The European Parliament adopted by 493 votes to 48, with 30 abstentions, a European Parliament decision on the approval of the joint declaration on “Communicating Europe in Partnership”.
The own-initiative report had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Jo LEINEN (PES, DE) on behalf of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.
The resolution emphasises that communication is an important element of both representative and participatory democracy. The experience gained from past European elections and referendums suggests that those who are aware of, and interested in, EU issues are more likely to participate, while those who are not as well informed are less likely to do so. This was once again confirmed by research done following the Irish referendum.
Convinced that communicating on the European Union requires the political commitment of EU Institutions and Member States at all levels, the European Parliament approves the joint declaration on Communicating Europe in Partnership annexed to this decision and decides to annex the declaration to its Rules of Procedure. It calls for the declaration to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The European Parliament, Council and the European Commission attach the utmost importance to improving communication on EU issues in order to enable European citizens to exercise their right to participate in the democratic life of the Union, in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizens, observing the principles of pluralism, participation, openness and transparency.
The three Institutions wish to encourage the convergence of views on the communication priorities of the European Union as a whole, to promote the added value of an EU approach to communication on European issues, to facilitate exchanges of information and best practices and develop synergies between the Institutions when carrying out communication relating to these priorities, as well as to facilitate cooperation among the Institutions and Member States where appropriate.
The three Institutions believe that information and communication activities on European issues should give everyone access to fair and diverse information about the European Union and enable citizens to exercise their right to express their views and to participate actively in the public debate on European Union issues. The three Institutions promote the respect of multilingualism and cultural diversity when implementing information and communication actions.