madam president it has become quite evident in the last few years that the institutions of the european union are much less familiar to the citizens of europe than should be the case
the european union is a democratic body so that contact with the citizens is in the interests of both
what the european union does and why should be fully known to the citizens
the citizens are stakeholders in what is done by the eu and clearly the european union is a stakeholder in european public opinion
there are various ways of ensuring that this mutual interest is given expression
communication is one of these and an important one and it is for this reason that the budget should include an element devoted to the communication of its activities by the european union to the wider public
