Surviving a plenary Tuesday
Tuesdays in Strasbourg are always full of action. This is what it all looked like today:
6.45. My Nokia Communicator provides me with a gentle wake-up call. (What do you mean product placement?) I'm trying to get my brain in gear. I'm supposed to be live on Finnish radio at 7.15. I decide to open my vocal cords by singing in the shower. Why is my neighbour banging on the wall? My humming of Sibelius Finlandia is flawless.
7.00. The producer of the radio programme calls me to check that I am awake, at least physically. I brief her on the latest developments on the distribution of seats in the European Parliament. She promises to call me back at 7.15. I brush my enormous teeth.
7.15. I'm on air. "Things are looking good for Finland. We are not going to lose more seats than agreed in 2009. We might even keep our 13 seats in 2014". I am relatively happy with the interview. At least I woke up.
7.40. I arrive to the Parliament with a French colleague. I'm definately a morning person. I love to be at the office before everyone else. I buy the Financial Times. They have a supplement on Finland. Good PR. The interview on our Finance Minister (and head of my party), Jyrki Katainen, is very positive. I send Jyrki an SMS. He is also pleased with the interview.
8.00. I insert the first comments to yesterday's blog entry, which can also be found on the homepage of The Economist. I'm happy that the debate gets going. I answer a few e-mails and check out the Finnish media. Tero Pitkämäki, who won a gold medal in javelin in Osaka, gets a hero's welcome. He deserves every bit of the glory. In Finland we love sports.
8.30. Off to our traditional press breakfast. We talk about the distribution of seats in the EP and next year's EU budget.
9.10. Time to go to the plenary. We are debating the Internal Market. My colleague, Jacques Toubon, has done good work. In my intervention I praise liberal economics and condemn protectionism. God bless free movement!
The Parliament building from the other side of the river.
10.00. I meet Commissioner Siim Kallas. We talk about lobbying. The Commission is drafting stricter rules on lobbying. I like Kallas. He has one of the toughest jobs in the Commission. It is not easy to manage the Commission's administration, or lobbyists for that matter.
10.30. Time to save the Baltic Sea. Some 50 MEPs get together to listen to a Nord Stream representative. He tells us about the gas pipeline which is to be laid down in the Baltic Sea. It was agreed by Putin and Schröder a couple of years ago. The representative is convincing, but the MEPs are not overwhelmingly convinced about the environmental impact of the project.
11.15. The phone keeps ringing. Journalists are interested in the division of seats in the EP, so am I.
11.30. The bell rings. Time to go and vote. The plenary boasts two new lightboards. They are funky. They even show you a graphic on who votes for (green) and against (red). We vote on the single market, inland transport of dangerous goods, and better regulation, among other things. The world is a better place after the votes, at least that's what I tell myself.
11.55. The votes are over in record time. We often sit and press buttons and lift hands for the better part of two hours. The President of Portugal is scheduled to give a speech. I skive off to meet a couple of journalists. We talk about how to sell the EU to the general public. No easy feat. We turn on the cameras. I talk. And I talk a bit more.
Check out the new voting board above the head of my colleague. Cool graphics.
13.00. After a quick salad I head back to my office. I check my e-mail. My three assistants - Henrik, Tuomas and Titta - have kept the office alive. I get briefed on the rest of the afternoon. The debate in the blog seems to be moving. I read the comments with interest.
14.00. I meet my Finnish party colleagues Ville Itälä, Piia-Noora Kauppi and Eija-Riitta Korhola. We go through some administrative details and have a laugh, as always.
14.45. Time to prepare the Committee on Budgetary Control. I am wearing a black shiny suit, a black shirt and a lime green tie. A Spanish colleague thinks that I look like a pimp. I take it as a compliment...
15.45. The institutional nerds of our centre-right political group get together to talk about the seats in the EP and the negotiations on the Constitution turned Reform Treaty. The room is full of former ministers. I feel humbled.
16.30. The BBC's Today programme gives me a ring. They ask me to participate in a live radio chat tomorrow morning. I am flattered. Must call mother- and father-in-law in Solihull. They might want to tune in. I stress the word "might".
Talking to Radio Kajaani.
16.45. I give an interview to the public Radio in Kajaani, north of Finland. Good chat about the public image of the EU.
17.15. Time for a run. I went for an interval session. Four times 1500 metres at a 70-95 percent heart rate.
18.15. I get back to the office rejuvenated. The human body was made for physical exercise.
19.30. I pop my head into our group meeting. Our political group (EPP-ED) has some 288 centre-right MEPs from 27 EU countries. We vote pretty much as a block, though some national delegations, not least the British Conservatives, have a tendency to vote differently on a few occasions. On Tuesday nights we prepare the key votes for the rest of the week.
20.30. Time to get some Sushi from my favourite restaurant in Strasbourg, Osaka.
22.00. Back in the hotel. Nothing like ending your day with a good book and bad TV.
16 kommenttia
Minä olen joskus kuvitellut, että olen joka paikan höylä ja lennän kokouksesta toiseen minuuttiaikataululla.
En luule enää - yhtään mitään.
Dear all,
When trying t understand the various angles of the dilemma: EU with cross the border legislation vs. Finland as it used to be, it is fascinating to observe how differently we think and how differently we interprete values and realities.
Perhaps, at least the senior readers of this blog, remember this joke from the 50´s.
"Why are the back windows of the VW cars growing bigger and bigger year for year ? Well, so the driver can make observations on how the development passes by".
But to be serious:
Being part of a larger politically and financially stronger entity is also of great benefit for particularly a small (by population) country like Finland.
Finally a question to Mikko Paatainen; please give a few practical samples on how and where Finland has lost its independency being part of EU ? This just to refresh our memories, please !
I am a bit surprised when clicking at the Finnish part of the blog I get to these The Economist-blogs in English. When I clicked at the English section I never got to the section in Finnish. It is sad to see the starvation proces of the Finnish language in Finland. I hope there will stay at least some resources to learn Finnish with - although what is the use when the language does not exist anymore.
Alex kirjoitti:
"I buy the Financial Times. They have a supplement on Finland. Good PR. The interview on our Finance Minister (and head of my party), Jyrki Katainen, is very positive. I send Jyrki an SMS. He is also pleased with the interview."
Tämän päivän (5.9.07) Hesarin (kolmas) pääkirjoitus oli täysin päinvastaista mieltä otsikolla "Hyytävää journalismia". Pari lainausta:
"Artikkelissa todistetaan, että Suomi on "kova maa", jossa työttömyys, toivottomuus, alkoholismi, epätoivo ja yleinen syrjäytyminen pistävät silmään selvemmin kuin muualla....
Eivätkä huonot uutiset ota loppuakseen: palvelualat ovat meillä alikehittyneet, työmarkkinat ovat toivottoman jäykät,....
..Mutta vaikka Financial Timesin toimittajat olisivatkin laatineet liitteensä yksipuolisen informaation varassa, tällainen kuva Suomesta nyt on noin miljoonalle lukijalle välitetty..."
Ei tämä nyt kyllä hyvältä PR:ltä vaikuta.
Samaa mieltä Rajalan kanssa, vaikea uskoa porvarihallituksen ministerin hykertelevän tyytyväisyydessä kun artikkelissa suhtkoht selvästi kerrotaan Suomen olevan alhaisen ostovoiman verohelvetti!
Toista se oli ennen kun porvareilla oli tavoitteena ettei kaikkea rahaa tarvitsisi kierrättää valtion rahakirstun kautta.
Kari ja Jotu - suosittelen koko liitteen lukemista. Tietyillä tahoilla on taipumusta vain lukea kriittiset kohdat. Mielestäni on ylipäätään hienoa, että Suomesta on kokonainen liite FT:ssä. Se sisältää paljon positiivista kamaa Suomesta.
Dear Kari and Jotu,
I fully agree with Alex. There is never just one truth available to us. Therefore reading different opinions and interpretations are valuable when you are striving to collect all the angles, facts as well as "bits and pieces" to enable you paint a reasonable objective and comprehensive picture of the various topics.
The more you dive and dig for new detailed information, the less you feel you know about it.
Whether the supplement on Finland in Financial Times should be considered bittersweet or sweet and sour depends on the reader. Therefore, I assume that all the comments regarding the supplement here above have their justification. Nevertheless, the question remains:
Why did Financial Times choose so gloomy words?
or should we think in a different way:
Why are we Finns always so concerned about other people's opinions concerning us?
Dear Jouni,
You indeed hit the real point: Why on the earth are we Finns so concerned about what foreigners think about us ?
I am pretty sure, that if you ask two foreigners what they think about us, you´ll get two completely different answers and views.
We should show up a better self confidence as we currently do. This simply, because we are good, productive, well educated, multilingual and have seen most of the globe.
Ei kyse ole tällä kertaa suomalaisten huonosta itsetunnosta vaan siitä että ulkomaalainen toimittaja ottaa esille asioita, jotka ovat hyvinkin useimpien suomalaisten tiedossa.
Enemmänkin huonosta itsetunnosta kertoo jos tätäkin, mielestäni hyvää artikkelia, aletaan lakaisemaan maton alle eri verukkeilla itsetunnoista.
Lähinnä näille asioille missä vertailussa naapureillemme pärjäämme kovin huonosti, pitäisi tehdä jotakin ja lopettaa se ylenmääräinen verojen rakastaminen ratkaisuna joka ongelmaan.
Olisihan se mukava, jos joka taajaman R-kioskilla olisi myynnissä FT tai se tulisi jokaisen kunnan kirjastoon, niin voisi asioita lukea monesta näkökulmasta.
FT liitteen nettiversiossa
http://www.ft.com/reports/finland2007
on nähtävissä vain ingressit.
Lähinnä tämä on ilmeisesti hyvä esimerkki siitä, miten valtakunnan ykköslehden pääkirjoitustoimittaja voi rakentaa pääkirjoituksen.
Eipä sieltä parlamentistakaan tarvitse kauas kulkea Strasbourgin keskustaan, kun sosiaaliset ongelmat ovat erittäin hyvin näkyvillä kaduilla. Vaihtoehtoisesti voi myös lähteä kanavaristeilylle ja matkalla keskustasta parlamentille näkee, miten koteja on sisustettu siltojen alle. Saksassa on opettavaista käydä sateella kaupungin asemalla. Puistot ja kadut tyhjentyvät ja kaljat tullaan nauttimaan asemille sateensuojaan.
Dear Jotu,
Perhaps I did not express myself so well regarding the self confidence. I am very much in favour of the importance and even necessity to look into and discuss difficult and sensitive topics from various angles, create different opinion and views and then, and only then formulate a personal opinion.
The great benefit of reading a number of various news papers from around the world, is that you are not depending on just the domestic major papers.
With all my respect Jotu & Co, The one critizising hard the papers, which also inform and discuss about the weaker and darker sides of Finland and us, he does not have a very strong self confidence. This is very much my personal opinion. It is then up to everybody to formulate his/her own opinion.
Best regards
Christian
Hei Christian,
Olen samaa mieltä että on mukavaa saada tietoa myös muista kuin kotimaisista meedioista.
Itse luen aika vähän lehtiä mutta seuraan sitäkin tiiviimmin BBC, CNN, ja tietenkin mausteena ellei peräti kirsikkana aljazeera.
Suosikkini ehdottomasti BBC.n Hardtalk.
En kritisoinnut tuota FT artikkelia, päinvastoin pelkään että se kritiikki mitä se Suomesta esitti suhmuroidaan Suomessa joidenkin ikuisuusfraasien taakse ja Suomi tulee ikuisesti olemaan maa mikä verottaa rajusti ja jakaa paljon erillaisia tulonsiirtoja, jossain näin tilaston jonka mukaan jo 54% kotitalouksista saa enemmän sosiaalisia tulonsiirtoja kuin itse maksaa tuloveroa. Demokratiassa enemmistö päättää ja ...niin!
Olen ehkä vuoden verran seurannut blogiasi suurella mielenkiinnolla mutten ole varmaan aikaisemmin kommentoinut.
Luin äsken kolumnisi uudesta Kotilääkäri-lehdestä (9/07). Joko lähetit ne ohjeet kollegoillesi? :)
Laura - en ole vielä lähettänyt. Pitäisi varmaan lähettää...
"Things are looking good for Finland. We are not going to lose more seats than agreed in 2009. We might even keep our 13 seats in 2014"
Are you serious? Does this really look good for Finland? So us, the people of Finland should all be happy that we are not loosing more seats than agreed on, and that if we are lucky enough, we might even get to keep the number the pathetic number of seats that we originally had. Just face it Alex, this new "constitution" might be good for Europe, but not for Finland who now looses even the last possibility to block laws and propositions that are harmful to us, now that a single country cannot block anything alone anymore.
I feel ashamed to admit that our generation has destroyed the independent Finland that our ancestors fought and died for. I can just hope that our children will realize the terrible betrayal we have made to the Finnish people and will set things right again.
Respectfully
Mikko