MARGOT WALLSTROM ADDRESSES CULTURE COMMITTEE

European Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has for some time had responsibility for communications in the EU.  Speaking at the Culture committee earlier today, she stressed that she was not a propaganda queen but rather someone with an important job to do, namely improving the way the EU engages with people across Europe.  Given the less than enthusiastic attitude in the UK to the EU by many groups of people, much of the media and some political parties (the Tories being the most significant), I feel Ms Wallstrom has an uphill task.     

Fortunately, not all EU Member States are as Eurosceptic as Britain, so I think the Commissioner’s job may not be a hard as it would appear from a British perspective.  Margot Wallstrom herself is massively enthusiastic about her role, which doesn’t surprise me as she is noted for her commitment and thoroughness.  However, since only 0.2% of the EU budget currently goes on communications and funding the European Parliament/European Commission offices in Member States comes out of this, not much is left over.  Nonetheless, under Ms Wallstrom’s leadership, the EU has developed an audio-visual strategy involving networking with existing radio and television networks and expanding Satellite Europe, the EU’s own feed which other media can pick up.  Much greater use has also been made of the internet, including a You Tube channel and Europarl TV.  Ms Wallstrom even writes a blog.

All of the above shows that geat strides have been made in communicating the EU to a wider audience.  This is all good news, though I’m afraid there is a long way to go before the idea of  “bringing Europe closer to the citizens” comes to fruition.  I have to say I wish those involved in the EU would stop using the word “citizen”.  It does’t go down well in Britian and only serves to emphasise the distance.

Margot Wallstrom also raised the question of turnout in the European elections, which, as we know, was low throughout the EU.  Yet there is one spark of light.  Turnout actually rose in 11 Member States and went up where the election campaigns actively focused on EU issues.  So much for the conventional wisdom that we shouldn’t talk about Europe and only deal with national matters in European elections.  As you can imagine, there was considerable interest in the subject from Culture Committee members and it was therefore agreed to hold a special seminar with all the relevant statistics etc to examine it further.

Margot Wallstrom put forward three action points:

1.  There should be an EU Commissioner solely responsible for communication.  Communications policy should be linked to citizens’ rights and should build on the citizens’ initiatives in the Lisbon Treaty (assuming it is ratified).

2.  The European Parliament will have more power in negotiating the 2013 financial framewotk if Lisbon is ratified as there will be co-decsion, meaning that the European Council will have equal weight with the Council of Ministers.  The Parliament should therefore budget more money for communications.

3.  The European institutions should plan and work togather on communications.

I can certainly sign up to these three points and I wish Margot all the very best in her endeavours.