It is with a certain apprehension that I follow the social media account of Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management: I know that every time he tweets chances are there’s been a catastrophe somewhere in the world.
Author: Dir-Gen
Hi!
I'm Fabio, the Director-General of DG MEME. I single-handedly created DG MEME in June 2018 to show that a different approach to EU communication was possible. Some time later I was joined by a few friends that supported me with their insights and I could finally stop to use the royal we.
I have more than 15 years expertise in IT, Photography and Communication and I work as consultant for different companies. I'm currently set in Milan, but when there are no pandemics I'm known for traveling as much as I can. That's how I learned to love Europe, languages and cultural differences.
In this page we collect all the issues of EUROPOLITAN, the EU Bubble’s fictional fashion magazine which is published every year on Valentine’s Day. Special thanks to LM, AH, MT, RAS and RJ for helping the creative process.
EUROPOLITAN 2025
In this issue
- Draghi, Letta and Niinistö, the trio that keeps you awake at night
- New bumper sticker: Honk If You Love Bureaucracy!
- 10 yoga positions to be zen about Trump’s statements
Since I was a trainee at the Commission I was always intrigued by Valdis Dombrovskis: his institutional smiles, his precise statements, his lulling voice… One day my curiosity took over and I finally reached out to his team, asking for a short interview. They were so kind to accept and, to my surprise, I discovered that the curiosity was mutual, as EVP Dombrovskis also reads DG MEME.
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Memories of a Vestagiaire
DG MEME had the pleasure to interview Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Digital Market. She is one of the most hard-working and appreciated EU politicians: she blasted Google, Apple, Gazprom, the French and German governments, and many others. Despite such powerful opponents, she always managed to remain impartial and unbiased.
Brave, daring and adventurous are not the first adjectives that come to mind when thinking about EU functionaries; the tabloid narrative wants them to be boring people, who work the bare minimum and just wait for an undeserved retirement. To fight this negative stereotype, DG MEME created a special unit called STARS (Spry Tattlers of Ancient and Radiant Stories), with the specific aim of collecting truly inspiring stories from our colleagues.
Today we have the great pleasure of interviewing Laimutė Pilukaitė, from the Commission’s Representation in Vilnius, Lithuania. Her calm glance and gentle manners conceal her past in the freedom movement that successfully fought for the independence of the Baltic States and her involvement in one of the most legendary (and peaceful) protests of all time.
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Season’s greetings
While Belgium introduced COVID restrictions for Santa Claus (“he can come down the chimney but he must leave through the window, climbing down the gutter”), DG MEME was given a glimpse of a few last-minute letters to Santa from prominent European figures:
Today we welcome Peter Wilding, solicitor, media director for the Conservatives, proud remainer, political commentator and, last but not the least, creator of the word Brexit.
“Brexit means Brexit…” How does it feel to give the enemies their most important word?
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Calendar and Gadgets for 2021
Let’s say it: 2020 was not our favorite year, that’s why we decided to celebrate the new year with a few new gadgets and a couple of amazing calendars. Support DG MEME and make a eurocrat happy with these gifts!
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Is the EU Communication improving?
Let’s face it, despite an army of officials, consultants and green screens, the EU Communication rarely hits the target: most citizens are unaware of what the EU is or does, they don’t follow or interact with the official channels (unless they are Catalan independentists), and our information rarely reaches them, unless it has been, often negatively, chewed by journalists first.
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Parlement, the Interview
With Europe Day approaching and no way to celebrate it in person, we decided to binge-watch the TV series Parlement, a political comedy set in the European Parliament and available for free in France (but geoblocked, ironically) and for money in Belgium (believe it or not). We had some EU-talk with one of its authors, Maxime Calligaro, who also has experience in working for the EU Institutions.