The European Commission is set to float the idea of an EU press agency and code of conduct for the bloc’s institutions and journalists, aimed at boosting communication channels to and from citizens. The suggestions are part of the consultation initiative dubbed the white paper on communication
to be unveiled on Wednesday (1 February). The EU executive views the initiative as part of the reflection period
announced after the rejection of the bloc’s new constitution by the French and Dutch citizens. As lack of information and the gap between elitist EU institutions and ordinary people have been cited as key reasons for the charter’s failure, the commission’s paper lists several proposals to improve the communication of the EU.
Under the plan, joint action should be taken in five areas: Defining common principles; empowering citizens; working with the media and new technologies; understanding European public opinion and doing the job together.
According to a commission official this paper is asking other EU institutions, as well as member states and journalists to try to agree on some kind of common principles, even some code of conduct on how to communicate Europe, as so far there has always been only pressure on the commission to come up with some miracle plan.
- National governments are called upon to provide
the tools and facilities, setting up new fora for public discussion of European issues, which will give as many people as possible access to information and the possibility to make their voices heard.
- Moreover, the paper argues that better awareness of Europe could also be achieved by lessons about EU history and institutions becoming a normal part of the national civic education in the member states.
- Meanwhile, the media chapter of the initiative suggests that the current 24-hour TV news channel Euronews, currently funded by both the commission and the European Parliament, could be expanded by creating an EU press agency.
Similar ideas were floated at the weekend’s conference on the future of Europe in Salzburg, Austria, last week with some EU leaders calling for both European TV news channels as well as for EU newspapers.
Go local
One of the main messages of the white paper is that a European ‘public sphere’ cannot be shaped in Brussels,
and the member states and other national actors have a responsibility to use national channels to ensure a robust European debate.
The commission argues this debate should be inclusive,
with all citizens having access to information in particular minorities, disabled citizens and other vulnerable groups that might systematically risk being excluded.
Europe’s communication policy must respect that European citizens come from widely diverse social and cultural backgrounds and hold a wide variety of political views,
points out the EU executive.
The commission will launch a special website on the white paper on Wednesday, through which citizens and stakeholders can send comments on the tabled proposals until July. The EU executive will then sum up the contributions and present them to the EU leaders at the end of the reflection period.
