Answer of the Federal Government to the Minor Interpellation submitted by the Members of the Bundestag Andrei Hunko, Jan van Aken, Christine Buchholz, Annette Groth, Inge Höger, Ulla Jelpke, Jan Korte, Dr Alexander S. Neu, Martina Renner, Dr Petra Sitte and the Left Party parliamentary group Bundestag printed paper 18-5983 of 14 September 2015 The coordination of European communication strategies in the Club of Venice Preliminary remarks of the questioners The Club of Venice is a forum in which “communication professionals” from EU Members States convene. According to the information posted on the website (https://clubofvenice.wordpress.com) of the informal network founded in 1986, these professionals are members of the government. From Germany the Federal Foreign Office is involved. Several times a year, meetings and workshops take place during which subjects pertaining to “common interests” are discussed. It is also stated that the “Club of Venice” is used to present individual practices from the Member States and provide assurances of mutual support. No specific content is stated, however. Instead, there is the vague statement that the club deals with “public communications in the age of austerity”, “public diplomacy”, reputation management for public institutions, crisis communications following natural disasters and emergencies and “impact and applications of social/digital media on government communications”. Presumably this means the “strategic communications” such as those adopted in relation to Russia (European Council Conclusions on External Relations of 19 March 2015). Preliminary remarks of the Federal Government The Club of Venice was founded in 1986 by a small group of communications professionals from governments throughout the whole of Europe (at that time the European Community had 12 members) to exchange experiences on communications topics and formats in an informal setting. The activities of the Club of Venice are not recorded in the form of minutes. The Belgian Federal Information Service and the French Government Information Service initiated the publication of the newsletter entitled “Convergences”. This newsletter, which has been published since 2012, reports on the club’s activities (in particular, on contributions and discussions at the plenary meetings) and was primarily designed to be read by the members and their staff. It can be viewed on the website https://clubofvenice.wordpress.com/, which also provides access to current information and news about the club and the events it organises. We ask the Federal Government: 1. Since when has the Federal Government been a member of the Club of Venice and what was the reason for it joining this group? The Federal Government has been a member of the Club of Venice since 1986. The Federal Government joined the Club of Venice as it is interested in an informal exchange of opinions on public and media relations in the European Union outside of the European institutions. 2. Which members of which ministries or other Federal Government institutions have taken part in which meetings of the Club of Venice so far? In addition to the informal plenary meetings twice a year, expert workshops on communications issues are organised from time to time lasting one to two days, or in other cases, EU Member States open up their own, national workshops to representatives of other Member States. The Club of Venice meetings were attended by staff from different levels: by deputy government spokespersons, heads of department, heads of section and desk officers from the Federal Press Office (BPA). The Federal Foreign Office’s Communications Commissioner attended the autumn 2014 meeting and the spring 2015 meeting of the club, a desk officer from the Federal Foreign Office attended the workshop on digital communication trends in Sofia at the end of March 2015. 3. What contributions of their own did the members of the Federal Government present or produce there? Representatives of the Federal Government gave presentations on best practice, of their own projects (for instance the EU management partnership) and shared experiences on communications technologies at the various meetings. 4. How have federal agencies already benefited from forms of support provided by the Club of Venice? The club is not designed to provide formal forms of support, but rather to be a platform for an informal exchange with the Member States of the EU and the European institutions, in particular the European Commission and the European Parliament. In addition to the informal plenary meetings twice a year, one to two-day expert workshops are held from time to time on communications issues or in other cases EU Member States open up their own, national workshops to representatives of other Member States. 5. Which "communications professionals" from which EU Member States, EU institutions or other institutions does the Club of Venice bring together to the knowledge of the Federal Government? Members of the Club of Venice include, for instance, Vincenzo Le Voci, from the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, who is also Secretary General of the Club of Venice and Administrator Claus Hörr, Director of the Press and Media Department at the Austrian Federal Chancellery Arlin Bagdat, Director-General, External Communication of the Belgian PM Chancellery. Please also refer to the attached list of members for June 2015. This also details contacts at the government agencies of the EU Member States working in the field of communications. The members of the Steering Committee, which is a forum for preparing the plenary meetings, and who are also members of the Club of Venice, can be found on the club’s homepage: https://clubofvenice.wordpress.com/about/steering-committee Steering Committee • Arlin Bagdat, Director-General, External Communication, PM Chancellery (Belgium) • Fiorenza Barazzoni, Director, Department for EU Policies, Office for Internal Market and Competitiveness, Presidency of the Council of Ministers (Italy) • Nathalie Chavanon, Deputy Director, Government Information Service (France) • Michael Reiffenstuel, Director for Cultural Relations Policy, German Schools Abroad, German Language Network and Deputy Director General for Culture and Communication, Federal Foreign Office (Germany, ad interim) • Erik den Hoedt, Director, Public Information and Communications Office (Netherlands) • Lefteris Kretsos, Secretary-General for Information and Communication (Greece) • Laine Kucinska, Head of the Communication Department, State Chancellery (Latvia) • Claus Hörr, Director, Department 7/2, Press and Media Service, Bundeskanzleramt (Austria) • Vincenzo Le Voci, Secretary General of the Club of Venice and Administrator, Information Policy, General Secretariat of the Council of the EU Members of the Advisory Group are: • Stefano Rolando, Honorary President of the Club of Venice (Italy) • Mieke van den Berghe, Honorary Vice-President (Belgium) • Judit Gyarfas Fekete, Honorary Vice-President (Hungary) • Hans Brunmayr, Honorary Vice-President (Austria) • Niels Thergersen, Honorary Vice-President (Denmark) • Mike Granatt, Club of Venice Co-ordinator (United Kingdom) • Aurelio Sahagun Pool, Former Communications Director for the Spanish Prime Minister (Spain) 6. What knowledge does the Federal Government have as to which agencies or other institutions of the European Union work with the Club of Venice? To the knowledge of the Federal Government, the European Commission and the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU are involved in the preparation and execution. Discussion materials are sometimes also provided by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office. 7. What knowledge does the Federal Government have as to which private establishments work with the Club of Venice? For specific topics, experts from think tanks, foundations or scientific and academic institutions are invited to some discussion events (for instance the "Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, Brussels). The content of their contributions to the plenary meetings is presented transparently in the seven “Convergences” newsletters published on the website: https://clubofvenice.wordpress.com/convergances-magazine/. 8. What knowledge does the Federal Government have from its own information or forms of cooperation on the aims and objectives pursued by the Club of Venice? The Club of Venice has set itself the aim of fostering the continuous exchange of ideas and knowledge between the heads of communication units of the governments of the EU Member States and the EU institutions in an informal format. At the fore in this exchange are communications expertise and professionalism as well as mutual support in communicating complex political challenges. 9. In what way is the cooperation in the Club of Venice implemented to the knowledge of the Federal Government? a) How is the group financed? Every EU Member State hosting a Club of Venice event finances this itself. The participants pay for their travel and accommodation costs themselves. b) Which working groups or sub-working groups exist in the Club of Venice? There are no set working groups and sub-working groups. The members of the Steering Committee stay in touch by telephone and prepare the semi-annual plenary meetings together with the Administrator/Secretary General. As a general rule, representatives of the Federal Government have taken part in these plenary sessions. c) To what extent does the Club of Venice have a secretariat or other fixed structures? The club does not