The challenges of developing an effective EU communication strategy

Abstract

It is a general perception that the EU is cut off from the every day lives of citizens who do not realise that the EU's acquis actually accounts to a good proportion of national legislations. The focus of this research is to explore the challenges of developing an effective EU Communication policy, giving special attention to the relationship between EU Communication and citizens' involvement in EU affairs. Towards the end of the term of the first Commissioner responsible for EU Communications, the EU is still suffering from a period of low reputation and experiencing ever decreasing voter turnout in EP elections. A study is therefore needed to assess how well the White Paper builds on the concepts of communication theory to engage in a communication which successfully informs, increases appreciation, and engages civil society in a dialogue on EU affairs. Finding its basis in communication theories, this research also takes into account the political limitations of the effective implementation of the White Paper. Principles in theories of communication and a criticism of the White Paper are compared to the views of the Maltese professionals who have experience working in the field. Convergence of two different points of view promises to provide a new outlook to the research question. The hypothesis that we start off with is therefore that more and better communication can effectively help the EU to reach its citizenry and articulate its relevance. The analysis allows one to understand whether the EU's communication approach respects the three principles of the EU's new Communication strategy; listening, communicating, and going local. This dissertation highlights the importance of the means of communication used to convey a message. The respondents of the questionnaire agree that the White Paper has not met its ambitions. The dissertation aims to find why and how future EU Communication Strategies can learn from the mistakes which have been made.