Wednesday, December 28, 2005

EU follies

So, just days before Austria is set to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union, posters have shown up around Vienna depicting nude models wearing masks of George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac and the Queen of England, posing as if they're having sex with each other. One of Austria's most popular tabloid newspapers has called for the posters to be removed, and apparently some politicians aren't too happy with them, either.

According to Reuters, the posters are part of a series created by "artists" from each of the EU's 25 member countries. Some art project called "25peaces" commissioned the posters, which somehow supposedly "reflect on the different social, historical and political developements in Europe." Uh, okay...sure.

Anyway, get ready for the least surprising part of the story:
25peaces received 1 million euros ($1.2 million) of funding from the Austrian government for the works.
Like you didn't see that coming.

1 comment:

Muslihoon said...

Y'know, the EU's internal politics are not as fluffy-bunnies-and-happy-happy as it may seem. Each country is in there for their own interests. They all use the EU to further their own goals. There has been more consolidation, indeed, but it's not going very deep. National interests still reign supreme. A good example is the recent issue with the EU budget: the EU countries were worried that a budget would not be passed because the UK opposes certain provisions that benefits France while provisions benefitting the UK are not being accepted. There's even speculation that the Euro may not survive. It all depends. They say that if the UK does not join the Euro soon, it will fall. My professor told me that whereas the US liked action, the Europeans have always liked institution-building. Nothing thrills the Europeans more than setting up organizations, conferences, committees, rules, protocols, discussions, etc. Let them try to pull the Eu in every direction they wish.

In the meanwhile, we can watch with amusement.