President's mail goes live on Web

Nosing through the mail of the rich and famous has usually been the prerogative of secretaries, but from today anyone will be able to read the correspondence of European Commission president Romano Prodi.

Keith Nuthall

And instead of delving into his bins in Brussels, would-be nosy parkers can check his activities by logging on, as Prodi has fulfiled a promise to publish his mail on the Web.

It is still not possible to read the words written by the former Italian prime minister, as the service merely posts the names of addressees, the date a letter was sent and its subject. The same applies for post received.

A glance at last Friday's out tray suggests that the EU president has a reasonably interesting job, although it is far from being a nailbiting life of intrigue. The closest Prodi got to being adventurous was a letter written to Tony Blair regarding a nationwide fax poll, "Should we withdraw from the EU?"

Other notes were more humdrum, focusing on the EU's Day of Culture, an End of Life Vehicles directive, and the policy of the National Youth Council of Catalonia.

Prod's in tray is more interesting, ranging from the significant - a work plan for the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims - to the esoteric, customs duty on prawns from Iceland.

Prodi's mail is available http://europa.eu.int.comm/commissioners/prodi/mail_fr.htm