Commission to launch enlargement campaign

Date: 04/05/2000

By Simon Taylor

THE European Commission is planning to spend nearly €150 million over the next seven years to persuade Europe's citizens of the benefits of enlargement.

The information strategy, which will be unveiled by Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen next week, will aim to counter growing grass-roots opposition to enlargement in existing member states and in some of the applicant countries.

It will both emphasise the advantages of enlargement, such as increasing the potential market for the bloc's goods to 500 million consumers which should secure jobs for EU businesses, and try to banish fears that taking in new member states will result in the Union being flooded with millions of immigrant workers undermining existing pay levels and working conditions.

Officials say the need for a robust public relations campaign has been underlined by recent developments in Austria, where former Freedom Party leader Jörg Haider has called for enlargement to be delayed until wages in the applicant countries have risen to current EU levels.

Verheugen insists that countries like Austria, which borders four applicant countries, will gain from expansion. "Austria is the country which has the most to benefit and which would lose most if enlargement failed," he said recently.

The campaign will be targeted at influential opinion-formers such as business and political leaders rather than at the general public. The Commission believes that this approach is more effective because it will enlist the help of these groups to set out the arguments in favour of enlargement.

The campaign's budget will be split between the 15 existing member states and the 13 countries applying for Union membership, including Turkey, amid concern that support for EU membership is falling in applicant countries. In Poland, for example, the percentage of the population in favour of joining the Union has fallen to just over 50%.

Each of the 28 countries covered by the campaign will be expected to draw up an individual strategy aimed at addressing the specific concerns of its own population. In Ireland, for example, the campaign may focus on the impact of enlargement on its farmers, while in Spain, it could address concerns about competition for regional development aid.

While each country's share of the overall budget will depend on the outcome of a competition for contracts, officials say bigger countries where enlargement is a particularly sensitive issue such as Germany will get a larger portion because of the need for campaigns to address a wide range of issues.

The European Commission is planning to spend nearly €150 million for seven years from the year 2000 to persuade Europe's citizens of the benefits of enlargement.