Despite years of trying, Brussels is no closer to working out how to effectively communicate with EU citizens and bridge a gap that sees low voter turnout for the European elections and a largely disaffected public.
Luis Herrero-Tejedor, a Spanish conservative MEP who deals with the bloc’s communication policy in the culture committee, said he has heard the same arguments and the same proposals for the past nine years.
“Absolutely nothing has changed,” he said after listening to a special hearing on the ‘effectiveness of the EU’s communication policy’ in the European Parliament on Tuesday (8 May).
Outside experts from PR firms addressed the hearing to try and inject some professionalism into the debate and take away the navel-gazing aspect of the discussion.
Speaking in the jargon of the marketing professionals, they said that Brussels must define “exact target groups” and “tailor” its message to its audience.
Nicole Hebert from Associé said it is time to stop thinking of the European citizen as a homogenous body but rather as “multi-faceted individuals.”