Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BRUSSELS2739
2005-07-19 15:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Brussels
Cable title:  

CONNECTING THE EU TO ITS CITIZENS: MISSION

Tags:  PREL SCUL PROP EUN USEU BRUSSELS 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 002739 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SCUL PROP EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: CONNECTING THE EU TO ITS CITIZENS: MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE FOR COMMISSION VICE-PRESIDENT WALLSTROM?


SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 002739

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SCUL PROP EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: CONNECTING THE EU TO ITS CITIZENS: MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE FOR COMMISSION VICE-PRESIDENT WALLSTROM?


SUMMARY
--------------


1. As the EU enters a "period of reflection" on its
future, Commission Vice-President Margot Wallstrm,
charged with communication strategy, will soon gain
wider public exposure. She intends to press the
Commission's case for the EU to draft a so-called
"Plan D" - where D stands for dialogue, debate and
democracy, built around the principles of listening,
explaining and "going local." Wallstrm sees the
Commission's role as that of an honest broker
helping to create a cross-border "public space" for
EU debate, using the internet and EU support for
networking among media, exchange programs, and
increased access to the EU bodies. Wallstrm's
emphasis on process masks the real problem: the EU
EU
lacks a message that resonates with its citizenry.
We doubt her efforts will yield significant results
unless more attention is paid to crafting a
convincing case about the EU's policies for an
increasingly skeptical European populace. END
SUMMARY.

"PLAN D" INSTEAD OF "PLAN B"
--------------


2. Following the EU leaders' decision at their June
2005 Summit to engage into a "period of reflection"
on the situation created by the "No" votes in the
French and Dutch referendums on the draft EU
Constitutional Treaty, Commission Vice-President
Margot Wallstrm, who holds responsibility for EU
institutional relations and communications strategy,
looks set to gain increased visibility in the months
ahead. Whereas some campaigners for the "No" in
France and the Netherlands nurtured vain hopes for a
"plan B" that would have implied a renegotiation of
the Treaty, Wallstrm will be pressing the
Commission's case, first made by President Barroso,
for the EU to draft and implement a "Plan D" --
-
where D stands for dialogue, debate and democracy.


3. In various statements over the past few weeks,
Wallstrm began sketching a revamped EU
communication policy that would be "responsive,
bottom-up and attuned to its many different
audiences." Addressing a Brussels conference, she
argued that the Commission must "listen to the
people, seriously and attentively." For that
purpose, she advocates "more systematic use" by the

Commission of opinion polls and citizens' panels to
hear from specific groups in the EU Member States
about their concerns. Wallstrm wants the EU "to
speak in plain simple language, avoiding jargon,"
and will press the Commission to explain how its
proposals "will actually affect people's daily
lives." Traditional vehicles such as press
releases, press conferences and booklets must be
supplemented by "new ways" of communicating.


4. Not surprisingly, Wallstrm, who has been
sharing details of her professional and personal
life on her "blog," strongly believes in the
he
internet as "the" channel for an all-out EU debate
and for communicating on Europe (Note: every day,
half a million people visit the Europa portal site
of the EU). Wallstrm declared herself impressed to
see "how many websites out there are dedicated to
politics, and how well organized the anti-EU people
are," noting: "For every pro-EU website there are 20
anti-EU ones." She suspects that the internet had a
major influence on the result of the French and
Dutch votes on the Constitutional Treaty (Note:
exchanges among young voters in France suggest
Wallstrm might have a point) and would like the EU
to become more active in the "blogosphere."

EU-LEVEL POLITICAL PLAYING FIELD
--------------


5. Joining the chorus of EU leaders anxious to
reconnect to their citizens, Wallstrm wants to
promote "a truly European political culture." This
could be achieved through better scrutiny of EU
decisions by political parties at both European and
nd
national level. The Europe-wide political parties -
- such as the European People's Party (EPP, center
right),the Party of European Socialists (PES) and
the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
(ALDE),which are essentially active through
European Parliament political groups, should develop
local bases. National parties are encouraged to
develop cross-border cooperation. A European
perspective should be brought into the debates of
national parliaments. "Innovative steps" to create
a cross-border "public arena" for debate at European
level might include networking among broadcasters;
translation facilities and venues for exchanging
press articles; exchange programs for journalists;
and making EU institutions more open and accessible.


6. Wallstrm sees the Commission playing the role
of "facilitator," a "helper" providing support to
Member States, the regions and "civil society" to
implement this "Plan D" by avoiding the "top-down"
approach. In the next few weeks and months, the
Commission will be moving forward as follows:

--The Barroso team will soon adopt an internal
Action Plan, listing reforms to be undertaken
within the Commission "to create a modern,
professional communication service" that would
better use its human and financial resources as
well as communication tools;

--Later in the year, the Commission will publish
a White Paper, intended for all stakeholders
involved in communicating on the EU, that will
outline medium and longer-term initiatives to
be taken in cooperation with the other EU
bodies and partners. These would include
further development of the Internet to improve
consultation, support to citizens'
organizations, and the organization of
"alternative conferences in parallel" to top-
level EU meetings.

THE HARD TASK OF SELLING THE EU
--------------


7. EU integration as decided "top-down" enjoyed
popular support as long as its achievements -- peace
and economic progress -- were seen as concrete and
d
obvious to all. Today, however, new generations in
the EU have no memory of WW II. Peace among member
nations is taken for granted and the EU is no longer
associated with it. Citizens therefore wonder,
"what's in there" for them. The Commission is well
aware -- thanks to the Eurobarometer surveys -- of
the issues citizens want the EU to deal with: out
of 18 proposed items in a recent survey, fighting
unemployment, poverty and exclusion; maintaining
peace and security; combating terrorism, organized
crime and drug trafficking; and protecting the
environment were clearly identified as the most
important. Wallstrm maintains that, faced with the
challenges of globalization, "democracy itself must
be cross-border," or it may "lose its grip on the
difficulties that too many people experience." To
illustrate the point, she refers to "companies that
play off their employees against each other,"
pollution, trade in human women and children for
sex, or ethnic conflicts.



8. However, though these problems are clearly
cross-border, with a European and global dimension,
the EU and the Commission in devising and conducting
their communication policy have to deal with a
variety of Member States that have major differences
as do the various interest and age groups within
each country. In Wallstrm's words, "middle-aged
women in rural Estonia do not share the same
everyday concerns as young urban males in Athens or
Lisbon. Teenage girls and boys don't read the
Financial Times or watch conventional news programs
on TV." Hence the need for EU communicators to
depart from their "one size fits all" approach and
to start addressing people in their own terms and
through their specific channels, which are often
limited to local television. To Brussels-based
skeptics feeling this is a "mission impossible,"
Wallstrm replies this is a "mission irresistible."
But how could the EU sell its policies by "going
local" in a Union of 25 countries, 455 million
n
citizens and 20 official languages (not to mention
the regional ones)? Bearing in mind that a major
French television channel does not even bother to
have a permanent correspondent in Brussels, how
could local channels and other specialized media
with limited audiences and readership be expected to
make the case for the EU?

COMMENT
--------------


9. Pooling sovereignty and shared decision-making
are ideas that have not won the heart and minds of
EU citizens struggling with daily life. The "No"
votes in France and the Netherlands were a wake-up
call for the EU "elites." But Wallstrm's emphasis
on process masks the real problem: the EU lacks a
message that resonates with its citizenry. We doubt
Wallstrm's efforts will yield significant results
unless more attention is paid to crafting a
convincing case about the EU's policies for an
increasingly skeptical European populace.

MCKINLEY
Y