Brussels, 18 June 2020
WK 6517/2020 INIT
LIMITE
API
INF
WORKING PAPER
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WORKING DOCUMENT
From:
General Secretariat of the Council
To:
Working Party on Information (Communication - Information Policy)
Working Party on Information (Communication - Titulaires)
Subject:
Summary of discussions at the informal videoconference of the members of the
Working Party on Information of 9 June 2020
Delegations will find attached the summary of discussions at the informal videoconference of the
members of the Working Party on Information on next steps on the way to enhancing coordination of
communication on EU actions in combatting COVID-19 and ensuring a safe return to normal conditions.
WK 6517/2020 INIT
LIMITE
EN
Summary of discussions at the informal videoconference
of the members of the Working Party on Information
on next steps on the way to enhancing coordination of communication on EU actions in
combatting COVID-19 and ensuring a safe return to normal conditions
1.
Working Party Working Party on Information (Communication)
2.
Date of
9 June 2020
meeting
3.
Chair
Reijo Kemppinen, Director-General, DG COMM
4.
Date
18 June 2020
5.
Summary
The meeting was called as a follow-up to WPI meeting held on 18 May 2020 in
response to the IPCR invitation to the WPI to launch a work strand on
communications efforts in the context of Covid-19.
The Chair presented proposals for
concrete next steps on the way to improve
coordination between the Member States and the EU institutions as set out
in WK 5744/2020. They included
inter alia: (i) ensuring that MS have a better
overview of the institutions' communications plans, (ii) providing more visual
EU-branded communication materials to be produced by the institutions for
MS's use in their national campaigns, (iii) ensuring that the provided materials
can be easily customised and localised, (iv) enhancing cooperation at local level
between MS authorities and Commission representations as well EP Liaison
Offices.
Delegations generally
supported the operational suggestions aimed at
improving coordination of cooperation. There was also general support for
the
role of the WPI in this context
, though several delegations called for a
clearer differentiation to be made between the WPI and the role of other bodies
(e.g. IPCR Crisis Communication Network (CCN) or ERCHT working party).
Early sharing of communication plans, social media templates and
customisation of materials were broadly supported. Some emphasised the
need for multilingualism and availability of materials in all EU official
languages. Many delegations highlighted the ongoing good cooperation at
member states level with Commission Representations and European
Parliament Liaison Offices. The potential role of EU delegations for
communication in the neighbourhood and particularly in the Western Balkans
was also put forward by several delegations. Another suggestion related to
extending this coordination of communication efforts to ensure continuity
beyond the crisis.
Some concerns or questions was raised about: the best platform for sharing of
information and materials; the new network of lower level practitioners; and the
additional workload that quantitative data collection may require.
The EP was represented by Federico Rossetto, Head of Unit for Strategic
Support for Liaison Offices, DG Communication
.
The Commission was represented by Lene Naesager, Director for Strategy and
Corporate Communication.
The Chair of the IPCR CCN, Ave Eerma, was also invited but could not
participate in the VTC.
Two delegations did not intervene during the meeting, but would provide their
views in writing.
6.
Details
The
Chair referred to the interinstitutional cooperation and preparatory work
prior to this meeting. He summarised the main proposals for cooperation as
discussed in the previous meeting on 18 May 2020: earlier and better overview
of EU institutions communication plans; use of the existing COVID19 Europa
website; social media templates; cooperation on national level with
Commission Representations and European Parliament Liaison Offices. In
addition, the Chair stressed the importance of regular feedback and ensuring
close coordination with other Council bodies, such as the IPCR CCN,
the Horizontal Working Party on Enhancing Resilience and Countering Hybrid
Threats.
While delegations
broadly agreed with the role of WPI in terms of strategic
coordination of communication, a couple of delegations sought a clearer
differentiation of the roles of the different fora to avoid any duplication of
work.
Overall, delegations welcomed the operational suggestions presented by the
Chair, which were developed together with the Commission and EP services.
Delegations universally welcomed advance
sharing of EU institutions
communication plans.
Delegations also agreed on the need for a
common website at EU level. They
could accept that it was not necessary at this stage to create a new one, but
called for improvements to the Europa.eu site in terms of content and its
attractiveness. In future crisis situations, it was suggested that a common
website should be set up from the outset.
Delegations agreed that
social media templates were very helpful for
providing messages, but some highlighted that common messages/narratives are
even more important. Given the differing situations in the member states,
several mentioned the importance of customisation and availability of material
in their language for
easy localisation.
It was suggested that localisation of messages could also be facilitated by the
closer cooperation with Commission representations and EP Liaison
Offices in MS, which is already working well in many member states.
In terms of
operational arrangements, some concern was raised about the
potential use of the Rapid Alert System as the umbrella platform to share
information and communication materials, given its limited user-friendliness
and its links with fighting disinformation. Several delegations queried the
possible creation of a new network of lower level practitioners. A couple of
delegations noted that due to national specificities, it might be necessary to have
more than one contact person.
In addition, during the table round several delegations expressed support for
common messaging together with EU delegations in third countries,
particularly those in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership. Several
delegations also highlighted the importance of communicating with citizens in
an accurate and timely manner based on facts and in their languages to help
counter disinformation.
There was a call to ensure continuity beyond the current crisis by transforming
the newly suggested tools and working methods into a blueprint for future crisis
communication, based on an assessment of how it works in practice. Most
delegations agreed that the regular provision of qualitative feedback should be
the basis for this assessment rather than quantitative data collection, which
could lead to additional workload for MS.
The
EP representative welcomed cooperation between EU institutions and MS
in communicating about the pandemic and recovery. The EP is already
cooperating a lot via the EPLOs by sharing of materials, joint events, inviting
each other's representatives, and support for activities. As in other
communication campaigns, EP communication campaign on COVID-19 is
quite decentralised with EPLOs free to decide which central materials to use
and adapt. The EP at central level has produced a number of multilingual
products for raising awareness on COVID-19 actions. However, the EPLOs'
materials may be more useful for national authorities, so cooperation on the
ground is key. The EP is happy to receive feedback on what type of products
work and what does not and favours measures that are not too resource
intensive.
The
Commission representative noted that citizens see the EU as a whole and,
therefore, coordination of communication activities is needed in particular to
show the real impact of EU actions. The Commission stressed the strong role
that EU member states have to play in bringing the EU closer to citizens. The
Commission briefly presented a new app, 'Re-open Europe', which would be
launched on 15 June 2020 together with a website. It aims at helping EU
citizens to plan their travel in Europe. All member states are invited to help in
promoting it - multilingual promotional materials will be shared.
The Commission is also planning a broad communication campaign on the
recovery, which would run from July 2020 until February 2021. Building on the
Europe Day experience on COVID communication - testimonials and examples
of how the EU actions benefit citizens - the campaign will target all MS and
will be translated in 24 languages. Promotion at national level by the MS is
welcome. The campaign's objectives are firstly to raise awareness about the
benefits of the EU actions on the COVID19 pandemic and its role in the road to
recovery, and secondly to strengthen trust in EU institutions. The Commission
is about to adopt on 10 June, a communication on disinformation and Covid19.
The
Chair summarised the main take-aways from the interventions and invited
delegations to share any further contributions in writing.
7.
Next
The
Chair undertook to:
procedural
- analyse delegations' comments together with the other EU institutions and the
steps
current and the incoming presidencies;
- asked delegations to nominate SPOCs to act as contact points on the
operational level during the implementation phase;
- report back at the
next WPI meeting, which is likely to be held
in late June
or early July.
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