Euro sales pitch launched

Date: 12/12/1996

By Rory Watson

A TRIPARTITE agreement between MEPs, the European Commission and the German government is serving as a prototype for a range of public information campaigns to be run throughout the Union.

The conditions set out in the six-article contract signed last week will apply to future partnerships between national and EU authorities as they set out to convince their publics of the benefits of monetary union, the single market and the revisions to the Maastricht Treaty.

Under the slogan 'Europe is the Future', the German campaign will present the advantages of the new euro to the country's citizens with the help of 3.9 million ecu from the EU budget and 4.8 million ecu from Germany's own coffers.

A second contract with France confirms Union funding of 3 million ecu for a wider campaign throughout the country to promote a 'National Dialogue for Europe'.

The two EU institutions are confident of concluding a third deal with Belgium under the banner 'Let's Build Europe Together' before the end of the year. Separate negotiations are also under way with Italy, Spain, Greece and the Netherlands.

The tripartite accords represent the outcome of several months' negotiations to ensure that the various information campaigns are genuine cooperative ventures.

To reach as wide an audience as possible, the campaigns will be decentralised and involve cooperation with associations and professional organisations such as credit institutions, trade unions, employer bodies and craft industries.

European Parliament Vice-President Georgios Anastass-opoulos has described the cooperation between the signatories as a major step forward. “We can hope to tackle the information deficit between the Union and its citizens more effectively. Information is a citizen's right and it matters that the European institutions and national governments fulfil their obligations in this area,” he said.