An important part of Communication Commissioner Margot Wallström's grand scheme to reconnect the EU with its citizens is to empower the Commission's representations in the member states. She has started doing just that by sending Reijo Kemppinen, the former head of the Commission's press service under President Romano Prodi, into the line of fire.
In an exclusive interview with EurActiv, the tall, straight-talking Finn argues that the widely proclaimed euroscepticism of the British is a bit of a myth: "The people and the press in the UK have been led to believe that they are somehow uniquely eurosceptic. I am not sure whether the British tabloid press treat the EU any different to the way in which it treats Tony Blair and his ministers. British media are highly commercialised and politicised, that's how it is. It is useless to try to question that."
"But it would be wrong to say that the UK as such is more eurosceptic than others. It is no longer backed by any statistical evidence. We have countries in the EU that are at least as or more eurosceptic. Depending on how you define eurosceptic, I suppose more than half of Europe is! The British people may have great reservations as to how the institutions work and how they have been built, but I don't think people will put into question the idea of having an EU, it is more a question of what kind of EU."
Kemppinen goes on to reject the notion that he has been sent on a 'mission impossible' to convert the British:
"I am not a missionary. My job is not to convert or preach to people. I am really seriously not interested in selling or promoting positive stories about the EU. My point is that the time has gone when it was useful to debate whether the EU is a good or a bad thing. We need a policy-led debate."
Does that mean that you don't spend time asking editors for corrections of incorrect news stories?
"I do send 1-3 letters to editors every week, and at least they print them. It's an important part of the basic work, but it is not part of a more proactive communication effort which should tackle problems at the root, before they are published."
What does the proactive work look like?
"The Commission acknowledges the fact that Europe has changed profoundly. More and more of the content can only be communicated closer to the people. It's not new knowledge as such but its an imperative of the times we live in."
"We have already started building contacts with local and regional media instead of just London-based media. I do that partly by going to different parts of the UK and giving interviews to media on the basis of what this or that EU proposal or decision will mean to this or that region. It is a 180 degree different approach. We are not selling the EU, but offering the EU as a solution to some of the challenges that are now facing us."
"We also want to enhance the dialogue with the House of Commons and the House of Lords. We are looking to see how we could help strengthen their scrutiny work by bringing more commissioners or experts from Brussels to be heard or questioned by different select committees. We have done this before, but we want to develop this to become much more systematic."
Do you get a different kind of coverage than in the London-based media?
"The London-based media is more after controversy rather than passing on information. It is a fact of life. The issues of the EU that we want to communicate are often hidden behind the controversy created around them. The journalists will jump immediately as to the why it is not a good thing without presenting the impact of what is proposed. It precedes people's ability to pass their own judgement. The regional media are in our experience much more receptive to the facts as they want to see both sides of the case before forming an opinion. The same goes for the specialised media. A journalist that is interested in, for example energy policy, will not approach the issue from the angle of whether or not the EU is a bad thing."
How will you benchmark your success three years down the road?
"We want to rebuild our presence in the UK so that we will become a kind of centre for European debate and discussion. Not in competition with the think tanks, but we want to offer our services to all kind of people and parties, so that whenever EU-related issues are discussed or that information is needed, the UK representation is the place to turn to. We also want to promote and be part of the discussion. We want to create centres for discussion via the Europe Direct information network, which will be launched in May. 15-20 centres are planned throughout the UK."
"Generally we want to be more visible as a source of information to the media. I am less interested in an existential debate about Europe being good or bad. But I want to offer my services to explain what this or that EU policy means to the lives of the people in the UK. I believe we can have an input in trying to steer the debate away from the quite useless 'to be or not to be' towards a discussion that is more based on the challenges that are facing all European countries, including the UK - energy shortages, climate change, fighting terrorism - and what, if anything, the EU can do to meet these challenges."
