Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-13-Speech-2-276"
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"en.20010313.16.2-276"2
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".
I beg to inform the honourable Member that the Commission, in its communication strategy for enlargement, strongly advocates the involvement of local players such as communal authorities, town councils, members of regional assemblies, schools, chambers of commerce, craft and trade associations, unions, churches, societies and voluntary organisations as credible representatives of civil society.
The communication strategy will be implemented on a decentralised basis. Our delegations in the capitals of the candidate countries will select cooperating partners there as part of a strategy designed to satisfy national and regional information requirements. Local operators should, of course, take precedence in the selection of partners.
The underlying principle is that, because of the time constraints and the inherently restricted character of this project, we cannot create any completely new structures. Nor do we have enough money to avail ourselves of the instruments of mass communication, which means that we cannot buy advertising space or write scripts for publicity spots on TV. It is therefore entirely logical that we should use the existing communication structures in those societies as vehicles for our message. Each of the institutions and organisations to which the honourable Member referred is a suitable vehicle in my eyes.
I am especially grateful to the honourable Member for asking this question because it gives me an opportunity to express my gratification at the commitment to this communication strategy that has been shown by the Members of this House and to state that the campaign in the Member States is currently suffering – and in truth has not really started in earnest – because the amount allocated to this project under the budget heading PRINCE has not yet been released. May I therefore also appeal for your help in ensuring that the funds allocated to the information campaign are released as quickly as possible so that we can make a start now on the actual implementation, since time is gradually slipping away from us. It would be a bit late to tell people about enlargement after the accession Treaties have been concluded.
As I said, the Commission is not planning an advertising campaign but is focusing on information, communication and scope for popular involvement. At the heart of the effort, of course, are the major issues such as the preservation of peace, the extension of the stability zone in Europe and common access to the peace dividend after the end of the Cold War.
We shall speak about the economic benefits of sustained growth in an area of Central and Eastern Europe stretching from the Baltic down to Istria. We shall speak of the efficient use of the division of labour that will develop smoothly in the enlarged single market, which is now assuming continental dimensions and which must compete successfully on a global scale with the Far East and North America. We shall speak about the application of EU standards in the candidate countries – environmental standards, transport-safety standards, competition rules, provisions relating to internal law and order, food-safety standards and the many, many other benefits accruing to citizens of the Union.
Another important subject is the use of human capital, of the unique historical and social experience acquired by the people of the candidate countries, to enrich the future integration process. Let me sum it up in one sentence: our aim is to create awareness of the fact that we have a historic opportunity to overcome, now and for all time, the division that was imposed on Europe."@en1
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