austria can vote from the age of 16 on. Time to change strategies by using Facebook and other social networks. Moreover, three Austrian Ministries together with some partners, e.g. the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions, launched the video contest “Film it!”. Youngsters are called to show why they like or dislike the EU, why they are going to vote or not on June 7th. Tenor:  “People should take part in it ’cause it’s fun and it’s cool.” You can guess that the organisers expected much more videos than you can find on their website right now. But: contest is open until April 21st… Read more…

Belgium: In the heart of Europe…

Around 90 % voter turnout in Belgium in all elections of the European Parliament since 1979 – more than in any other European country. But the extraordniary result is not owed to the more democratic or more European attitude of the Belgians, but to the obligation of Belgian voters registered on the electoral roll. Is that democratic?

It is, says Philippe Lamberts, Belgian candidate for Ecolo, member of the European Green Party, and their co-spokesperson: “I can’t understand the problem with obligatory voting. If you register, then this indicates you want to vote. Registry is free. The obligatory vote is more democratic than the non-compulsory vote. It’s not too much to ask a citizen to exercise their democratic responsibility once in a while. I believe that living in a society entails rights as well as obligations, or responsibilities”. Read more…

Sofia’s garbage disposal problem reached a peak in spring.

Bulgaria: Smelly Sofia

Sofia smells. Heaps of garbage piled up alongside the streets are not unusual. That Bulgaria’s capital has a garbage disposal problem has been known for quite some time. But it reached a new peak in March 2009 when the city’s garbage collector, Novera, accused the city council of not having paid its bills. As a consequence, Novera stopped collecting the garbage for about one week.

Have you ever forgotten to put your garbage can out on the street for the weekly collection? If yes, try to recall the nasty smell and greasy trash oozing out of it after a couple of days…now multiply this by 1.2 million (number of inhabitants of Sofia) and add warm weather of about 25 degrees Celsius (temperature in Sofia). As a result, you get a picture of the situation in Sofia. But what for heaven’s sake has that got to do with the election of the European Parliament? Read more…

Read all posts here.

The blog was launched in cooperation with Café Babel.

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