Brussels, 08/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is to propose an institutional framework for a European communication policy in a document on the follow-up to the White Paper on the European communication policy, which was published this summer. That was what Commission Vice-President and Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy Margot Wallström said at the Forum on “Communicating Europe: Going local”, organised by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels on 5 June. Ms Wallström said that this policy would be founded on partnership. She stressed the need to “take more action at local level”. She said, “The most innovative ideas spring from the local level. We should take inspiration from them,” it is reported in a CoR press release.
This Forum also provided the opportunity for CoR President Michel Delebarre to put citizens back at the centre of the debate on the future of Europe and to remind the commissioner of the importance of devolution in Plan D. These comments struck a cord with MEP Luis Herrero-Tejedor (EPP, Spain) European Parliament rapporteur on the above mentioned White Paper. “Devolution is the operative word. 'Europe' cannot be sold to everyone in the same way. Europe is whatever we are able to deliver to citizens in line with their interests,” he stressed. Jo Leinen (PES, Germany), chairman of the EP constitutional affairs committee and former CoR member, called for the political classes and regionally and locally elected representatives to foster debate on Europe, for example, on the future of postal services or on energy policy, two issues which are of direct concern to citizens. The president of Piedmont and CoR rapporteur on Plan D, Mercedes Bresso (PES, Italy), stressed that “in citizen-oriented communication, emotional considerations were as important as rational considerations,” and she added that the public “was not always able to see the links between EU policies and their concrete outcomes”. The president of the region of La Rioja, Pedro Sanz Alonzo (EPP, Spain), called for EU financial support for communication policies in cities and regions. Claude du Granrut (EPP, France), chairwoman of the CoR working group on the period of reflection, said that it was time to “prove to our citizens that Europe is a political as well as economic venture”. Finally, the deputy chairwoman of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Jillian van Turnhout (Ireland, non-attached members), said it was important to develop the effectiveness of civil society networks in the area of communication. (gb)