| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | |||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | |||||||||
| Series Details | 11.7.03 | |||||||||
| Publication Date | 11/07/2003 | |||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | |||||||||
|
Launched at the Cardiff European Council in June 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair and the then President of the European Commission, Jacques Santer, Europe Direct now receives 5,000 requests for information every month. Enquires are answered by a 30-strong team of multilingual information officers, each fluent in at least three official EU languages and supported by a continuously updated database. Intended as a first point of contact for people seeking information about the EU, the free service provides direct responses to general inquiries and suggests appropriate sources for more detailed information and advice. Popular questions concern freedom of movement (including recognition of qualifications, finding work in another Member State, social security rights), funding opportunities for businesses, how the Union's institutions work, and EU enlargement. Requests for information can be made via e-mail (a form is available on the website) and via an EU-wide freephone number (00800 6 7 8 9 10 11). People who contact the service - whether private citizens or businesses - can expect to receive an answer in their own language and, for simple questions, a short answer and/or referral to relevant websites or further sources of information, including where appropriate a local EU information centre. Where more complex or politically sensitive questions are concerned, responsibility for providing an answer is handed over to the Commission's Directorate General for Press and Communication, or to an expert from another DG or from specialised services such as SOLVIT and Citizens' Signpost. According to the Commission, 56% of questions are successfully answered at the initial contact; 6.5% the same day, 9.9% within 1 day, and 11.6% within 3 days. A recent enhancement to Europe Direct now allows users of the Commission's Europa website to obtain one-to-one assistance in finding information on the site. Europe Direct information officers will help callers find their way around Europa - one of the world's biggest and busiest internet sites. The innovative service, known as Web Assistance, is intended to give users practical help, both with finding general information on the EU and its policies and with tracing specific documents. Web Assistance is available Monday to Friday, from 09.00 to 18.30 Central European Time. Commission President Romano Prodi said that Europe Direct 'has provided valuable help to thousands of EU citizens every month ... By establishing this new Web Assistance service, the advantages of Europe Direct will be brought to an even bigger audience. Our next target is to provide citizens of the future Member States with full access to the service and we are working hard to make this a reality by the end of 2003.' Europe Direct is already available to people in the Acceding Countries, via e-mail and a special telephone number (+32 2 299 96 96; normal call charges apply). From 2003, the service will be extended to provide full access, including use of the freephone number currently available within the EU, and responses in an extra eight languages (additional staff will be employed by the company managing the service). Europe Direct is also to be used by the European Parliament to provide information prior to the next EP elections, in June 2004. Links:
Eric Davies Background and reporting on the week's main stories in the European Union and the wider Europe. |
||||||||||
| Subject Categories | Culture, Education and Research, Politics and International Relations | |||||||||
