EU information review of the year 2010 Ian Thomson Director, Cardiff EDC Cardiff University

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC This powerpoint presentation provides details of the main developments in EU information and communication issues in 2010 For more information click on the hyperlinks (many hyperlinks are embedded in images)

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC EU information review of the year 2010 Key themes New Institutions, new faces Making the EU more transparent Connecting with Citizens New media EU information review of the year 2010

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC New Institutions New faces European Council –A formal EU Institution –President of the European Council –New website European External Action Service –Independent of Commission & Council –High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy –New website New Institutions New faces

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC EU information and communication policy: The situation in 2010… European Commission: change of personnel Goodbye to Margot Wallström & Siim Kallas Welcome to Viviane Reding DG Communication & Publications Office Maroš Šefčovič I-IR & Administration (ETI)

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC EU information and communication policy: The situation in 2010… Commission plans communication revolution EURACTIV, EURACTIV Mrs Reding wants to bring about a revolution and culture shock in communication activities the Commission should be rebranded as the government of the EU greater personalisation centred on Mr Barroso more centralisation in the delivery of messages reshuffle of top officials in information & communication activities greater professionalism However, commentators are very critical Communicating Europe: Redings revolution Blog: Grahnlaw,

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC Key recommendations of European Parliament Resolution adopted on the 7 September 2010 on Communication Role for public service broadcasters and transnational media National governments and political parties should play a greater role in promoting EU Huge potential of social media Need to update school curricula Improve EU institutional communication Click on the image to read the full text or find further information

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC Public Opinion and Europe: Elections, Referendums and Surveys

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC Public Opinion and Europe: Elections, Referendums and Surveys

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC European Commission says:says EU citizens favour stronger European economic governance 75% of Europeans think that stronger coordination of economic and financial policies among EU Member States would be effective in fighting the economic crisis EurActiv report says:says Europeans losing faith in Europe Just 42% of Europeans say they trust the European Union … down six percentage points in just six months EUObserver report says:says EU popularity plunges right across the bloc People's confidence in the the European Union has dropped to record lows Public Opinion and Europe: Elections, Referendums and Surveys

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC With the evidence of low participation rates in the EP elections the referendum results in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Ireland declining support for the EU in Eurobarometer opinion polls Communicating Europe effectively has become an issue of major concern to the EU Institutions a need to professionalise the way information is communicated a need to involve the Member States as well as other actors a need to use new media to get information and messages across However, the question still arises… Will more effective communication make citizens love the EU or are the challenges greater or more complex? Public Opinion and Europe: The challenge…

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC Making the EU more transparent ETI / Access to documents 3411 signed up [6.1.11] ETI will stay voluntary Should Think Tanks join? Oct 2010: Transparency register to replace Lobby registerTransparency register to replace Lobby register Proposal to amend Regulation 1049/2001 still being negotiated European Parliament Resolution adopted 25 November 2010: Considers that transparency, access to information and respect for the right to good administration are vital preconditions for maintaining citizens confidence in the institutions ability to assert their rights Making the EU more transparent ETI / Access to documents ECJ Judgement in Nov 2010: A blow for transparency Brussels Leaks

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC Interactive Communication: Participatory democracy initiatives NB: European Citizens InitiativeEuropean Citizens Initiative

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC Key themes The increasing role of new media –Digitisation –Web-streaming / radio and tv –Blogging –Social networks Twitter / Facebook etc The role of Google New media in EU information Taking advantage of Google and Web 2.0

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The increasing role of new media Digitisation / Radio and television Publications Office Digital Library Project (PODL): Electronic availability of all EU publications through EU Bookshop / EU documents through EUR-LEX EU supports Europeana: digitisation of Europes cultural heritage The increasing role of new media Digitisation Increasingly, information is only published electronically Press Release IP/11/17IP/11/17 Digital Agenda: Comité des Sages calls for a New Renaissance by bringing Europe's cultural heritage online

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The increasing role of new media Digitisation / Radio and television 2,810,000 documents on EUR-LEX 12,000 documents added each year 23 official languages 250,000,000 pages consulted [2009 figures] Looking forward: A new version of EUR-Lex for 2012 Simple & Advanced search functions will be complemented by a google-like search function Pre-Lex will be more fully integrated into the database An optimised integration of the EUROVOC thesaurus will introduce new and simple search facilities TRANS-JAI, monitoring the inter-institutional procedures in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice, will be better integrated into EUR-Lex Publication of a legally binding internet version of the Official Journal Integration of semantic web elements in the new sites functionalities

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The increasing role of new media Use by the European Commission Photo / Audio / Video sources on European Commissioners European Commission uses video to communicate with the general public and with stakeholders European Commission commissions a large number of videos on key policy areas for use by professionals European Commission encourages awareness of its new media resources The increasing use of new media Use by the European Commission

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC TV – Web-streaming for EU information EU sources

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC TV – Web-streaming for EU information Non-EU sources

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC European Public Sphere Developing a pan-European debate through newspapers, radio and television 1.EUFeedsEUFeeds 2.European non-English language newspapers initiativeEuropean non-English language newspapers initiative 3.PressEuropPressEurop 1.EuranetEuranet 2.A TV network? Radio – TV – Newspapers for EU information

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The increasing role of new media Web 2.0: Blogs EU officials compile blogs on information & communication issues Blogs for EU information

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC Blogs for EU information Blog Aggregators bring together a selection of Europe focused blogs A sample of blogs offering a range of insights on Europe

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC Increasing Increasing use of social networks of sociaIncreasing us Increasing use of social networks

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The increasing role of new media Web 2.0: Twitter Tweet Aggregators: attempts to bring together EU tweets Who are the key players in the EU-twittersphere? TweetLevelTweetLevel evaluates tweets Many EU Institutions, officials, MEPs, Stakeholders and news sources are using Twitter – although some question its valuevalue The increasing role of new media Web 2.0: Twitter

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The increasing role of new media Web 2.0: Facebook Facebook is also being used by the European Union Institutions (and by other European stakeholders) The increasing role of new media Web 2.0: Facebook Is the EU focusing too much on social media?

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The role of Google Google Translate now machine translates all 23 official EU languages Google Public Data Explorer Unemployment / Minimum wage / Inflation Searching EUROPA through Google Google in Europe

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The role of Google Increasing interest in the EU and Member States in Google activities… Digitisation issues Competition issues Data protection issues Google in Europe

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The role of Google Some examples of Google in Europe in 2010 January 2010: French government review of digitisation aims to promote a French/European solution January 2010: Google formally submits its views to the Commission on its EU2020 consultationconsultation February 2010: Commission announces a preliminary investigation intopreliminary investigation complaints against Googles Search engine advertising service March 2010: Google and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage reach agreement to digitise works from Italian librariesItalian libraries June 2010: Google to give European regulators rogue data as it admits WiFi privacy blunderWiFi privacy blunder November 2010: Google and Hachette sign agreement to make out-of-print French books available December 2010: European Commission launches Google probeprobe December 2010: Autorité de la Concurrence in France says that Google has aAutorité de la Concurrence dominant position in online search advertising December 2010: 13 European universities given grants from Google as part of the Digital Humanities Research Awards Google in Europe

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC The role of Google Google have their own blog dealing with their relations with the EU and other European public policy issues Love it or hate it … Google is important in the world of European information Google in Europe

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC European media initiatives Training and Services for Media Professionals

European information review of the year 2010 © Ian Thomson, Director, Cardiff EDC EU information review of the year 2010 For further information please contact Ian Thomson