Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-11-Speech-1-071"
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I would like to congratulate Mr Andreasen on his excellent report, which provides an opportunity to consider the development of our new information policy. The report that you have just discussed directly mirrors the work that the Commission is doing to urge all the institutions to draw up a global information policy of the European Union. The Commission can see that its work is being supported and it welcomes this.
My final point is that you are right to stress the need to develop a more global and more systematic audio-visual policy as a prime source of information and communication for the European Union. First of all, if I may, I would like to stress that the responsibility for this falls to the Member States themselves. The Council itself acknowledged this.
The Commission will also carry out an in-depth assessment of this area in order to bring its partnerships into line with all national, regional and local audio-visual media.
As far as Europe by Satellite is concerned, the Commission has always seen this as a leading source of interinstitutional information, which it will strive to develop in line with the budget provided.
With regard to the budget, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that we are currently bringing an end to the campaign on the euro, which will free up some financial resources. In the future, I believe that we should agree on the priorities for the forthcoming years; the future of Europe will certainly be one of them, and globalisation, as well as the continuation of the campaign on enlargement. I hope to be able to count on the support of the European Parliament in establishing the budgetary priorities that are required to fulfil the new tasks of the information and communication policy of the European Union.
The Commission also takes careful note of your desire to discuss setting up a European public television channel, the specific aim of which is to provide the public with continuous, relevant information on the initiatives and work of the European Union. The Commission will do all it can to present you with an initial analysis on the feasibility of this project by the end of the year.
To sum up, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this venture that we are embarking upon together is of enormous scope, but it is also very exciting. The Commission welcomes the political will and the awareness that is driving our institutions today. This shared political will will enable us to develop a coherent and global information and communication strategy of the European Union that will benefit our citizens.
I welcome the excellent spirit of cooperation that prevails as we go about drawing up our new information strategy. There will be a further communication on this strategy, due to be adopted by the Commission towards the end of June. It is a pleasure for me, following the debate that will be held tomorrow within the interinstitutional group – a debate which will be a brainstorming session on the essential priorities of the substance of the information and communication policy – to return to present our conclusions to you at Parliament’s part-session in July.
I would like, in response to the Andreasen report and to the debate that has just taken place, to present the broad objectives of our strategy, and then to elaborate on some aspects of its implementation.
In addition to the framework for interinstitutional co-operation set out in the communication of 27 June 2001, the Commission is now considering what should be appropriate objectives for a genuine information and communication policy of the European Union. Interinstitutional co-operation is not an end in itself, as the Andreasen report quite rightly stresses, but must essentially enable us to develop a better understanding of the citizen and of the existence and role of the European Union as it stands. In order to achieve this, we need to do more than just disseminate factual information. It seems to me that our aim must be to develop a genuine communication policy that will enable us to enter into dialogue with the general public in the Member States. I also think that a genuine global information and communication policy of the European Union should also attempt to increase citizens’ involvement in European debates.
These questions encourage us to be aware of the European Union’s need to have better control of its own image, which involves drawing up its own set of messages. This should be able to be adapted to its various information activities, whether they are urgent or specific. As the rapporteur points out, these messages must be changed according to the local situation or specific concerns of the people. This involves defining targeted local information which is as credible as possible.
The Commission fully supports the principles mentioned by Mr Andreasen, the first of which is decentralisation. This must not only apply to the implementation of the strategy, but also to the adaptation of messages to the requirements of the various sectors of the public, whether this involves adaptation to different national situations in the 15 Member States or adapting messages to the various target groups of the information and communication policy. This also, however, requires our institutions to be better coordinated and to have better guidance. In this respect, I fully support the rapporteur’s idea to strengthen the coordinating and guidance role of the Interinstitutional Group on Information, chaired on behalf of Parliament by Vice-President Vidal-Quadras Roca, whom I would like to acknowledge and thank for the comments he has made on the efforts to co-operate with the Commission.
My second point concerns interinstitutional cooperation. This should eventually develop into a multi-annual action programme, providing better prospects for our work on information and communication. The Commission can only welcome your proposal to organise a debate, to be held every year in Parliament and in which the Council takes part, on the information and communication policy. I also welcome the fact that the Council has decided to take part in the meetings of the Interinstitutional Group on Information. I hope that other bodies will also participate in the work of the IGI, as observers.
My third point relates to partnership with civil society. As you quite rightly point out, if we wish to strengthen this partnership, we must make more rational use of the networks and relays that we have established with the Member States at national, regional and local level. As you can see, it is useful and necessary to think about the strategy itself, but this must go hand in hand with improving the organisation of our resources, and this is why the Commission is currently in the process of assessing the real ability of the tools that we have available.
It goes without saying that the coherence of our message depends on there being greater synergy between our various resources. The rapporteur stresses the need to establish common European Union Houses in the candidate countries as well as in all the Member States. As you know, the policy of the Commission is to do exactly this. Your idea to develop a ‘one-stop-shop’ in each country for European citizens is very much in line with the concerns of the Commission. In this connection, the Commission is interested in achieving greater coordination, which you have been hoping and praying for, between the institutions and the Member States, which should bring about greater complementarity between their respective activities.
In the same respect, the Commission is also seeking to create greater synergy between the networks and relays and the external offices and the representations of our institutions, which you refer to as ‘European Union Houses’. I think that, today, this coordination is already a reality on the ground. Furthermore, to respond to your concern regarding the visibility of these ‘common Houses’, the Commission is considering ways of making information from the European Union more easily recognisable by its recipients. In addition to drawing up common themes and messages, should the European Union not seek to develop its own identity using a logo or a unique way of conveying its image through its various channels; a branding of some sort?"@en1
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