I digress … thoughts on fish & the environment
A series of posts on good practice in lobbying and campaigning
If I wanted to pass a law fast, this is what I’ve learned works. Stick the details in the Annex. So few people read, and even fewer read to the Annexes, you’ll be able to hide the substance in plain sight. Make sure the title is suitably non-descriptive. Give it an innocuous title. If a … Read more
A rift on John W.Kingdon. Back in 2000, I stumbled on the writing of John W.Kingdon. It changed my life – for the better. Here was an academic that wrote clearly. More, he understood how policy making really worked. He provided a model that from my few years in EP and Commission made absolute sense. … Read more
I learned something useful when I was young in Brussels. What people think the law says may not be what it says. When I was working on the adoption of the first WEEE Directive, a question came up on the meaning of “put on the market”. There were differences of opinion on what the term … Read more
Some politicians and journalists seem to be surprised about some of the contents of EU laws that they adopted in the last few years. Here are some radically practical ideas to stop poor laws being tabled. A good proposal takes time to gestate. As a rule of thumb, my guesstimate is around 18 months. … Read more