EUobserver article by Clear Europe Managing Director Gareth Harding explaining how needlessly complicated the EU is.

With over 20 years experience describing how the European Union works, what it does and what challenges it faces in speeches, articles, lectures and trainings, I thought I could explain what the EU is all about in terms that anybody could understand. How wrong I was.

In the last month I have given half a dozen ‘EU in an hour’ talks to visiting groups of American politics, journalism and international relations students – who are all extremely keen, bright and willing to ask questions. But almost invariably, the students leave the classroom flabbergasted at how needlessly complicated the EU is and suspecting that I have made up some of the Byzantine decision-making procedures just to mess with them.

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According to Danny Scheinmann, we are all storytelling animals. There is something in all of us that just wants to know what happens next.

Danny, an actor, award-winning filmmaker and best-selling author, led a storytelling masterclass at Clear Europe on June 10th. He talked to the nearly 30 participants about how storytelling isn’t just used to teach lessons to children and to inform friends and family about our travels. Storytelling also has an important role in the work environment, as stories are often the best way to pass on a company or organisation’s values to customers, clients and employees. Read More

You have a deadline to meet and you want the article to be top-notch, but your mind is blank and you find yourself staring at your screen struggling to put thoughts into words. Unfortunately for all frustrated writers, there is no push-the-button solution for writer’s block. But to give you a shunt in the right direction, find out what some of the greatest authors have to say about the art of writing. Read More

Thanks to the 50-60 people who came to the launch of ‘Mapping European Foreign Correspondence‘ at the Brussels Press Club today. The book, which is edited by Professor George Terzis and published by Routledge, is the first Europe-wide study of foreign correspondents and their reporting. Many who attended the launch asked if I could send data from the chapter about the Brussels press corps, which I co-authored with Prof. Terzis. Rather than post my presentation, I have picked out 10 essential facts you need to know about the journalists who report on the EU. Unless otherwise specified, the data is from the ‘Directory of Journalists Accredited to the European Institutions’ issued by the European Commission in May 2012. If there are are any errors, don’t hesitate to tell us. Read More

If you want to know more about understanding and influencing the Brussels press corps, sign up for our course on 25/02.

Need video content for your site but don’t have shooting or editing skills and can’t afford costly production companies?

Our next open course on December 15 and 16 aims to teach you the basics of video storytelling and how to film and edit professionally.

The two-day course features practical tips from experienced TV journalist and trainer Herve Verloes on how to get the best shots, compose sequences, edit your stories and upload them to the web. Click here for more information. Read More

We are delighted to welcome Michiel van Hulten on board as our senior advisor.

Michiel is a Dutch-born, UK-educated consultant who has been involved in EU politics and communications for over 20 years. He was previously a Member of the European Parliament, chair of the Dutch Labour Party, head of government relations for Burson-Marsteller in Brussels and Managing Director of VoteWatch Europe. He is currently a visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics and a well-known speaker and commentator on EU affairs. Read More