EU Communications: 'still a long way to go'[fr][de] 

A new plan to "Communicate Europe in partnership", unveiled by the Commission on 3 October, seeks to foster greater cooperation between Brussels-based EU institutions and national governments in communicating EU policies to citizens.

The objective is to win back popular support for the European project after the French and Dutch ‘No’ to the draft EU Constitution in 2005. It also seeks to reverse the decline in voter turnout at the next European elections to take place in 2009.

Central to the proposal is an inter-institutional agreement between the Commission (representing the EU’s general interest), the Parliament (representing citizens) and the member states (representing EU member states) to “communicate better collectively on agreed priority topics”. These could for example include climate change, the EU’s ‘Reform Treaty’ and the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs.

Other elements of the Commission’s proposals include:

• Joint communication plans, agreed on a voluntary basis with member states, in order to tailor EU communication to local circumstances.
• Developing a "network of European public spaces" at EU representations in the member states where exhibitions and concerts could be held. In Brussels, civil society "contact points" at the Commission’s offices would improve NGO access to information and documents from EU institutions.
• A renewed effort to teach European integration at school.
• An audiovisual and internet strategy, including "an internet-based information network" to "improve communication between European and national politicians, journalists and other opinion formers".

Margot Wallström, Commission Vice-President in charge of institutional relations and communications strategy, said the EU Executive will continue its efforts to include a "citizens’ agenda" into the Commission’s work programme, saying that citizens "know what they want from the EU".

But she also called on member states to "end the blame game" and take more responsibility for defending the decisions they take behind closed doors in Brussels.

"Member states obviously play a key role in communicating on European matters in their own country," the Commission said adding that their role was "essential...in disseminating information on EU issues at national, regional and local level in order to reach out to as many citizens as possible."

The Commission’s initiative was generally welcomed by civil society organisations. But a panel discussion at a conference organised by the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) on 3 October showed that there was still a long way to go.

Questions were especially raised on whether the EU would be able to mobilise citizens in time for the European elections, without increasing resources and whether the inter-institutional agreement would be enough to encourage member states to better inform citizens. Some EU citizens taking the floor demanded a more decentralised and practical approach.

Tony Venables, Director of ECAS, welcomed the citizen consultations undertaken in the framework of "Plan D". But he pointed out that they were organised merely on a case-by-case basis, and therefore needed to be followed-up in order to ensure continuity.

Jillian Van Turnhout, Vice-President of the European Economic and Social Committee, called to continue the dialogue with citizens and not just consult them when the EU is in need of support.

Henrik Kröner, Secretary General of the European Movement International underlined that "participatory democracy is vital". He said that "well informed citizens" should be a "conditio sine qua non" for the EU.

Christophe Leclercq, founder and publisher of EurActiv summarised: "The new communication policy initiative is necessary, but not sufficient. The actions taken should go further and be speeded up well before the European Parliament elections."