"The most important communication is with regional media," said Dennis Abbott, spokesman for EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner, explaining that the impact of EU policies was different throughout the EU and "the message put out in Brussels won't necessarily work in the regions".
Indeed, finding the right balance between the Brussels and national perspectives is crucial when communicating on EU policies, found the 'Federation Survey 2008' carried out by EurActiv in conjunction with Kellen Europe earlier this year (EurActiv 29/02/08).
But Abbott said it was "a difficult exercise to get messages out across the EU," which was why "initial communication in Brussels is aimed at the Brussels audience".
Yet Sabine Berger, Brussels correspondent of the Austrian economic journal Wirtschaftsblatt, disagrees. "Lots of EU issues involve particular countries, but you can look at most issues from a regional point of view." Nevertheless, conceding that "it is not possible for the Commission to break down huge issues for each region," the journalist said it was left up to the media itself to do this. "Regional representations and MEPs can help here," she added.
But Abbott cautioned that it was "human nature for [national] politicians to claim credit for [EU] initiatives themselves," calling on MEPs and national politicians to do more to "debunk myths [about Brussels] when something is plainly wrong".
Managing director of the European Journalism Centre Anne Autio agrees. "What comes out of the Commission is not always the problem," Autio said. "It is that people and journalists say they are not interested in EU issues."
What's more, national audiences are under the impression that "Brussels regulates too much and forget that decisions lie with national governments and MEPs too," according to Berger. It is up to the Commission to tell people otherwise, she added.
EurActiv Publisher Christophe Leclercq insisted that regional journalists would not take a story directly from Brussels. "They will take it from the national level, where regions are well represented, and adapt it to the regional level."
But Berger was quick to warn against over-simplifying the message. "There is a limit to simplification. Clarity is more important, while in-depth analysis is important to understand complex EU issues."
"Complexity is a reality that cannot be avoided," agreed Zemor. Nonetheless, "you mustn't be brutal with things" either, he cautioned. "Presenting people with an entire EU treaty after twenty years of silence is not the way to go. You need to apologise, admit previous failures, and explain that you're here to help."
