TOGETHER WE MUST MAKE THE EUROPEAN YEAR OF THE BRAIN 2014 A REALITY

I have long felt that these boondoggling beanfeasts that the the 'Year of the..., Week of the ... Day of the ... hour of the...' and so on are a ridiculous carry on. And to that extent this is no different. As they point out, for one of these things to take place this must happen,

For a European Year to be launched it must be proposed by the European Commission. A European Council agreement must follow (among the relevant national ministers) and this must be approved by the European Parliament which will vote on the budget. This decision making process takes several years since it requires each institution to commit to doing something concrete.

And then, having got that far, more money needs to be spent,

It also requires the corresponding budget to be approved at European and national levels

Why?

so that activities such as European, national and local-level awareness-raising campaigns and proposals for political initiatives (a new European programme, new legislation, new political objectives etc) can be funded.

No fun wiothout new laws now is it, and hectoring, and bossing around and being told that this or that activitry is deliterious to thye brain, like smashing you head against a brick wall demanding reform perchance? Or listening to the interminable speeches, in favour of this sort of thing.

The whole charade will be stuffed with preening shirts waffling on, leaving the audience feeling that they have listened to a Vogon poetry reading.

They are treating it like a European City of Culture, or attempting to win the World Cup. Who gets the franchise!!!

Ok, there is lots of worthy stuff about brian disease, but this particular ambition did strike me,

Promote normal brain function and development and address barriers to these.