Brussels, 08 July 2020
WK 7458/2020 INIT
LIMITE
API
INF
WORKING PAPER
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WORKING DOCUMENT
From:
General Secretariat of the Council
To:
Working Party on Information (Communication - Titulaires)
Working Party on Information (Communication - Information Policy)
Subject:
Summary of discussions at the informal videoconference of the members of the
Working Party on Information of 7 July 2020
Delegations will find attached the summary of discussions at the informal videoconference of the
members of the Working Party on Information of 7 July 2020.
WK 7458/2020 INIT
LIMITE
EN

Summary of discussions at the informal videoconference of the members of the Working
Party on Information

1.
Working Party  Working Party on Information (Communications)
2.
Date of
7 July 2020
meeting
3.
Chair
Reijo Kemppinen, Director-General, DG COMM

4.
Date
8 July 2020
5.
Summary
The meeting was called as a follow-up to WPI meetings held on 18 May and 9
June 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 German Presidency presented their communication activities.

The Chair updated the delegates on the implementation of suggested actions for

improving coordination between the Member States and the EU
institutions as set out in WK 6862/2020. They included inter alia: (i) early

sharing with the MS of EU institutions' communications plans, (ii) revamping

of EU website on COVID-19; (iii) sharing of communication materials and

social media templates for use by MS in their national campaigns, including

sharing on a common platform; (iv) ensuring that the provided materials can be

easily customised and localised, (v) enhancing cooperation at local level

between MS authorities and Commission Representations and EP Liaison

Offices.

Delegations generally supported the continued implementation of the

measures, outlined by the Chair and described in WK 6862/2020. All of

them appreciated the early sharing of communication plans, the revamped

Europa.eu website launched on 3 July and the ability to easily customise the

shared materials. Delegates assessed positively the sharing of social media

templates whilst a few highlighted the importance for MS to be able to decide

how to use them.

Virtually all delegations welcomed the efforts to further improve cooperation

at national level between the Member States and Commission

Representations as well as European Parliament Liaison Offices. Many

delegates welcomed the opportunity to share more information at the next

meeting in September.

The GSC provided information on the media arrangements for the European

Council meeting on 17-18 July and responded to questions from delegates.

The Commission was represented by Lene Naesager, Director for Strategy and
Corporate Communication. The EP was also invited but could not participate in
the VTC.

Five delegations did not intervene during the meeting, while one of them shared
their views in writing.

6.
Details
The Chair and delegations thanked the Croatian Presidency for their hard
work, highlighting the extraordinary situation with the COVID-19 pandemic,
which posed challenges for their work. The Chair welcomed the German
Presidency and wished them good luck, which was supported by all delegations.

The DE Presidency presented briefly their planned communication and cultural
activities.

The Chair referred to the progress made on implementation of the concrete
measures, as outlined in WK 6862/2020. He also announced that delegations
should receive 15 new templates on the recovery phase later in the week.

All delegations supported the implementation of these measures, with several
welcoming in particular the sharing of communication plans and social media
materials. In response to a question about the need for training to be able to use
the functionalities of the new RAS (communications) platform, the Chair
confirmed that support or training would be given as necessary.

Practically all delegations that took the floor, highlighted the good
cooperation on the ground with Commission Representations and
European Parliament Liaison Offices. Delegations welcomed the opportunity
to first consult at national level and to come back in the autumn with more
information and good practice examples in view of further strengthening this
cooperation at national level. Two delegations queried the need to involve the
WPI in the cooperation between MS and Commission representations and
EPLOs. One delegation noted that different forms of cooperation existed in
different MS so that it was useful to have this broad discussion. Another
delegation pointed out that it was up to each MS to decide on the mode of
cooperation at national level.

The Commission representative noted that the document it shared on "What
Member States can do for COVID-19 communication" would be regularly
updated and shared on the common platform. The Commission briefly
presented the statistics on the use of the 'Re-open Europe' web platform in the
first 18 days after its launch - 1.8 million unique visitors and 6.3 million page
views - and thanked MS for their efforts to promote it.

The Commission shared information on how they are looking into the external
dimension of COVID-19 communication (the so-called “Team-Europe”), which
was raised by several delegates in the previous WPI meeting on 9 June.

On the Covid-19 recovery campaign, the Commission is advancing together
with the European Parliament and the launch date has yet to be set. For the next
4 to 5 years, the main focus of the corporate communications campaign would
be on the recovery package and Next Generation EU which would be the
“chapeau” campaign for the corporate campaigns on the European Green Deal
and the Digital Agenda. In the overarching campaign, focus would be on the
human angle with messages on hope, inclusiveness and togetherness. The
Commission also announced the forthcoming adoption on 15 July of a
Communication relating to Covid-19 preparedness, research, early detection
and response. MS were invited to help promote the messaging at national level,
particularly about the positive effect of vaccines, and to share information about

any campaigns at a national level.

The GSC COMM.1 Director outlined the practical arrangements for the media
with regard to the next EUCO on 17-18 July, including the offer to set up a
specific installation for a remote press conference (broadcast quality) with
national journalists. Delegations should inform the GSC by Friday 10 July, at
noon, if they are interested in this offer or not. The Director replied to a number
of questions and announced that a note with further details would be sent to the
PermRep spokespersons at the latest by Thursday morning, 9 July.

7.
Next
The Chair undertook to:
procedural
- continue implementation of the agreed actions;
steps
- prepare with the DE Presidency, the Commission and the Parliament the
discussion in September on how to strengthen cooperation on the ground;
- send a note to delegations in advance of the meeting.

The next WPI meeting is tentatively scheduled for 29 September.

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