parliament the commission and the council have boosted their cooperation on eu communication and signed the political declaration on communicating europe in partnership on twenty-two october this year
thank you very much for your strong support on this issue
this is the first time that we have agreed on a common approach to communication
communicating is more efficient and effective if done in a coordinated way on priority issues
besides it requires a political commitment of all actors including member states
all institutions have a responsibility to communicate with citizens about the european union
however and let me stress this firmly the political declaration also respects the individual responsibility of each eu institution and member state for its own communication strategy and priorities
common communication priorities are at the centre of the political declaration and they will be agreed by the interinstitutional group on information igi co-chaired by representatives of each institution
we have already identified and agreed to have four common priorities in two thousand and nine the european elections energy and climate change the twenty anniversary of the democratic changes in central and eastern europe and of course sustaining jobs growth and solidarity in europe
implementation will be assured together by parliament the commission and the council as well as by member states
therefore we will aim to develop synergies with national regional and local authorities as well as with representatives of civil society
our representations and parliament's information offices in the member states will work with national authorities on joint activities adapted to national conditions
if needed we will enter into appropriate administrative arrangements between the services at eu and national levels and action will be financed appropriately
it goes without saying that in their actions our institutions and member states will respect multilingualism and cultural diversity
in this context let me mention that the commission is very active in facing the challenge of multilingualism
among other measures translators have been assigned to our representations in the member states to serve local needs and help to communicate europe in the language of its citizens
finally implementation of the common communication priorities will provide excellent platforms for european national and regional politicians to debate with citizens on eu issues before the european elections
i hope it will have a positive influence on the turnout
