European Economic and Social Committee
COMMUNICATION GROUP
Letter No 82/2010
Brussels, 28 January 2010
To the members of the Communication Group
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The Secretary-General of the European Economic and Social Committee is pleased to enclose the
MINUTES
of the 71st meeting
of the Communication Group
held at the European House in Stockholm
on 26 November 2009 at 2 p.m.
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Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat 99 — 1040 Bruxelles/Brussel — BELGIQUE/BELGIË
Tel. +32 25469011 — Fax +32 25134893 — Internet: http://www.eesc.europa.eu
EN
-1The Communication Group met on 26 November 2009 in Stockholm.
ATTENDANCE LIST
Members present
Ms
Mr
Ms
Ms
Ms
Ms
Ms
Ms
Pari (President)
Barabas
Cser
Klasnic
Ouin
Sigmund
van Turnhout
Zvolska (for Mr Espuny Moyano)
Excused
Mr
Espuny Moyano (replaced by Ms Zvolska)
Secretariat
Mr
Ms
Mr
Ms
Lindvald-Nielsen, Head of Communication
Gessler, Head of Press
Bury, Press
Boukhenfouf, Visits and Publications
Groups
Ms
Mr
Mr
Bertrand, Group I secretariat
Liégeois, Group II secretariat
O'Bradaigh, Group III secretariat
Guests
Mr
Mr
Kjellström, Head of European Parliament Information Office in Sweden
Schellekens, Head of European Commission Representation in Sweden
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The President opened the meeting at 2 p.m.
1.
Adoption of the draft agenda
The agenda was adopted.
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-22.
Approval of the minutes of the 70th meeting of the Communication Group held on
22 October 2009
The minutes were approved.
3.
Opening remarks of the chair
In her opening remarks, Ms Pari informed members about:
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4.
a "farewell" speech in the Interinstitutional Group on Information (IGI) by Ms Margot Wallström,
the outgoing commissioner for communications; and the first speech in the IGI by Rodi KratsaTsagaropoulou, a new EP vice-president in charge of communications;
discussions in the IGI about inter-institutional communications priorities for 2010;
Ms Pari would like to have explored the possibility of having a cooperation agreement between
the EESC and the EP; just as it exists now between the Commission and the EESC, with an
addendum on Communication.
Follow-up to the 2009-2014 communication strategy
Ms Pari presented a draft communications strategy that included proposals made by the
Communications Group as well as the results of the interviews and surveys carried out.
In the ensuing discussion, Ms Ouin, Ms Sigmund, Ms van Turnhout, Ms Zvolska, and
Mr Barabas raised following points:
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more responsibility should be given to members in their role of "communicators";
rapporteurs needed to receive guidelines which would help them communicate;
it was advisable for rapporteurs to communicate "hot" issues to the outside world even at the
opinion drafting stage;
new possibilities opened by the Lisbon Treaty had to be examined and subsequently put in
practice quickly by the EESC;
it was important to focus on impact when promoting opinions;
the need for a timely promotion of opinions;
the "going local" dimension needed to be strengthened;
more emphasis should be placed on participatory democracy as demand for it would only
increase;
it was crucial to target press releases more accurately – react when the issue is on the agenda of
the surrounding world;
a database of specialist media had to be created; journalists needed to be contacted in their own
language;
a more efficient search engine was needed to facilitate finding EESC opinions (Question for ITT
service);
better and clearer link to the Video and photoarchive;
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-3–
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add clear links to Members, their organisations and the organisations' webpages;
strategy to be sent to the Bureau in January- and plenary in February 2010.
Exchange of views on the dialogue with Civil Society and "going local" with EP Head of
Information, Mr Björn Kjellström and Mr Pierre Schellekens, Head of the Commission
Representation in Sweden
Ms Pari introduced Mr Kjellström and Mr Schellekens.
Mr Kjellström presented a number of communications practices followed by the EPIO in Stockholm:
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inviting journalists for every plenary session of the European Parliament had significantly
contributed to a better understanding of the EP and better reporting;
the Information Office was often unable to communicate the basis on which decisions had been
taken by the EP as reasons differed considerably across the groups;
communicating EU work via tailor-made press and communications tools, which took regional
and even local sensibilities into account;
actions at regional and local level seemed to have a deeper impact than those organised at national
level.
Mr Schellekens presented a number of communications actions organised by the European
Commission Representation in Sweden:
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Partnership in communication was an absolutely crucial principle;
Visits by EU civil servants to Swedish schools received wide coverage in local and regional
media as such visits and frank exchanges with pupils and students gave the EU a face;
Climate change was the only example where a true communications strategy had been conceived
and implemented; the Representation was willing to use the expertise of EESC members at
various events focusing on climate issues.
In the following debate, Ms Cser, Ms van Turnhout, and Mr Barabas spoke, notably on social
networking, Internet campaigns, the need to reach people without internet access and the role of radio:
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the importance of making a communication effort to address the concerns of minorities in the EU;
the need to maximise the use of the Internet to engage and involve citizens;
the role of radio had to be properly assessed and taken into account in the EU communications
strategy.
Concluding the discussion, Mr Kjellström and Mr Schellekens stressed the importance of direct
contact with citizens and underlined the success of the initiative "a cup of coffee with a
commissioner" and events allowing for an open exchange of views between citizens and EU
commissioners. The importance of the regional and local press was not to be underestimated insofar
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-4as people tended to skim through national newspapers but read regional and local newspapers
thoroughly and carefully.
Mr Kjellström and Mr Schellekens revealed their willingness for closer cooperation with the EESC
and their readiness to promote the work of the EESC.
Ms Pari emphasised the scope for cooperation between the EESC and the EP in the framework of
inter-institutional communications priorities for 2010. She also thanked them sincerely for the
impressive cooperation in arranging the following days Press Officers Seminar.
6.
Follow-up to the 2009 communication action plan
The Communication Group took note of the document.
7.
Publications & Studies Programme 2010
Ms Pari opened the discussion about the 2010 programme and asked if members backed the idea of
launching a study on the acronyms and abbreviations used in the EESC.
Mr Barabas asked for the Presidency Memo to be changed from one covering the six-month period
into one encompassing the 18-month triple presidency programme.
Ms Sigmund said that she had contacted all Spanish members about the cultural events planned
during the Spanish Presidency but had not received much feedback.
Concluding the discussions, Ms Pari agreed that the concept behind the "Travel Book" put forward
by Mr Espuny had to be clarified by the Communication Group's Cultural Committee and, if
possible, the publication, centred on culture, had to be linked up with civil society. The study on
abbreviations and acronyms would be conducted in 2010.
The Communication Group agreed to present the Studies and Publications Programme to the January
Bureau meeting for decision.
8.
Events during the Spanish EU Presidency
The Communication Group took note of the document.
9.
Youth event, April 2010
Ms Pari opened the discussion on some practical details of the event.
The group agreed that National Contact Points would visit the selected schools in February-March to
introduce the EESC and its working methods. All "going-local" members would receive the toolbox
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-5with useful information. Ms Ouin, Mr Barabas and Ms Pari will draw the winning schools, January
2010. Ms. Van Turnhout, Ms Ouin and Ms Pari will represent the three groups at the actual event in
April.
10.
Cultural programme
The cultural Programme was presented by Ms Anne-Marie Sigmund who emphasised that the
website of the EESC Design ZeroNine Competition was the one most frequently visited.
The Group decided that the design competition needed to be continued with a new edition being
launched every other year. The group agreed to the draft planning for 2010.
11.
Any other business
Dates for the 2010 Communication Group meetings
The group took note of the dates.
Web statistics
The group took note of statistics.
Decoration of the JDE building's façade
Ms Cser, Ms Klasnic, Ms Ouin, Ms Sigmund, Ms van Turnhout, and Mr Barabas spoke to ask
for the design of what would appear on the front wall to be more colourful and, vibrant. Members said
that "less is more" should be the guiding principle in preparing a new design. A design should be
composed of a fixed element (name of the Committee) and a changing one which announced current
or upcoming events.
Ms Pari would decide on behalf of the Group.
Project on Urban Mobility by TEN Section
The four-day event is aimed at promoting energy-efficient ways of getting around.
Ms Ouin, Ms van Turnhout, Ms Klasnic and Ms Cser generally accepted the idea behind the event.
However, they underlined the need to re-examine the budget and consider locations other than
Brussels. The importance of finding a credible partner for organisation was emphasised as well as
identifying the right timing.
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-612.
Draft agenda of the next meeting scheduled for 4 February 2010
The Group took note of the draft agenda.
The President closed the meeting at 6 p.m.
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