How Will The European Union Talk With Us - Not At Us?
The new Commission of the EU will have its own communications director, a Commissioner with the portfolio "Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy". President Barroso has assigned the portfolio to Margot Wallström and last week the European Parliament held its hearing with her.
In her speech (pdf), she said that we need "...a common European narrative which explains the social and environmental benefits of our co-operation, as well as the economic benefits." She believes "that it is essential to speak with people, rather than talk at them. What matters is to engage in a dialogue."
Certainly a speech like this can't be very precise on specific methods. That's not her job, I guess. But there were hints on what Wallström thinks: "All services of the Commission need to build communication in to their proposals while they are still on the drawing board; not bolt-them on at the end." And it seems that the Commission representations in all member states will play a key role. "The representations need to be given clearly defined tasks in delivering our new communication strategy and building platforms for dialogue in the Member States", Wallström said.
To me this sounds promising. Of course it could all boil down to the old way of doing things - meetings in city halls, discussion groups, all the things that has been done for decades and only involves a tiny, tiny minority of people. But it doesn't have to be limited to those ways. At least there's nothing in the speech that rules new forms of participatory communication out.
Today, Europeans can interact with the EU. We can even do it on the web. But what do you say about this guideline: "...it would be helpful if you would write out abbreviations in full, and include the following information, if available: Policy area, Internet site references, Programme name, Project number and title, Directive/Decision number, etc."?
And this disclaimer: "...we are unable to comment on specific issues pertaining to EU policy, and any information provided may not be considered as legally binding"?
We sure need the human face, the conversation, the informal tone and maybe even the personality of participatory communication.