Grassroots lobbying in the EU
MEPs get taste of people power"European politicians have to deal with a lot of funny questions, but here is one of the funniest: why, they were asked, are tomatoes in Greece watching television?
"It was a problem noticed by a Greek farmer, who was so concerned he decided to take it to the European Parliament Petitions Committee.
"It is an enshrined right of any European citizen to bring forward a petition to the parliament and, if judged admissible, it will be taken very seriously indeed.
"The farmer's complaint was that all Greek electricity bills contain a payment towards the television licence, regardless of what the electricity is being used for. But why, the farmer asked, should he pay this portion when he was using electricity solely to heat a shed of tomatoes?...
"The committee encourages the petitioners themselves to come to the meetings to present their cases...
"With an ever increasing flow of petitions from 27 countries, the committee has its work cut out listening to the whinges of Europeans.
"From funeral directors in Portugal complaining about unfair competition, to pensioners in Hungary who feel they are paying too much to use the public baths, it seems everyone has an axe to grind..."
Labels: EU, participation, rule-of-law
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:36 AM
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