Another Reminder of Why We Should Never, Ever Take the EU Seriously

The Telegraph reports:

Plans for a European press charter committing the media to "prudence" when reporting on Islam and other religions, were unveiled yesterday.

Franco Frattini, the European Union commissioner for justice, freedom and security, revealed the idea for a code of conduct in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. Mr Frattini, a former Italian foreign minister, said the EU faced the "very real problem" of trying to reconcile "two fundamental freedoms, the freedom of expression and the freedom of religion".

Millions of European Muslims felt "humiliated" by the publication of cartoons of Mohammed, he added, calling on journalists and media chiefs to accept that "the exercising of a right is always the assumption of a responsibility". He appealed to European media to agree to "self-regulate".

Accepting such self-regulation would send an important political message to the Muslim world, Mr Frattini said.

By agreeing to a charter "the press will give the Muslim world the message: we are aware of the consequences of exercising the right of free expression, we can and we are ready to self-regulate that right", he said.

Read the whole thing here.

At this rate they're going to self-regulate themselves out of existence. Can't say that it will be much of a loss, though.

UPDATE:

Frattini has come under a storm of criticism for his statements and is now backpedaling from them rapidly. He claims that he was misquoted, but the reporter has tapes.

Leon DeWinter is all over it here. So is Wretchard here.