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REACHING out to EU CITIZENS: a NEW OPPORTUNITY ‘About Us, with Us, for Us’

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REACHING out to EU CITIZENS: a NEW OPPORTUNITY ‘About Us, with Us, for Us’ REACHING OUT TO EU CITIZENS: A NEW OPPORTUNITY ‘About us, with us, for us’ A report by Luc Van den Brande Special Adviser to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker October 2017 Manuscript completed in October 2017. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of the following information. The opinions expressed are those of the author only and should not be considered as representative of the European Commission’s official position. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017 © European Union, 2017 Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. Print ISBN 978-92-79-60668-7 doi:10.2775/319 NA-01-16-703-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-79-60667-0 doi:10.2775/401533 NA-01-16-703-EN-N CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION: A NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EU AND ITS CITIZENS ...............................................6 2. A CITIZEN-FOCUSED AND CITIZEN-OWNED EUROPE .....................................................................................................10 2.1. Citizens’ participation ......................................................................................................................................................................10 2.2. A values-based Union ......................................................................................................................................................................11 2.3. Enhancing the democratic process .........................................................................................................................................11 3. FOSTERING NEW FORMS OF PARTNERSHIPS .......................................................................................................................14 3.1. Listen to and liaise directly with the local level ............................................................................................................14 3.2. A Europe with the regions .............................................................................................................................................................14 4. SYSTEMATIC USE OF NEW COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ...............................................................................16 4.1. Media and democracy ......................................................................................................................................................................16 4.2. Changing communication habits ..............................................................................................................................................16 5. YOUTH, INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY AND EDUCATION .................................................................................20 5.1. Education in a multicultural context ......................................................................................................................................20 5.2. Promoting the European dimension in citizenship education ...............................................................................20 6. PROPOSALS .................................................................................................................................................................................................22 6.1. Participatory democracy: implementing Treaty opportunities..............................................................................22 6.2. Setting up partnership agreements: improving the existing instruments of the EU institutions for enhancing outreach ..........................................................................................................................23 6.3. Communication guidelines ............................................................................................................................................................26 6.4. General recommendations ............................................................................................................................................................27 7. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................................................................................30 REFERENCES .....................................................................................................................................................................................................32 BACKGROUND The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, appointed Luc Van den Brande as Special Adviser on Outreach Towards Citizens. The Special Adviser’s mandate included the preparation of a report on how to strengthen the ties between the European Union and its citizens. This report is the result of meetings with experts in political communication and European affairs, as well as bilateral interviews with individuals and organisations in the area of civil participation and communication. The Special Adviser also held several meetings with staff responsible for communication within the European institutions. The opinions expressed in this report are personal and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Commission or its President. 3 1. INTRODUCTION: A NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EU AND ITS CITIZENS 5 1. INTRODUCTION: For some, democracy is about controversy. It A NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN provides a vital arena for reasoned argument, THE EU AND ITS CITIZENS plurality and debate, even to the extent of fostering conflictual debates over time. However, democracy is also about accepting the conclusions Winning hearts and minds of such debates, as argued by Eric Dacheux, Professor of Communication at Blaise Pascal The general public’s trust in the European Union, University, Clermont-Ferrand. as in other political institutions, has steadily eroded over the past decades, with a significant When 27 of the European Union’s Member States drop since the start of the financial and economic adopted the so-called Bratislava Declaration crisis in 2008. Jean-Claude Juncker, the President in September 2016 (4), they presented a clear of the European Commission, acknowledged this diagnosis of the reasons for the citizens’ current worrying trend in his inaugural speech at the disaffection regarding the EU: members of the European Parliament in November 2014, when general public are worried about what they he set the tone for his ‘last-chance Commission’: perceive to be a lack of control and influence ‘Either we succeed in bringing the European over what is going on around them; and they are citizens closer to Europe — or we will fail’ (1). concerned about global issues such as migration, Now, more than ever, the Union must confront the terrorism, security and economic and social cynics, the sceptics and the critics, and show that insecurity. The European Commission’s 2017 it is delivering. work programme focusing on ‘Delivering a Europe that protects, empowers and defends’ is a direct Few would challenge the assertion that the EU response to these concerns. is experiencing extraordinary times. The current developments are forcing policymakers to refocus Professor Mireille Delmas-Marty (5) of the Collège not only on what the institutions can do to de France sees citizens’ concerns as the result of tangibly improve citizens’ lives, but also on how tensions between the opposing poles of freedom to explain to the general public what is actually versus security on the one hand, and of being done. Faced with Eurosceptic parties in solidarity versus isolationism on the other. many of the EU Member States, European citizens need to be able to better understand how the EU These concerns have led to a loss of confidence affects their daily lives; but more importantly, they in traditional political institutions, which include also need to feel that they are fully part of the the European Union. Indeed, the 2014 European European project. Parliament elections yielded strong results for populist parties. Populism finds fertile soil in Many efforts have been made on communication claiming that there is a conflict between the and information over the years; the results of recent so-called will of the people, which is denoted as public polls suggest a significant improvement pure and honest, and that of the elites, who are of the way the European project is perceived and portrayed as corrupt and self-interested. Political strong expectations from its citizens (2). According analysis (6) of recent election results suggests that to Standard Eurobarometer 87 conducted in May a significant proportion of voters worry deeply 2017, 68 % of the respondents feel that they are about the domestic effects of EU membership, citizens of the EU and 56 % are optimistic about as they perceive their lives to be in the hands of the future of the EU. The burden is therefore on the an ‘alien’ ruler. As a result, the Union’s delivery, European Commission and the other EU institutions democracy and destiny — all of which are to seize this momentum and re-engage with the strongly interrelated — are being questioned like general public with a new approach — a new never before. The EU needs to redouble its efforts attitude, in line
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