Against the backlash of the French and Dutch "no" to the Constitutional Treaty, the Commission vice-president of the EC is proposing 50 pragmatic actions aimed at improving its ability to communicate effectively to citizens (and voters).
Wallström plans a better use of the EC resources with:
a better coordination and planning of the EC communication activities in order to avoid confusion and clashes between policies;
human dimension face of the EC: the Commissioners must provide everyday life stories to their proposal. They must become the "faces" of the European Union, undertaking frequent study trips in the member states and welcoming visitors groups inside the Commission’s building;
a better use of communication tools: an Editor for the Europa website will reform the portal, a TV channel is envisaged;
becoming more professional: more simple drafting of Commission proprosals, internal training, hiring communication experts;
reinforcing the role of the representations of the EC within member states to listen to "people" and communicating the Commission’s policies.
A White Paper in early 2006 will set out initiatives to be implemented in cooperation with other institutions in the medium and long-term.
The difficulties to communicate and reach citizens remain
No one can deny the need to reform the EU communication strategy since communication is a vital part of a lively democratic system. Neither can we forget about the huge challenge that communicating to European citizens represents: 457 million citizens with 20 languages and 25 different political agendas, cultural, economic and historical backgrounds.
However, some questions remain about the Communication plan:
According to the action plan, "the role of civil society and their active contribution to European dialogue and debate will be addressed". And yet, the word "NGO" never appears neither in the Communication, nor in the Annex and is not allocated a role in the plan.
The Action plan emphasises the Commission’s commitment to increase the democratic participation of European citizens, but fails to make any links to the role of European Parliament, which is actually directly elected by citizens.
The "Listening and go local" pillars of the strategy will rely mainly on the media which is not always balanced in its coverage of Europe. The Commission intends to listen to public opinion through surveys and by monitoring the media.
Although the "go local dimension" is emphasised, the cooperation with local or regional authorities is not defined and relies on the national representations.
Related Links
Participating in Debate on the Future of Europe - A Call for Action
The Action Plan to improve communicating Europe by the Commission
