Closer to citizens

“Obtaining information on all questions pertaining to the European Union”: that’s the main purpose of “Europe Direct”, the information network set up by the European Union to bring the institutions of the Community closer to citizens. In recent days, the Europe Direct information centres situated in the countries of Southern Europe – Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Malta and Slovenia – met in Bologna for an exchange of experiences a year after the introduction of the service. “One of the priorities – said PIER VIRGILIO DASTOLI , head of the office of the European Commission in Italy, on opening the meeting – is to create synergy between the various centres of ‘Europe Direct’, whose feedback on the attitudes of public opinion is crucial in the implementation of the Commission’s policies”. In particular, Dastoli pointed out that the network forms part of the “go-local” perspective: in other words, “going towards the more decentralized dimension in order directly to involve the citizens of Europe”. MULTIPLE INTERLOCUTORS. “Our interlocutors are the universities, the public administration, businesses, associations and individual citizens”, explained MARGARITA DOMÍNGUEZ CORDERO of the information centre at Huelva, in Spain . The country now has 41 Europe Direct points. Interest in Europe is highly diversified and of many different kinds: “Universities and university students are interested in programmes for student exchanges abroad, such as Erasmus, as well as in books and publications of European institutions. The public administration, on the other hand, is particularly alert to the question of the various funds made available by the EU, as well as legislation and the application of European law, while businesses and associations want to know about laws and the opportunities for working in the European context”. As regards individual citizens, “they are for the most people young adults who want to study or work abroad”. In Catalonia, there are now 4 information centres situated in Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, and re-grouped within the Catalan Office for Europe, which has already been active for two decades. “We have a pyramidal structure that permits a multiplier effect – underlines MARIA TARGA of the Europe Direct centre in Tarragona -: we provide our services to public libraries, municipal authorities and schools, providing information, assistance and counselling on European issues. In this way students and citizens can be informed by getting in touch with their nearest centre”. Cooperating with the local authorities is also the main horizon of action of the one Europe Direct information centre existing in Malta : “We organise seminars in town halls – explains the head of the centre MARYROSE FRANCICA – to make heard the voice of the European Union, without limiting ourselves to information relating to policies that have a direct repercussion on our country”. SPEAKING TO THE YOUNG. All the centres of Europe Direct define their preferential target as the young, especially students. Thus the attention of the Europe Direct centre in Palermo, in Italy , is mainly directed at lower and upper secondary schools, as explained by its head ROSARIA MODICA : “We propose educational and promotional activities, and devote particular attention, each year, to the celebration of Europe Day on 9 May”. “Project Password” is the name of the initiative that mainly involves “kids in European volunteer service”. “In the last school year – recalls Modica – we tackled the theme of enlargement, and the presence of young volunteers from the countries of Eastern Europe was very useful to this end”. Students are also the major focus of the activities in Portugal , where Europe Direct is present in 12 local contexts. “We cannot count on large numbers of staff – says MANUELA SAMPAIO of the centre in Setúbal -, but we provide information on Europe to schools and, through special seminars, to adults interested in deepening their knowledge of European issues, especially as regards the free circulation of workers”. OBJECTIVE EURO. The six Europe Direct centres now active in Slovenia have a more original agenda: the main question on the order of the day “is entry into the Euro, and we are dedicating our energies to this end, also through an information campaign accompanied by various documentation”, explained KATARINA KUS of the centre in Zasavje. “The population of Slovenia is afraid of becoming poorer with the arrival of the euro, fearing a rise in the cost of living”. A fear due to the great disparity “between the currency now in use and the euro: 1 euro is worth over 200 tolars”. People are also worried by “the fact that the country has already changed currency no less than three times over the last 15 years”. The effort of Europe Direct is now concentrated on closing the gap between Slovenia and the EU, concluded Kus.