Communicating Europe

According to a recent survey by Eurobarometer-European parliament (published on www.europarl.europa.eu), 75% of EU citizens don’t know the date of the next European elections (June 2014). 18 months are still to go, and the European Parliament, which according to the survey is "the most renowned" institution by European citizens, is planning to launch a campaign "to promote public awareness on the importance of participating in European elections", said Jaume Duch, spokesperson of the European Parliament. "What is the purpose of the European Parliament, what are its activities and how thee affect legislative initiatives and democratic processes regarding the decisions taken for European leaderships". These, Duch underlined, are the guidelines of the campaign that focuses on "European values and the Parliament’s legislative activity", to "explain its main areas of activity, namely, European legislation, with direct consequences on the life of all citizens in a large range of areas, and the defense of European values such as democracy, the respect of human rights, cultural diversity and many other rights enshrined in the Charter of Rights of the European Union". Such communication activity "is complementary to the campaigns carried out by European political groups and national parties", under the banner of "visibility", in order to foster "communication" by means of the tools adopted by the Parliament: internet, radio, newspapers, television and information offices present across EU27.EuroparlTv. In order to reach 500 million EU citizens, the European Parliament, as well as the other EU institutions, has a range of information services to communicate directly with voters and local authorities. Among these EuroparlTV, the TV channel of the European Parliament, with 75 partners (including Rai and France Télévisions) spread across the EU, covers much of the information coming from the only directly elected EU institution. The service is completely accessible from the website www.europarltv.europa.eu. It offers live coverage of parliamentary sessions and committee meetings, of the plenary as well as other videos on demand, all available with subtitles in 23 official EU languages. There are three channels: "Parliament news", with daily video-reports on topical events, interviews, debates with MEPs and the program "Seven days in Europe", a live debate with two MEPs on two themes of the week. "Discover Parliament", for youth nearing the age of vote, offers in a light key, "lessons on Europe", from historical milestones to the explanation of the main items discussed in Parliament, including interviews with individual MEPs. "Europe for young people" is for young European pupils, led to the discovery of the EU by the mascot Blinks. The Facebook page of EuroparlTv, with over 9 thousand fans (the page of the European Parliament has over 500 thousand), and Twitter, enable direct communication with citizens, who can comment and communicate with the portal. The press and services for journalists. The information offices of the EP, can be best described as "antennas" set up in the capitals and large cities of the Union, for European citizens. Thanks to a partnership between the Italian government and Commission the offices located in Rome and Milan (www.europarl.it), propose a set of initiatives for the young and for the large audience, as well as visit to the Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg. Seminars for journalists on EU communication are also organized periodically. Since 2004 the European Parliament in Brussels has an institutional press office. Today the office has about 20 press officers covering all the parliamentary committees who prepares press releases in English and French. The plenary sessions are translated into all 23 languages ​​of the EU. The press room has free services for journalists, such as internet, scanner, fax, photocopying, telephones, access to the major European television channels, cd/dvd burning. Television crews are available to journalists who request them, as well as a television studio and a vox box for radio broadcasts. The Parlamentarium. Over 250 000 people, at one year since its inauguration, have visited the Visitors Centre of the European Parliament in Brussels (www.europarl.europa.eu/visiting). With 3000 square meters of exhibition space on three levels, the Parlamentarium is proposed as an interactive tour through the history and the people who have made and are making Europe. The tour begins with the "Tunnel of voices", an experience in the variety of languages, according to the European motto "unity in diversity". Information panels, touch screens, 3D installations, interactive maps (all translated into the 23 languages ​​of the EU), allow visitors to "meet" the 754 MEPs and 500 million European citizens. A 360° digital projection of the hemicycle, the assembly hall, allows visitors to "delve into" the work of the Parliament, illustrating MEPs’ activities and the stages of the legislative process.