Stakeholders 'key' to bringing EU policy debates to national level

National stakeholders are the key to bringing EU policy debates to citizens, the conference agreed. 

In view of the global challenges the EU is currently facing, cooperation of member states, stakeholders and citizens, as well as effective communication is more important than ever, Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban told the conference panel.

He said: "Let's be very frank: the EU institutions, the media or politicians cannot do it alone, without civil society. Companies, trade unions or other stakeholders contribute both to the shaping of decisions, but also to their communication."

Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva revealed her readership of evropa.dnevnik.bg and underlined the importance of including relevant stakeholders. "A continued dialogue with the capitals is a crucial element for achieving common ownership and moving forward our plans for institutional stability and people's prosperity," Kuneva said. She added: "The interaction with European capitals is a core activity for this college of commissioners."

Introducing the conference, EurActiv founder and publisher, Christophe Leclercq, said that "our main message is that EU communication should be decentralised radically for many reasons: political as well as the way medias are organised". He added that "Brussels" was still focusing on Treaty issues, while there is only a short window of opportunity to prepare for the next European elections in 2009.

Statistical evidence of public opinion, presented by Pascal Chelala, managing director of TNS opinion, shows that there is sometimes a huge gap between what citizens think and the action their elected representatives take. 

The polling expert cited the example of EU leaders' reactions to the war in Iraq, adding that this proved there was a "real need for an EU communication policy from the political sphere towards the citizens".

"The gap between the EU and its citizens is recognised and there is a real need for the debate about Europe to be taken beyond the institutions to its citizens," Slovak MEP and member of the EPP-ED group, Miroslav Mikolasik, said. He added: "It is desirable that EU legislation, directives and policies are translated into simple and clear language that is close to the European citizens."

Liberal MEP Sophie in ’t Veld took a more differentiated view and argued that citizens should not be treated like "cattle", being fed with information from the EU to "keep them quiet so they don't run wild". She said: "It is not only about explaining. We should not fall into a trap of thinking that communication equals information and explanation. If we want citizens to take ownership then we have to be serious about this dialogue." 

Referring to the "Brussels blame game", Green MEP Jean Lambert bemoaned the attitude of national politicians. "If it is a good idea, they thought of it – if it's a bad idea, Brussels thought of it". She supported the move to have more decentralisation in EU communication, saying that it is "important to have the core information, the core documents at one level" and to be able to trace back the sources. 

She also commented on the increasing emergence of blogs, and called for the responsible use of these platforms (see Blogactiv post).

On a more critical note, UK MEP and member of the Independence/Democracy group, Nigel Farage, said that it was "difficult to sell the EU", because it was "incapable of facing up to the challenges of globalisation". Instead, he insisted the EU should really listen to its citizens by accepting the negative verdict on the draft EU Constitution, rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands in 2005. He argued that the Reform Treaty, which takes on most of the provisions of the Constitution, should be put to a popular vote.

Media representatives endorsed the results of a Media Survey, which found that online sources are increasingly important for journalists focusing on European affairs. Quentin Dickinson from Radio France International urged for better training for journalists on EU policies to be provided with EU support. The panel discussion also demonstrated the rising importance of blogs for a lively EU policy debate.

Nathalie Lhayani of EurActiv France and Radovan Geist of EurActiv Slovakia explained how they include national stakeholders by localising EU news instead of just providing translations.

Find out more about the conference on the EurActiv blog platform.