Brussels, 04/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday the vice president of the European Commission Margot Wällstrom, in charge of communication policy explained to the press that since 1 May 2005 anyone seeking information on the European Union can go directly to the “EUROPE DIRECT contact centre”. This mechanism will be the “single service” for any questions European citizens from the 25 Member States might have on the European Union. It replaces Info-Points Europe and Carrefours, which previously provided the public with data on subjects to do with the fifteen member EU. The EUROPE DIRECT information network is accessible by telephone or e-mail and in all the official languages of the enlarged Union.
The EUROPE DIRECT service offers: A single free phone number (00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11) which can be reached from anywhere in the 25 EU member states; A normal telephone number (+32-2-299.96.96) which can be dialled from anywhere in the world and for which normal telephone charges will apply; An e-mail service through the website http: //europa.eu.int/europedirect/ where users can send questions by e-mail to which they receive a response within a few days; A Web Assistance Service through the same webpage http: //europa.eu.int/europedirect/ where users can go online for a direct 'chat' with a EUROPE DIRECT agent, who will provide them with an answer in 'real-time'. More complex questions may be signposted by the service's information agents to experts or specialised problem-solving services for follow-up. If and when appropriate, users will also be referred to other EU sources of information and advice on national, regional or local levels. All queries are handled by EUROPE DIRECT's multilingual staff of currently 30 communication agents who are based in Brussels. The EUROPE DIRECT operators undergo an extensive training programme which enables them to adequately deal with a wide range of issues. The service's performance is monitored on a daily basis by Directorate-General Press and Communication of the European Commission, which also handles questions of a politically sensitive or extremely specific nature directly or through liaison with the relevant services. Commissioner Wallström explained that all these components at EUROPE DIRECT Contact Centre created an information service of excellent quality that was able to provide an answer service of a personal nature, to questions posed by citizens. The opening hours of the service are Mondays to Fridays from 9h00 to 18h30 CET; outside these hours, users may leave a message on the EUROPE DIRECT voicemail system.
The network has almost 393 local information centres in 24 of the 25 Member States (with the exception of the United Kingdom, see below), 47 in Germany, 43 in Spain, 39 in Italy, 39 in France, 23 in Finland, 23 in Sweden, 23 in Poland, 20 in Hungary, 19 in Greece, 13 in the Netherlands, 13 in Portugal, 12 in Slovakia, 11 in Belgium, 11 in Austria, 9 in Latvia, 9 in Lithuania, 8 in Ireland, 7 in the Czech Republic, 7 au Denmark, 6 in Slovenia, 5 in Estonia, 4 in Cyprus, 2 in Luxembourg 1 in Malta. The United Kingdom is still not included on the list because London had asked the Commission so suspend preparations for setting up the information centres on British territory, apparently due to reasons linked to the British electoral calendar.
Information centres are generally located at the premises of the local chambers of commerce or authorities, as well as by Commission chosen private bodies following a call for tenders. They offer a whole range of services and publications, particularly on law, Community programmes and policies, as well as the treaties (including the Constitutional Treaty). It also provides a system to citizens for making comments or suggestions on the EU and its activities. Many of the centres will also diffuse the “Europe by Satellite” (EBS) television programme, which will enable the public to inform itself about European current affairs in real time.
The Commission has planned on an annual budget of EUR 10 million for co-funding the information centres, with amounts varying from EUR 12,000-24,000 per centre. The annual EUR 10 million will be broken down among the Member States and take account of their geography and populations. The highest amount will go to France: 1.224 million; followed by Germany: 1.128 million and Spain 1 million. Ms Wallström explained that the objective was to ensure the most effective geographical distribution possible between the centres throughout the European Union, including remote areas and scarcely populated regions. The funds will be released via bodies responsible for accommodating the information centres and which are linked to the Commission through four year contracts (until 2008).