ABSTRACT

Most European Union (EU) policies are domestic affairs, not foreign affairs. In a perfect world, EU political reporters cooperate more with their colleagues at home by teaming up and reporting together: one on the political game in Brussels, while the other finds relevant material back home. The body of EU law is a goldmine for consumer journalists, travel journalists and journalists at magazines that target students or anyone who might move abroad. EU institutions and national political institutions are intertwined; they are not separate, not two different things. The EU budget mainly comes from direct payments from the member countries; this accounts for 70 per cent. The rest comes from customs duties on goods from outside the union and a small EU share 0.3 per cent of the VAT that every EU country collects. All EU countries pay into the EU budget according to the size of their economies.