Analyse: Der Weg zu einer europäischen Öffentlichkeit

In diesem Artikel untersuchen S. Kurpas, M. Brüggemann und C. Meyer (CEPS) das Weißbuch der Kommission über eine europäische Kommunikationspolitik und formulieren Vorschläge, wie man ihre Vorsätze mit Inhalt füllen könnte.

Compared with former EU initiatives designed to „reconnect with the citizens“ (Convention on the Future of Europe, White Paper on Governance, etc.), the White Paper takes a fundamentally new approach, according to the authors. Though lacking revolutionary and concrete proposals, „this text is characterised by a welcome sense of realism and long term perspective.“ But the real novelty in the Commission’s approach lies in the fact that it is „seriously asking other institutions and the European public at large for proposals to develop better communication on EU matters,“ the authors write.

To start with, the policy brief backs the idea of a widening communication gap between policy-makers and citizens in the European Union that needs to be tackled. While supporting the Commission’s call for more interaction with the general public and „Europeanisation“ of national debates, the authors also note that the creation of a policy field in itself (e.g. communication) would require a revision of the Treaty. Indeed, from a legal point of view, the EU only has competence to inform citizens about policy results.

At a broader scale, the researchers deplore the contrast between the clarity of the diagnosis of EU communication problems and the „very cloudy language“ used to propose concrete improvement measures. Moreover, they fear that the consultation process initiated in February this year only involves the „usual suspects“ – i.e. the Brussels elites already in touch with European institutions. This risk also looms on the Commission’s intents to summarise the debate and to draw its own conclusions, thus allowing for „unwanted results“ to filter out at some point in the evaluation process, they argue.

Against this backdrop, the authors come up with proposals on how the White Paper can „have a more tangible and long-term effect than its many predecessors.“ These recommendations revolve around two axes:

• Reinforcing the accountability of all European communication stakeholders, e.g. by way of „binding commitments“ on the part of European, national and regional/local authorities and by voluntary self-regulation in the non-public sector (especially in the media); 
• Establishing a more visible dialogue with the citizens: complementing polls and opinion monitoring by public „deliberation“ events is an idea, as well as  developing transnational partnerships for EU communication and exchanges between European citizens;

In the end, the authors admit that even a fully-fledged communication policy „cannot be a substitute for offering citizens clear choices in the European decision-making process,“ hence their final recommendation: „continue the democratisation of the EU.“