White paper
A white paper is a collection of suggestions on how to proceed in a specific area.
Historical meaning
The white paper in the original sense is one of the international political color books . These are collections of documents that the government of a state publishes in order to provide orientation on political issues. A white paper often serves to justify one's own political action, especially foreign policy . It is published at regular intervals, roughly annually, similar to an almanac .
The term was first used (based on the English blue books ) in 1879 by the Reichstag delegate Schorlemer-Alst on the occasion of the collection of files on the friendship treaty between the Reich and the Samoa Islands on May 22, 1879 and then used widely.
According to a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, such diplomatic acts are published in different countries in books with envelopes in certain colors: in the United Kingdom they are blue, in Italy green, in France yellow, in Germany white, in the USA and Austria red, gray in Japan and orange in Russia (until 1917) and the Netherlands .
Examples
White paper on the outbreak of the First World War
This white paper was strongly propagandistically colored. According to a later report by Hermann Kantorowicz , it was largely based on forged documents, see report on the question of war guilt .
White paper on the alleged Röhm putsch
In 1934, after the National Socialist massacre because of the alleged Röhm putsch , the KPD , which was already illegal at the time, published a “white book on the shootings of June 30” in the Paris publishing house by Willi Münzenberg . A copy of him appeared in the "Blue Book", also written by Munzenberg, which contained a memorandum from opposition circles to President von Hindenburg in favor of a presidential directory .
White Paper on the General War Treaty
In 1952 the Office for Information of the German Democratic Republic published a white paper on what it called the General War Treaty, in which the goals and consequences of the signing of the Germany Treaty and the Paris Treaties were discussed.
EU white papers
The white papers published by the European Commission contain proposals for a Community approach in a specific area. Some of them tie in with Green Papers , which initiate a consultation process at European level.
Examples are the White Papers on completing the internal market , on growth , competitiveness and employment, and on the harmonization of internal market legislation in the associated states of Central and Eastern Europe. In order to overcome the distance from the citizens, a white paper on EU public relations was created in 2006 . On March 1, 2017, the EU Commission's White Paper on the Future of the EU Ways to Maintain Unity in the EU27 was published .
If a White Paper is received positively by the Council of Ministers , it can result in a Union action program in the relevant area.
Bundeswehr White Paper
The Bundeswehr White Book is a basic document drawn up by the Federal Ministry of Defense and approved by the Federal Government , which describes the security policy situation in the Federal Republic of Germany and its allies for the coming years from the government's point of view and is intended to serve as a guide for security policy decisions and actions in Germany .
"White Papers" in information technology
Overviews of services, standards and technology on IT topics are referred to as white papers . This is a separate genre of fonts that has nothing to do with official white papers, but is mainly used for public relations or marketing purposes.
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann Sass: The German white papers on foreign policy 1870-1914. Berlin / Leipzig 1928, p. 125.
- ↑ Hans Magnus Enzensberger : Hammerstein or the obstinacy. A German story. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-518-41960-1 , p. 169.
- ↑ What the "White Paper on the General War Treaty" contains. In: Neues Deutschland , September 17, 1952.
- ↑ European Commission: White Paper on a European Communication Policy (PDF; 212 kB)
- ↑ Commission presents White Paper on the Future of Europe: Ways to Preserve Unity in the EU27. europa.eu, March 1, 2017, accessed on March 3, 2017 .
