The European Information Association is a focus of expertise on EU information

We started life in the pre-internet age, when simply finding official EU documents could be a difficult task.

We brought together people with resources and expertise and those who sought them. Although it is now generally true that access to EU information is no longer the barrier it once was, ignorance of the EU remains a problem.

The Association has no corporate view on whether the EU is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing. We do, however, believe that ignorance about the Union and how it works is detrimental to sensible discussion about EU issues. more ...

22 March, British Library, London

Our 2010 annual meeting will take place at the British Library on Monday 22 March.

The day will include presentations on what to expect from the new EU, recent developments in EU information, and the Commission's information priorities.

We'll also hear about the Europeana initiative and the British Library’s European Elections Archive, plus EU sources of information on social care and how the fight against poverty got onto the EU agenda.

In addition, we'll be holding our AGM and presenting the annual EIA Awards.

Free to EIA Members, the event will cost non-members £30. Places are limited; to book please mail eric@eia.org.uk or complete the form
(NB we reserve the right to charge a £30 administration fee to anyone booking but not attending, unless we receive notice by 12 March.)

For more details, see the programme.

We're grateful to UK and European legal information specialist Justis Publishing for sponsoring both our conference and our annual Awards.

Justis provides full-text law reports and legislation from a wide range of jurisdictions on Justis, including the unrivalled, easy-to-search Justis Celex, OJC and OJ Daily; while the company’s provider-neutral citator, JustCite, cross-references and deep-links into an even wider selection of material from numerous third-party resources, including many European information platforms.

Proposed changes to the Association's objectives

At the Annual General Meeting on 22 March 2010, a proposal will be made to amend the Association’s Constitution. The proposed changes would amend the paragraphs concerning the Association’s objectives and membership, as shown here.

Volunteers needed!

Each year, three of the six posts on the EIA Committee come up for re-election.
This year, those posts are: Chairman (currently Paul Clarke, EU Editorial Services Ltd), Secretary (Angela Stogia, North West Network) and Committee Representative 1 (Margaret Watson, Bodleian Law Library).
Paul and Angela have agreed to continue on the Committee (as has our Treasurer, Ian Mayfield, University of Portsmouth), but Margaret has decided to step down.
In addition, both the other Committee Representative posts have also become vacant, following the resignations of Julie Brett (Leeds Metropolitan University) and Lynette Falconer (Leeds Library and Information Service) who have both moved away from day-to-day EU work.

We are therefore seeking three volunteers to join the Committee.
Experience of working with EU information in some capacity is a distinct advantage, but just as important are enthusiasm, a willingness to get involved, and an interest in other relevant areas such as training, communication, marketing and Web 2.0 technologies.

The Committee usually meets four times a year and members can claim expenses. For the last few years, meetings have been held in Leeds, but the location could well change depending on the composition of the new Committee.

If you think your skills could benefit us and have time to spare, please ask for further details by mailing eric@eia.org.uk.

Authors sought

We want to expand our range of publications and are seeking potential authors. All our publications are now available as pdf files, not paper copies. We are willing to pay for texts, at rates to be agreed. Topics are still to be determined, but we expect to start commissioning texts in late Spring / early Summer. At this stage, we are trying to put together a pool of authors and to get an idea of their knowledge and areas of interest.

If you’re interested in the possibility of writing for us, please send brief details of your experience and particular areas of expertise (if any) to eric@eia.org.uk.

Commission should be more political

Writing on the theme 'Communicating Europe: Is the EU getting through to you?', Conor Slowey - a final year student of Law and Politics at Queen’s University Belfast - argues that the European Commission should use the mainstream media to create awareness of its policies and to spark debates on them.

Responding to the news that he’d won the £200 prize in this new EIA and Europe Direct Leeds competition, Conor said: ‘As a citizen, I'd like to see more engagement from the Commission in the mainstream media - I think that a more political Commission that fights its corner on today's big issues would reach more people and make European politics and issues more relevant to people's lives.’

The judging panel thought that the best three essays in this new competition were submitted by:
Conor Slowey, Queen’s University Belfast (First)
Nathan Woodcock, University of Leicester (Second)
Ana Catarina Marques da Silva, University of Coimbra (Third)

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Unique resource

The Central Library is the European Commission's ‘institutional memory’, according to an independent evaluation carried out by consultants Ecotec. The Library functions as a lending library, as the custodian of a unique resource relating to European integration, as an electronic information service, as a technical and skills hub at the core of the network of Commission Libraries, and as the builder of a catalogue of resources that aims to maximise the coverage of material produced across the extensive activities of the European Commission.

It is at the core of the RéseauBib network of libraries and information centres, providing them with leadership, support, and advice on library management, acquisition and documentation of resources, and disseminating information and skills relating to new library developments.
The report can be accessed via the Eurolib website.

Visit us at twitter.com/euroinfo

Communication has been a significant issue for the Commission and other EU institutions since the Danes voted 'nej' to the Treaty on European Union in 1992.

Public criticism of the incomprehensible nature, not only of the Treaty text, but also of the structure, processes and policies of the Union, provided the impetus for a new information and communication policy, based on transparency and openness. Information was suddenly seen not only as something of interest to businesses and students, but to citizens generally.

The latest manifestation of the Union's information and communication policy is 'Communicating Europe in Partnership' - a joint Parliament, Council, Commission initiative which recognises 'that communicating on the European Union requires a political commitment of EU Institutions and Member States, and that Member States have their responsibility to communicate with citizens about the EU. more ...