Dienstag, 28. März 2017
Matching funds for free Interrail!
jonhughes, 01:12h
Two weeks ago I was pleased to see a flyer enclosed with "Die Zeit" pointing out a whole range of things that the EU supports and has achieved. Remarkable, I thought – such a shame that all this work gets so little publicity. And then the significance of the brochure became clear when I saw that it wasn't paid for by the EU, but rather by the German Government. Of course, governments that use the EU as a rubbish dump for their own political disasters are not going to be stupid enough to fork out taxpayers' money to give publicity to the advances Europe has made despite them over the past 60 years. Perhaps because of Wolfgang Schäuble's economic policy in the EU, many a member state would need to be careful not to spend what little cash they have on advertisements for the EU – but at least the German government can afford and even do it.
Unfortunately, the institution that really should be promoting the EU is the EU itself. Most companies spend huge amounts promoting their brands and advertising their products, or, as it's called, "creating markets". What could be more refreshing when you're thirsty than – a Coca Cola bottle? It didn't do Christ any good, but where would the Christian Church be today without the Crucifix? The poor commuters in London have a pretty hard time on the Tube too, but in just the same way the symbol of London Transport somehow takes to pain away. It took Europe 30 years finally to adopt the Flag of Europe as her symbol, but it's been doing its job nicely ever since.
But you don't need to think too hard to see that Europe needs to do more than that that to work against her enemies. Unfortunately, though, there are plenty of them within the EU itself: imagine them agreeing to the Commission paying for advertising when the money could be used to subsidise their economies! On the other hand, the question arises as to what exactly the EU should be advertising? How do you "sell" an open boarder?
There is something, though, that Europe can "sell" very effectively: Europe herself, her mountains and valleys, cities and streams, and the cultures of her people. For that, hardly any advertising needs to be done. All that is necessary is to give people the chance to see her. This was the wonderful idea behind DiscoverEU and FreeInterrail, to give all young Europeans a free Interrail card on their 18th birthday so that they could see what's on offer.
I remember my first Interrail trip (in 1979!). All the strangers we met who put us up for the night in their own homes, accidentally visiting a local SPD election rally (in Ulm!) having only understood the work "Musik" on the poster, the guy who drove us to the campsite in München although we hadn't even asked, the ladies with their black scarves raking the field in Bayern.... These days young people prefer to fly – it saves time getting from A to B, and I'm sure they have a great time when they get there, but even EasyJet costs money, so if you're unemployed because of Schäuble's anal-retentive approach to economics, you might not be on board the 'plane as it flies over your neighbourhood. The free Interrail pass would have been a great way to get young people into the trains again too – "back to basics" as an ill-fated British Prime Minister said.
Unfortunately, the EU rejected the initiative today. How could that possibly happen, you might wonder? Simple: they don't have the money.
Now, you might argue that it would have cost nothing because the trains run anyhow - but apparently resources like half-empty train carriages have to be "costed" properly, despite the real cost of the European Community not becoming one. In the end the Commission only managed to scrape together €2.5 million for the project – far too little (it gives you a wonderful insight into how little money the EU actually has to spend). So here's a suggestion to solve the problem. Given that Germany is doing so well out of the Euro and still has an image problem with Hitler etc., I'd like to suggest that the German government help pay for the Interrail tickets directly by offering one Euro for every Euro the EU offers. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Unfortunately, the institution that really should be promoting the EU is the EU itself. Most companies spend huge amounts promoting their brands and advertising their products, or, as it's called, "creating markets". What could be more refreshing when you're thirsty than – a Coca Cola bottle? It didn't do Christ any good, but where would the Christian Church be today without the Crucifix? The poor commuters in London have a pretty hard time on the Tube too, but in just the same way the symbol of London Transport somehow takes to pain away. It took Europe 30 years finally to adopt the Flag of Europe as her symbol, but it's been doing its job nicely ever since.
But you don't need to think too hard to see that Europe needs to do more than that that to work against her enemies. Unfortunately, though, there are plenty of them within the EU itself: imagine them agreeing to the Commission paying for advertising when the money could be used to subsidise their economies! On the other hand, the question arises as to what exactly the EU should be advertising? How do you "sell" an open boarder?
There is something, though, that Europe can "sell" very effectively: Europe herself, her mountains and valleys, cities and streams, and the cultures of her people. For that, hardly any advertising needs to be done. All that is necessary is to give people the chance to see her. This was the wonderful idea behind DiscoverEU and FreeInterrail, to give all young Europeans a free Interrail card on their 18th birthday so that they could see what's on offer.
I remember my first Interrail trip (in 1979!). All the strangers we met who put us up for the night in their own homes, accidentally visiting a local SPD election rally (in Ulm!) having only understood the work "Musik" on the poster, the guy who drove us to the campsite in München although we hadn't even asked, the ladies with their black scarves raking the field in Bayern.... These days young people prefer to fly – it saves time getting from A to B, and I'm sure they have a great time when they get there, but even EasyJet costs money, so if you're unemployed because of Schäuble's anal-retentive approach to economics, you might not be on board the 'plane as it flies over your neighbourhood. The free Interrail pass would have been a great way to get young people into the trains again too – "back to basics" as an ill-fated British Prime Minister said.
Unfortunately, the EU rejected the initiative today. How could that possibly happen, you might wonder? Simple: they don't have the money.
Now, you might argue that it would have cost nothing because the trains run anyhow - but apparently resources like half-empty train carriages have to be "costed" properly, despite the real cost of the European Community not becoming one. In the end the Commission only managed to scrape together €2.5 million for the project – far too little (it gives you a wonderful insight into how little money the EU actually has to spend). So here's a suggestion to solve the problem. Given that Germany is doing so well out of the Euro and still has an image problem with Hitler etc., I'd like to suggest that the German government help pay for the Interrail tickets directly by offering one Euro for every Euro the EU offers. Sounds like a good deal to me.
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