European Feature Stories

SEETV is regularly producing short European feature stories, to give closer insight into how the EU works, or to highlight the impact of certain EU policies and actions. These features are available to broadcasters in international version, with a detailed script in English.

Archive

E-government: municipality at home!

2. Jul 2009, 11:15

Contents: Municipality at home - This is the slogan of the electronic service that the Brussels municipality'Woluwe Saint Pierre offers' to its citizens. No more long queues at the counters: simply by using the electronic ID card and internet citizens can get all administrative documents from the municipality without moving from their homes. Hundreds of billions of euros could be saved for European taxpayers every year as a result of administrative modernization in the 25 EU Member States, says the European Commission's eGovernment Action Plan for 2010.

Last summer of expensive roaming?

2. May 2008, 09:50

During the summer, many Europeans go on holiday in another country. To keep a link with home, they bring their mobile phone. An idea that can proove very expensive : roaming costs can amount to several euros per minute. Nevertheless, the citizens of the European Union can consider themselves lucky : this is the last summer of super-expensive roaming : at the end of August, the Eurotarif will come into force, meaning lighter bills ... The end of a struggle between the European commission and mobile phone operators ...

War of Wines

2. May 2008, 09:49

War is raging between the New World and the Old continent... we're not talking science-fiction here but... wines. Every year in the European Union, imports of wines from the rest of the world are growing by 10%. Europe remains the number 1 producer but the sector is facing a looming crisis, because consumers are drinking more and more reds and whites from Australia, South Africa or Chile. Brussels has decided to react and help the European wine makers fight the invaders. But the Europeans disagree on the methods...

Don`t know much about history...

2. May 2008, 09:37

Western European students know very little about the history of their Eastern neighbours. And when it comes to the Balkans, it's even more striking. Report from a history class in a Brussels secondary school. Students have heard of Kosovo, but much less of the Bosnian war. What are their perceptions? How to bridge the gap?

What future EU mission in Kosovo?

2. Jun 2007, 16:16

The EU has almost completed the preparations to deploy its biggest civilian mission in the field of security and defence, in Kosovo. It will consist of 1800 police and customs offices, judges and prosecutors. But in order to deploy this mission, a new UN resolution is needed.

Belgium, a country divided and united

2. Jun 2007, 10:51

In the run-up to the Belgian legislative elections taking place on 10 June, we propose a feature story illustrating this complex country made up of Flemish and Walloons. How is Belgium accommodating these two communities? A recent hoax programme on Belgian French-speaking TV announced the break-up of the country, shocking a majority of Belgians, while at the same time the far right Flemish party continues to advocate the independence of Flanders. Illustration of the context with the story of a Belgian mixed couple.

Do smoking bans work?

2. Jun 2007, 10:51

On the occasion of World anti Tobacco day on 31 May, SEETV proposes a feature on measures taken against smoking in EU countries. Focus on Belgium, where a new smoking ban in restaurants is in place since January this year. Does it work? Are clients happy? Or is there a drop in clients for restaurant owners? This feature of about 4 minutes explores what are the effects of smoking bans in public places in countries where these measures have been introduced. Link with the Balkans.

EU criteria for good and safe food

2. Jun 2007, 04:55

The European Union is the biggest world importer of food products. Therefore what is brought on European plates is taken very seriously. The 27 members of the EU have got a very strict legislation regarding the quality of food, it applies to candidate countries as well as to countries that simply import food into the Union. The idea is that what EU citizens eat is as safe as possible. Showing concrete examples, this feature shows how the law is implemented to best protect the consumers.

Cars and Greenhouse gas emissions in Europe

2. May 2007, 06:58

Cars are responsible for 15% of all our greenhouse gas emissions. The EU is pushing car manufacturers to produce cleaner cars. But environmentalists think this is not enough. And the car industry is resisting the move. How to reconcile mobility and environment in Europe? Car sharing in big cities is one of the possible solutions. Example in Brussels.

The Far Right: a threat to European democracies?

2. May 2007, 09:13

In the first round of the French presidential elections, the far right scored very low. Nevertheless, the far right remains strong elsewhere. Is the rise of the extreme-right a threat for European democracies ? Coming from France, Romania, Belgium or Bulgaria, its leaders recently managed to overcome their differences to create a political group in the European parliament. In this feature, we meet far right activists, leaders and experts to try to understand how strong theses nationalists parties are, and what are the motivations of their followers.

The Secret of Belgian Chocolate

2. May 2008, 09:50

How a local speciality became a brand and a reference product on the European and global market. With pictures filmed in chocolate production factories (Pierre Marcolini and Neuhaus) in Brussels, and interviews with reference chocolate producers.

A Walk through the European Council and Europe`s history

2. May 2008, 09:36

Through the portrait of Hans Brunmayr, the Chief of the EU Protocol, we look back on the Big and Small history of the European Union, it`s achievements and failures.

Warning: Unknown: open(/var/php_sessions/sess_8aa34e999d8d5bba94e809a3b89ef2f5, O_RDWR) failed: No such file or directory (2) in Unknown on line 0 Warning: Unknown: Failed to write session data (files). Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct (/var/php_sessions) in Unknown on line 0