Hungary: “Europe is us”

The European Commission published its plans regarding communication policy in the form of a White Paper(COM(2006) 35 final) on the first of February 2006 and opened a public debate on the subject. Over 50 Hungarian NGOs have already signed a joint statement on the document which will be sent to the European Commission.

In the document Hungarian NGOs ? in agreement with the European Commission – express the necessity to genuinely reduce the distance between Europe and its citizens and measures to be taken should be free from daily political considerations. The opinion also welcomes the decisions of European institutions to reach more openness (including the recent decision to make European Council sessions public) and at the same time declares that EU communication should be expanded more to national and regional levels, which would result in the better involvement and higher activity level of citizens. In this process civil society organisations have an important role to play.

On civil society involvement the document encourages the holding of representative NGO meetings concurrently with the EU summits.

The signatories also agree that EU studies should become an integral part of teaching curriculum (it is not yet an obligatory subject in Hungary) and the relevant materials/textbooks compiled.

On communication practice the document suggests that a European Union conference should study what possible role the Esperanto language could play.

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The joint opinion was formulated and finalised at a conference organised by the European House on 7 July, 2006 in Budapest where keynote speakers were Mr Péter Balázs, former EU Commissioner of Hungary and Mr Gábor György, head of the European Commission?s Representation in Budapest. NGOs can sign the joint statement till 21 July, 2006 and it will then be presented to the European Commission.

Document:

“EUROPE IS US?
Opinion of Hungarian civil organisations on the European Commission?s White Paper on European communication policy

1. On the 1st of February 2006 the European Commission adopted the White Paper on European Communication Policy (COM(2006) 35 final) with the aim of inviting broad debate with the ultimate end of developing an efficient and citizen-centred communication policy.

2. Availing themselves of this opportunity, Hungarian civil organisations met in a national conference on July 7th 2006 to discuss the questions raised by the White Paper. This opinion is a summary of the conclusions reached by the conference, which were subsequently joined by several other civil organisations. We are enclosing a list of these.

3. The signatory organisations consider it essential to ?close the gap?, that is to genuinely reduce the distance between Europe and its citizens. To reach that goal, a clear concept and consistent and firm steps are needed which are not influenced by daily political considerations.

4. The publishing of the White Paper is more proof that the European Commission consideres communication to be of outstanding importance. Preceding this, on 12 December 2005 the Hungarian civil organisations also held discussions about the European Commission?s Communication (“Reflection and beyond: Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate”) adopted on 13 October, 2005, and developed proposals in order to make the debate on Europe more lively and successful. They are continuously working on the implementation of those proposals.

5. Only clearly defined aims and messages can be communicated effectively. The aims and messages which are of concern to citizens and that constitute the focus of EU policy include the consequences of globalisation, the everyday security of life, the creation of a social Europe and the results of the EU expansion.

6. Effective communication can greatly contribute to the intensification of citizens? activity and to the strengthening of participatory democracy. The civil organisations can make a significant contribution to helping this process unfold both at European and national level.

7. The European Union’s communication policy must create the missing legal basis for communication. This does not seem to be an objective that can be reached in the short term. First of all the elaboration of a European Charter setting out the basic communication principles could be of assistance. We are ready to further this process with our proposals.

8. We support the idea that the European institutions should harmonise their communication policies and activities. This could also prove to be a significant efficiency-stimulating factor in the implementation of the neighbourhood policy.

9. Apart from the steps to be implemented at the European Union level, equally decisive are decentralisation, communication with the citizens at national, regional and local level. There are major backlogs in this area too, the elimination of which requires serious efforts. In this process the governments and the representations of the European Commission operating in the member states have shared role and responsibility. The civil organisations are ready to enhance co-operation with them. All this will lead to an atmosphere of trust and intensive dialogue resting on true partnership. Increasing the transparency of the work of the EU institutions is an important constituent of this process.

10.The openness of the European institutions ? a most recent encouraging sign of which is the decision that the sessions of the Council of Europe should be made public ? is of fundamental importance. This also applies to the treatment of the opinions, proposals coming from the society, from the civil organisations. We expect to receive genuine response to these.

11.One significant and as yet untapped area of communication, which otherwise belongs to national competence, is public education. It would contribute to the development of a common Europe-awareness if chapters on Europe constituted and integral part of the teaching materials. A textbook discussing the history of Europe along uniform principles could be an important tool of such education.

12.Making public and expanding information about Europe is an ongoing task. Today television is an important tool for this. Let European thought have its own television channel! The role of internet is also growing quickly. However, we should not underestimate the importance of the traditional forms of information either, and printed materials in particular.

13.We emphasise the importance of the search and application of new types of innovative communication methods. In the spirit of this commitment, a regional consultative forum was held in Budapest on 9 and 10 June 2006, which has done successful work by developing concrete proposals.

14.The ongoing debate about European citizenship and the novel approach to culture open new opportunities for communication that will address the citizens directly.

15.We applaud that the European Economic and Social Committee ? whose members include the representatives of Hungarian civil associations, as well ? adopted an opinion about the White Paper at its plenary session on 6 July 2006.

16.The proposal that representative meetings of the civil organisations be held twice annually, concurrently with the EU presidencies and the EU summits, is worth supporting.

17.The 50th anniversary of signing the Treaty of Rome that established the European Union (March 25, 2007) could be a good opportunity to present the European thought and to hold discussions which can also contribute to resolving the situation surrounding the European Constitution.

18.Communication will only be effective if its wording is clear and easily understandable and not bureaucratic, resounding propaganda slogans. The equality of the languages must be also ensured in communication practice. A European Union conference should study what possible role the Esperanto language could play in communication.

19.It gives cause for some concern that the resources allocated in the budget do not seem adequate to realising the ambitious aims laid down in the White Paper. It aggravates the situation further that gaining access to more funds is an extremely bureaucratic and difficult procedure. Definite changes and progress are needed in both areas.

20.The signatory Hungarian civil organisations declare: on the lines of their commitment manifested so far, they are ready to actively contribute to the implementation of a citizen-centred and citizen-friendly, future-oriented and efficient European communication policy.

Budapest, 7 July 2006