Loudly and clearly

“There are no other ways of solving the problems and challenges that await us other than that of cooperating, both at the European and at the international level. Europe has launched a new communication policy: giving voice to civil society is a way of reinforcing democracy”, said the Vice-President of the European Commission, MARGOT WALLSTRÖM , in her closing address to “Empower”, the Forum of European civil society on communication held in Bergamo on 9-10 November. At the invitation of the European Commission, over 400 representatives of 300 NGOs of 27 countries (including Romania and Bulgaria) met to pool their ideas on how to improve dialogue and communication between citizens and EU. The meeting follows the publication of the White Paper on Communication and is one of the 5 Forums on communication due to be held in different European cities. Below, a brief review of some of the ideas that came out of it. GROWING CONSCIOUSNESS OF “MULTIPLE IDENTITY. By 2030 an estimated 226 million citizens of 15 member states of the EU will recognise a “multiple” identity, in other words, an identity that is both national and European: a substantial growth over the corresponding figure of 177 million in 2004. So a “growth of the European identity” can be predicted in Europe, despite the fact that the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty in France and Holland has placed in doubt the process itself of European integration. That’s the prediction of the Austrian demographer WOLGANG LUTZ , who reported the results of a statistical study recently published in a scientific journal on the “identity sentiment” of citizens: at the top of the classification of the countries that recognise a “multiple” identity are Luxembourg (78%) and Italy (72%); at the bottom are Finland and the UK (42%). Obviously the European identity is most strongly felt among the young (by contrast it only involves a third of the elderly), so this will inevitably produce “an encouraging growth of the European identity” in future. EUROPEAN PUBLIC SPHERE LACKING. “Citizens, by formulating their own needs, must help politicians to solve the many European questions on the table, ranging from immigration to employment and healthcare”, said CLAUS SORENSEN , director general of the Communication Directorate of the European Commission. MEP BRONISLAW GEREMEK also appealed for “citizens to be given the right of initiative, criticism and participation”, and supported the proposal of a young delegate at the Forum that a European referendum be called on the Constitutional Treaty in 2009: “It ought to pose simple and clear questions, even if the problem would be an excessive prolongation of the process. A European referendum would however mean the democratisation of the EU”. Geremek, followed by the European Commissioner MARIO MONTI , pointed out the lack of a “European public sphere” equipped with its own means of communication and able to offer a chance to civil society to express itself. INTERNET AND WEB 2.0. MORE POWER TO CITIZENS? For the first time, the means of communication most used by citizens in Europe this year is the Internet: 52% of the European population surfed the net and the average use was 4 hours per week, surpassing the average 3 hours per week dedicated to the reading of newspapers. Is Internet the new way of “empowering” citizens? The question was discussed during one of the four parallel sessions. Discussion also focused on the new way of communicating on the net, so-called Web 2.0, which permits surfers to participate directly, forming part of a community in which values or know-how are shared: as examples, the websites “Youtube” (with 65,000 amateur videos) or the free encyclopedia “Wikipedia”, one of the most visited websites in Europe, may be cited. Some lesser sites are also worth mentioning, such as one much used by European youth, “Cafè Babel” in 7 languages, which publishes hundreds of articles gratis; or the French website “Agoravox”. All these initiatives also present some “small defects”, such as the risk of misinformation or manipulation. Will they ever replace the traditional media? In the judgement of delegates, no “because in this excess of communication people will have an ever-greater need for points of reference as catalysts of the collective consciousness”. EUROPE IN CARTOONS. A small group of citizens vaguely resembling miniscule ants exclaims: “Mrs Europe, we would like to communicate with you”. Next to it, enormous and voluminous in her blue dress and crown of stars, Europe replies: “What do you say? I can’t hear you! In any case where are you, I can’t even see you!”. This is just one of the many cartoons displayed in Bergamo, where scores of European cartoonists gathered to describe how they see Europe. A common trend in most of the cartoons is the focus on the “ailments” of Europe: the old lady who tries to patch up her make-up under the slogan “work in progress”, or the blue flag with a circle of stars lying on a hospital bed, complaining: “Doctor, no one takes any notice of me!”.