Luxembourg now holds the EU presidency.

international | eu | event notice Tuesday January 04, 2005 11:58 by iosaf mac d. - merrovinginvanjans (2) €U

for the next six months, following Netherlands who followed Ireland preceding the UK

The first official event will be on the 5th of the 1st 2005

a moment of silence throughout the union for the victims of the SE Asia disaster.

Flags will be at half-mast.

an ordinary girl.

The Luxembourg presidency will see new impetus on Shengen, new force to create European film and cinema and support for creatively based initiatives to safeguard the future of Europeans.

The economic work has been done.

Now the cultural work must be done.

Social Europe, the Europe without frontiers of equitable working and health conditions and entitlements was and is the objectives of the 450,000,000+ European citizens.

We are diverse, more diverse than any comparable economic and political block which has existed in the recorded history of Humanity.

"Never before have so many different nations, religions and ethnic groups lived together in peace" was said by Pr. W. Clinton of the USA, it was arguably true, it is true of our Europe.
We must now move to ensure our progress and to fulfill our obligations to those states with which we border, and have deep and often exploitative bonds.

Our obligations to help them end Poverty,
to treat desiese, to end corruption, to move quickly and wisely to democracy and the ancient liberties upon which our European ideals have always been founded, the light to which we always return.

Luxembourg is the smallest nation state of the founding members of the community.

Luxembourg brought the then young post War europeans together with its media services and radio broadcasts, and stands ready to counter the negative impact of media, cinema, and other uses of technology on the social and cultural development of the young in the XXI century.

= All Together Now.

You may read all updates in typically "pithy" Luxembourgish style as well as their pacifist anthem (including translation to gaeilge) at the eu2005 site. @ link
They have chosen as one of their illustrations a still from one the movies they made which focussed on the life of Vermeer an artist of a neighbouring state who painted the ordinary people of our continent.