In an open letter to Margot Wallström, Friends of Europe, EurActiv and Gallup Europe have presented the findings of the study, saying that the new commissioner had a "huge task" ahead of her.
Ten key recommendations were distilled from the report, including the following:
- Wallström to visit all Member States during the first six months of her term to listen to citizens' views of the EU, find local supporters and beneficiaries of EU integration and meet national media representatives and leading policiticians.
- Promote the benefits of EU membership by researching and professionally communicating the advantages for citizens of their country belonging to the EU. Popular 'good-will ambassadors' should be employed to promote the benefits of Europe.
- Keep the message simple by cutting back on boring detail: stick to three key points.
- Encourage the media to report on political differences at EU level and react more quickly to events by setting up an EU newsroom to feed international media with up-to-date footage on EU developments. Invite journalists to Brussels for intensive training courses on EU reporting. Establish better contacts to national and regional media.
- Streamline the EU's communication and reporting structure by getting institutions to co-operate more closely and cutting down on administrative hurdles.
- Adopt a decentralised approach by making national governments responsible for communicating EU policies and setting up 'Communications Task Forces' at member state level.
