| Author (Person) | Franey, James |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.3, 26.1.06 |
| Publication Date | 26/01/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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By James Franey Date: 26/01/06 The EU must not shy away from confrontation if it is to bridge the gap between Europe and its citizens, according to the Austrian presidency. Katharina Swoboda, spokesperson for the Austrian foreign affairs ministry, said: "We want people to be critical of Europe." Her comments came at a conference in Brussels hosted by the Committee of the Regions entitled 'Communicating Europe: going local'. She stressed that concrete steps must now be taken to reconnect Europe to the citizen. "Forcing Europe on to them" would not, Swoboda said, "restore their trust in the EU". She said that if the Commission's Plan D initiative to reconnect the EU with its citizens was to be a success then "we must play on people's emotions - we need to show people how it impacts on their jobs, their future". Austria hoped that by the end of its presidency it would have "found common ground about what kind of Europe the citizens want" that both the EU institutions and the member states could build upon. Panayotis Carvounis, director for information and communication strategies in the Commission, said that the European Union should not just "listen for listening' sake". He said it wanted to listen to those who had not hitherto had their voices heard. Gerhard Stahl, secretary-general of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), expressed reservations about the Commission's plan. "Plan D cannot be communicated without knowing any of its content," he said. The CoR is to be involved in efforts to spread the message of the EU at a local level. The 'going local' concept is an element in the Commission's White Paper on communication, which is to be published next week (1 February). Comments of participants at a conference in Brussels hosted by the Committee of the Regions entitled 'Communicating Europe: going local', 25 January 2006. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Culture, Education and Research |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
