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Thanks for the input. You're right, Piebalg's one of the two heads of DG-TREN -- which is in fact running the consultation. However, his title is "Energy Commissioner". I'll change the first sentence, though, as you suggest.

The language question: of course I understand how it may keep costs down. The point is that that is not EU policy on languages, or on communication/consultation. The EC (Report on Governance, WP on Communication) is supposed to be improving its offer on communication, reaching out more and listening more. It cannot follow a (supposedly) more ambitious policy, and limit the languages used "to save money". (That's a word to Wallström rather more than to Piebalgs.) (My personal belief is that, if it's done to save money at all, it's done to avoid spending on a procedure that irks the Commissioner and his staff, and that they have no intention of carrying out other than minimally, or even sub-minimally).

This is not a minor point: the gridlock on the "Constitution" text shows that the EU has lost touch with citizens. The Energy Consultation is an example of how the Commission is not yet ready to recognize the problem.

The final paragraph: I agree with the points that have been raised. As it stands, it is open to misinterpretation. Thanks for your suggestions.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 11:31:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Is there a current best version of the letter? I'm just now getting around to looking at it properly!
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 11:33:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]
As an experiment, I've set up the following writeboard, which is a simple on-line collaborative editor, it's got a current version of the letter.

  DG-TREN Letter
  http://123.writeboard.com/52ba421d56bc6d403/login
  Password: wiffle

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 11:47:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]
What's wrong with wiki?

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 11:55:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Other than we're not really in the habit of using it...

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 11:55:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
This seems lighter-weight. It seems worth a quick experiment.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:11:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It allows quick easy-to-see comparison of different drafts, which is good.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:17:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Great! That's a useful online tool, and your redrafting tightens up the whole text.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:09:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It looks useful for this sort of quick group edit: I just find the wikis a bit cumbersome.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:10:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Does Scoop support <object> or <iframe>? That would allow the current draft to be embedded in a comment or diary.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:19:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It could, though I'd have to think about the implications of that. However, it wouldn't help in this case because it's password protected.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:20:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Embedding youtube videos in diaries would be cool.

Is the allowed HTML set independently for comments and diaries?

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:25:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Maybe I could create a YouTube macro that would do the job.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:26:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
How about the possibility of embedding an ETWiki page?

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:29:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Had a quick look, this is quite nice for writing collective papers. I tried a minor edit (moved "p.19" forward by one word, to put it before "debate", and put that in bold to show what I did).

It would be an even greater tool if edits could be voted on, could be closed/open (as +/- expansion zones) ...

by Alex in Toulouse on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:31:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't think it'll work very well past quiet small documents but it looks good for them.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:34:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
No. Because, though there are points here and there (like the last paragraph) that could be redrafted now, there have been more substantial suggestions -- such as going through more questions and pointing out how manipulative they are, how they exclude options other than the Commission's, etc. Plus also a fuller development suggested on languages, by pointing out that the questionnaire is shoddily translated into other languages than English. This I need some more confirmation on from other-language speakers.

Since the resulting redraft is likely to be considerably longer than Draft One, I'm waiting to see clear on these points.

Take it I'll change "your Commission" in line 1 (as nanne suggests), and will use various redrafts proposed here to rewrite the final paragraph.

What do you think? Would you systematically pull apart  the entire questionnaire, question by question?

How would you handle the language question?

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 11:55:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You could systematically pull apart the entire questionnaire, and attach a cover letter to it. Or think of the pulling-apart as an appendix to the letter.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 11:57:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]
See draft version below, incorporating some of the changes from above and my own edits. You can see diffs on the writeboard referenced above.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Sep 7th, 2006 at 12:01:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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