Brussels, 09 October 2020
WK 10837/2020 INIT
LIMITE
API
INF
WORKING PAPER
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WORKING DOCUMENT
From:
General Secretariat of the Council
To:
Working Party on Information
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 6 October 2020
Delegations will find attached the summary of discussions at the informal videoconference of the
members of the Working Party on Information of 6 October 2020.
WK 10837/2020 INIT
LIMITE
EN
DG COMM
Summary of discussions at the informal videoconference of the Working Party on
Information
1.
Working Party Working Party on Information (Communication)
2.
Date of
6 October 2020
meeting
3.
Chair
Reijo Kemppinen, Director-General, DG COMM
4.
Date
9 October 2020
5.
Summary
The meeting was called as a follow-up to WPI meetings held on 18 May, 9 June
and 7 July 2020 in response to the IPCR invitation to the WPI to launch a work
strand on communications efforts in the context of Covid-19.
Ave Eerma, the Chair of the Crisis Communication Network under IPCR
(IPCR/CCN) updated the delegates on the work carried out in recent weeks.
CCN is preparing a "lessons learnt" paper, waiting for Member States' input.
The Chair briefed the delegates on the work on a new common platform for
sharing of communication materials and planning (the Communicators' Portal).
GSC made a presentation on the structure of the platform and its goal of being a
one-stop-shop for EU communication materials. Member States are invited to
nominate 3 (three) representatives (WPI delegates + 2 communication
practitioners) to have access to the platform (by 22 October 2020). The EEAS
attended the meeting for this item given that the new platform is hosted on the
same platform as the Rapid Alert System (albeit in a separate environment).
No Member State identified any difficulties on local cooperation, there was
silent agreement that the current arrangements are working. The Commission
underlined the importance of going local and communicating beyond cities. The
EP, who attended as guest for this item, underlined the shift to digital events,
allowing participation of interlocutors which would not be physically available.
The German Presidency pleaded to use another source of information instead of
the ISAA reports to ensure constant accurate flows of information from all
Member States; and to improve the system of focal points. Commission stressed
the need for a link between policy action and communication, hoped for
agreement on the draft recommendation proposed by the Commission and
announced the interoperability gateway for national tracing apps. The
Commission also insisted that the questionnaire for ISAA reports allows
Member States to provide updates on a daily basis (or as soon as the need
appears). A free app with notifications functionalities would be available soon.
Interventions by several delegations showed the need to further work on
improving the accuracy and timeliness of data, with several proposals put
forward.
The Chair updated the delegates on the progress on the Presidency website
project.
The Commission was represented by Lene Naesager, Director for Strategy and
Corporate Communication and Richard Kuehnel, Director for Representations
and communication in the Member States. The EP was represented by Federico
Rossetto, Head of Strategic Support for Liaison Offices. The EEAS was
represented by Sabrina Spieleder, Information and communication officer,
Division Strategic Communications and Information Analysis.
6.
Details
1. Adoption of the agenda Chair presented the agenda and the technical details about the meeting. The
agenda was adopted without remarks.
2. Enhancing coordination of communication on EU actions in combatting
COVID-19 and on recovery measures (a) Update from the Chair of the IPCR Crisis Communication Network
Ave EERMA, Chair of the IPCR CCN, updated on the work carried out by the
network in the recent weeks and plans for the future. CCN held a number of
virtual meetings and produced a COVID-19 communication checklist and
mapping. IPCR is preparing a "lessons learnt" paper, waiting for MS input. The
paper would be discussed at next IPCR meeting at the end of October.
Action point: Member States are invited to share lessons learnt from
COVID-19 communication.
No questions.
(b) Presentation by the GSC of the common platform (Communicators Portal)
for sharing information and content
The Chair briefed that materials are already being shared via a dedicated
WhatsApp group, while working on a more sustainable solution. Same platform
as RAS, but completely separate environment. The Chair thanked EEAS and
invited all MS to nominate 3 representatives and to keep WPI members as the
entry point, at least in the beginning.
GSC (Maciej Bury and Letizia Gambini) made a presentation (WK 10728 2020
INIT). A certain amount of communication material and editorial planning
documents coming from the three institutions are already available on the
platform. Shareable content on the platform includes among others:
Clips
Infographics
Animations
Social media visuals
Social media templates
There is a point of contact for every piece of content so that member states
could reach out in case they have questions or additional requests.
Content is organised in a clear and easy-to-find way. A powerful internal search
engine makes it easy and fast to find content one is looking for.
A moderator of the platform (a GSC official) will make sure that platform
remains user-friendly, orderly and useful.
GSC plans to organise virtual training for MS users of the platform.
The Chair underlined the opportunities that the platform represents. He also
invited MS to continuously provide feedback in order to further improve the
platform.
Action point: Member States to nominate their representatives to have
access to the platform by 22 October.
No questions.
(c) Exchange of views on strengthening local cooperation with the Commission
Representations and EP Liaison Offices in the member states
The Chair drew attention to the two documents shared in advance (
WK 9907
2020 REV1 and
WK 9908 2020 REV1) and invited comments on the
experience of delegations.
IT noted no difficulties at local level. On the invitation of the Chair, there was
silent agreement that delegations are happy with the papers submitted and
experiences at local level. The Commission and EP representatives outlined the
main messages in their papers, considering that cooperation functions well. The
Commission underlined the importance of going local and communicating in
rural areas, to go beyond the cities. As regards the EP, the decentralised
approach is working well - margin left to local EPLOs to adapt the message to
local circumstances. EP in particular insisted on the potential of digital events,
allowing participation of interlocutors which would not be physically available.
Online events allow for participation by people who could not join if it was a
physical event - both for participants and speakers. High potential to be used in
the future, which could further improve cooperation between EU institutions
and national authorities.
3. Follow-up to the General Affairs Council on 22/09 - communication
cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 - Information from the Chair/Commission and exchange of views.
The Chair debriefed of the GAC discussion on 22/09. Ministers showed broad
support for the Presidency progress report, but also highlighted challenges
ahead. The public should be informed as early as possible before new measures
come into effect.
The German Presidency pleaded to use another source of information instead of
the ISAA reports to ensure constant accurate flows of information from all
Member States; and to improve the system of focal points. Commission stressed
the need for a link between policy action and communication, hoped for
agreement on the draft recommendation proposed by the Commission and
announced the interoperability gateway for national tracing apps. In the
Commission's view, Member States should feed the Re-open EU through the
ISAA reports and should promote the website - while acknowledging that the
frequency and quality of data is uneven and unsatisfactory, the Commission
considered that WPI is not the centre of discussions on the issue, which are
ongoing at other levels. A Re-open EU free app (Apple and Android) will be
available soon. DG COMM in Commission will be in the lead in promoting the
website and app, with a campaign foreseen until March, inviting delegations to
contribute in the promotion effort.
IE question as to which fora are discussing these issues - the Chair reminds the
mandate of WPI and tries to summarise the concerns voiced by COM and DE
PRES. Commission dismisses the frequency of ISAA reports as an issue and
points out that delegations can fill in updates whenever they want. BE
intervention on ways to link Re-open EU and national websites, BE/HU support
embedding a map. FR stresses the need to accurate and updated information on
Re-open EU. FI/SI expressed appreciation for the website but pointed out
translation problems in their language versions. Commission pointed to JRC as
centre of operations for the website. The Chair noted as operational follow-up
the establishment of a link between Member States and JRC; and checking with
IPCR platform support on whether the current questionnaire for ISAA reports
provides the flexibility to update information 24/7. The item will not be added
to the next WPI agenda, but delegations will be informed on progress.
JRC contact point:
xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx Action points:
Delegations to verify their focal points in their governments
to provide timely updates. GSC to undertake with IPCR colleagues that the
questionnaire is sufficiently flexible and people can provide daily or
immediate updates to JRC for changing situation. 4. AOB - Update on the Presidency website project
The Chair reminded the delegations of the goal of the project – the building and
hosting of a single and unique website for the Council presidencies. The GSC
will create an empty, ready-to-use website, for the presidencies to populate with
content. The website has the core, which remains largely unchanged from one
presidency to another, and a customisable part, which will be adapted to reflect
the specific visual and branding needs of each presidency.
The Slovenian presidency accepted to participate in the project. The GSC will
finalise the website in the spring 2021. The project implementation is half way
through.
All upcoming presidencies, which are interested in participating in the project,
are invited to contact us.
GSC (Maciej Bury) presented an update on the project (WK 10731 2020 INIT).
SI intervention welcoming the project and thanking for the support. Chair
closes outlining importance of the project.
Conclusion by the Chair:
Ave Eerma asked delegates to share lessons learnt from COVID19
communication
CP - inviting MS to nominate representatives by 22/10
On local cooperation - we take note the delegations are happy and take
note of COM/EP statements in the documents.
On Re-open EU website - importance was further emphasised. a) We
plan to establish a direct link between delegations and JRC. Delegations
to verify their focal points in their governments to provide timely
updates. b) GSC to undertake with IPCR colleagues that the
questionnaire is sufficiently flexible, and people can provide daily or
immediate updates to JRC for changing situation. c) updates on the
performance of the website for next WPI meeting, in order to know
which citizens are using the website and how.
Pcy website - we take note of the current progress of the project.
7.
Next
The
next WPI meeting is tentatively scheduled for
27 October.
procedural
steps
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