3 EU information and communication strategy
| (25672)
9068/04
COM (04)196
| Commission Communication on implementing the information and communication strategy for the European Union
|
| Legal base | — |
| Document originated | 20 April 2004
|
| Deposited in Parliament | 18 May 2004
|
| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
|
| Basis of consideration | EM of 2 June 2004
|
| Previous Committee Report | None
|
| To be discussed in Council | To be determined
|
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information awaited
|
Background
3.1 The Commission's information and communication strategy was
set out in Communication COM(2002)350 of 2 July 2002.[13]
It is formally adhered to by the European Council and European
Parliament. 2005 will be the first year in which the strategy
will apply in full to all the EU 25, and the priority information
topics will be reviewed in the light of the Commission's policy
priorities. The latest Communication builds on the earlier strategy
by focusing on the extension of the strategy, priorities and mechanisms
to the new Member States and working towards greater de-centralisation
and closer inter-Institutional co-operation.
The Commission Communication
3.2 In Explanatory Memorandum of 2 June, the Minister for Europe
(Mr Denis MacShane) summarises the Communication as follows:
"The Commission recommends that better-structured and better-prioritised
communication is needed within an EU of 25. It recommends that
the Institutions draw up their own sets of messages based on a
shared central thread. The strategy will be redefined for each
of the five priority information topics: enlargement; the future
of the Union; freedom, security and justice; the euro; and the
role of Europe in the world.
"Various types of partnerships with the member
states will be possible under the strategy. The possibility of
a memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be extended to the new
Member States — the MoU would create a co-ordination cell
to allow closer working between the Commission, EP and national
governments. Aside from the MoU, three types of partnership arrangements
will be available: a strategic partnership where both parties
are financed separately, a management partnership which would
involve co-financing of a jointly approved communication plan,
and one-off partnerships based on simpler co-financing agreements.
"The Commission has evaluated its relays and
networks, and concludes that they should be rationalised under
the generic term 'Europe Direct'. Info-Points Europe and Rural
Information and Promotion Carrefours in the EU 25 will continue
to be funded, but with new management arrangements. The Commission
will not take over the PHARE EU Information Centres of the new
Member States.
"The Commission will extend the use of the following
communications tools:
- Audiovisual coverage of major
EU events will be extended to the new Member States, via Europe
by Satellite and EuroNews.
- The Europa websites will be
extended to the 20 official languages, and electronic management
of the Commission's publications will become more widespread.
- The scope of the Commission's Eurobarometer opinion
polls and Europe Direct telephone helpline will be extended to
cover the EU25."
The Government's view
3.3 While endorsing the Commission's continued emphasis
on the need to communicate the EU's activities to its 450 million
citizens, and its strategy for extending its activities within
the EU 25, the Government particularly welcomes the steps towards
a more de-centralised range of partnership agreements, whose range
of options on how Member States can collaborate with the Commission
on specific projects and programmes will, it feels, "better
address the diverse needs of the publics of an enlarged EU".
That said, the Minister says that the UK has no current plans
to sign an MoU with the Commission, having experienced what he
describes as "a lack of flexibility in the arrangements for
such partnerships, due to changes in auditing procedures at the
Commission". For now, the Government's approach "to
raising awareness of the benefits of EU enlargement [is] through
practical methods which generate positive results, and it is not
dependent on cooperation with the Commission to fulfil this objective".
The FCO's current EU communications activities include:
- "Visits by Ministers from
all Government Departments and Devolved Administrations, to engage
directly with the public;
- Interviews and articles with national media and
specialist magazines, radio and TV features and webchats;
- Cultural events, including the New Europe Film
Season and the 'Meet the Neighbours' open day at the FCO;
- A series of booklets outlining the benefits of
EU enlargement for the regions and Devolved Administrations of
the UK; and
- A website (www.europe.gov.uk) giving information
on public events and HMG's EU policy."
Conclusion
3.4 When we examined the original Communication
in October 2002,[14]
we welcomed further efforts to disseminate information on key
EU issues, but were concerned about the quality of such information,
specifically the risk that such information and communication
activities could degenerate into propaganda for particular Institutions
or the EU generally. We accordingly asked the Minister to inform
us how standards of accuracy and integrity were to be guaranteed
and to examine the case for a code of practice to ensure that
the European public could identify key principles and standards
which Institutions will be expected to uphold when implementing
the information and communication policy. We have so far had
no response.
3.5 In the meantime, the current Communication
adds to our concern. In what little the Communication has to say
about evaluation, it says that "a wide-ranging study of different
focus groups" in the EU 25 plus Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey
revealed "the public's basic lack of information about the
Union". The Commission's response is to add a fifth priority
information topic — the role of Europe in the world —
"the more fully to meet the concerns of the Union's citizens".
In view of the level of turnout and results of the recent elections
to European Parliament, we judge that the Union's citizens have
somewhat different concerns on their minds. While the continuing
need is self-evident and the revised mechanisms appear to be better-tuned
to the task in hand, the strategy has an air of unreality about
it. The Government's response is essentially pragmatic. However,
when the strategy comes up for review in 2005, we hope that the
Government will take a more robust position and do its best to
ensure that the strategy is re-focussed so as to identify and
then concentrate on those EU issues that are uppermost in citizens'
minds.
3.6 We also ask that the Minister responds to
our earlier request, and meanwhile we keep the document under
scrutiny.
13 (23683) 10875/02: HC 152-xxxviii (2001-02), para
23 (16 October 2002) Back
14
(23683) 10875/02: HC 152-xxxviii (2001-02), para 23 (16 October
2002). Back
| 
