Bashing the Government looks like being the main theme of the upcoming Euro elections in Ireland but back in Brussels the eurocrats are fretting over the fate of the Lisbon treaty.

 So much so Information commissioner Margot Wallstrom is about to sign a €1.6 million contract with public relations company Edelman to sell “Europe” to the Irish people.

 Edelman, which has teamed up with Peter Brennan’s EPS Consulting, has beat off stiff competition from all the other big PR firms in Dublin for a plum contract during tough times.

A formal contract signing is just days away enabling Europe’s PR blitz to begin in the early summer, possibly June.  

So what can we expect over the next five months?

Well as the commission office explained at the length when I broke the story of the tender in February this has absolutely nothing to do with the Lisbon treaty! Apparently, its just part of normal commission information activities to explain Europe to citizens.

Call me a cynic but that sounds like claptrap. Or, more likely a legal disclaimer – in case no campaigners try to take a case claiming that the PR contract falls foul of tough laws on public money being used in referendum campaigns.

The tender documents show the PR blitz will be aimed at the three groups who voted en masse against the Lisbon first time around: women; young people and low income families. More than half a million euro will be spent on cinema advertising- so if you are going to see a blockbuster this summer expect to see trendy adverts explaining why Europe is good for you. (Here’s one of the weirder variety below)  There will also be a big internet campaign to target the young with some sort of blogging initiative.   

 The Government, which recently closed down the Forum on Europe because it ‘cost too much’, also have a half a million euro tender out for much the same type of PR. Clearly, in the run up to Lisbon II the hard sell will replace more traditional debating chambers such as the Forum.