Keynote speaker of the conference was Beate Gminder, assistant to Communication Commissioner Margot Wallström. Panellists included academics, journalists and Commission officials. The discussion examined the results of the study and the communication policy of the European Commission and made several suggestions for the EU's future policy in this area.
Beate Gminder emphasised that it was not the goal of the Commission to interfere with the media and that the establishment of a European news agency was not on the agenda. Gminder said that the main priority of the Commission should be to enhance the co-operation between DGs to promote a stronger corporate image and improve the efficiency of the EU executive.
The main findings were as follows:
- Going local: There was an overall agreement that too much information is distributed via the Commission, but that it doesn't interest citizens because it is not adapted to local circumstances. The panellists agreed that strengthening the local multipliers could help overcome this obstacle. One suggestion that was made in this respect and which received much support was to allocate more resources to the Commission's representations in member states to enable them to lead a sectoral dialogue on a national and local level.
- Achieving coverage: The panellists agreed that the aim should not be to have "good news" distributed about Europe – rather, it should be to create an interest in the European public for all news, good or bad, about Europe.
- Evaluation management: The question as to how successful communication is measured received much attention. The panellists agreed that the most relevant indicators are participation and involvement (such as the turnout in European elections and results of Eurobarometer surveys). Some academic participants criticised the Commission's communication policy as one-sided and underlined that communication should not mean "transporting" a message, but rather a permanent two-way process between the EU executive and the citizens.
- Looking ahead: Several speakers commented on the fact that the debate on communication focuses too much on printed newspapers. They emphasised that the internet is the "great challenge of the future" and that the Commission's efforts should reflect this.
