Campaign aims to inform EU citizens

Date: 21/11/1996

By Simon Coss

NEXT week sees the launch of a multi-million-ecu publicity campaign aimed at informing European citizens of the delights of the single market.

The Citizens First programme sets out to provide practical information about the internal market to ordinary people.

Guides will be published on subjects ranging from the different residence requirements in member states and Europe's diverse employment laws to travellers' rights within the EU.

“We will explain exactly what member states can and cannot do. We will be publishing useful contact numbers in all member states and in addition will be launching a free telephone hot line which citizens can contact with their enquiries,” explained a Commission official.

But, ironically, the campaign may do more to highlight the system's inadequacies than to boost recognition of its benefits. Member states still refuse to recognise each other's qualifications in many key professions. Border controls remain in place between EU countries which have signed the Schengen agreement and those which have not. Citizens from one member state can be expelled from another simply for being poor and unemployed, and tax regimes have yet to be harmonised.

“It is understandable that things do not always work well. It takes time to transpose legislation down to regional and local level. Public awareness of the internal market is the best way to improve this situation. If people have more information, they will be in a better position to call for the process to be speeded up,” said one Commission official.

The campaign will be launched next Tuesday (26 November) at the European Parliament's headquarters in Brussels.