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Full text of the letter from Margot Wallstrom, Vice President of the European Commission on the lessons to be drawn from the result of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty

To the President and Members of the Commission

In the wake of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, much has been said about how best to inform the public and gain their confidence and support. Some of these issues emerged in the sharp relief in the post-referendum poll we carried out in Ireland. But we cannot treat the Irish “no” as merely a national issue or only a Treaty ratification problem. The difficulties encountered in explaining to citizens the rationale of the Lisbon Treaty and in clarifying that the European Union needs to be equipped for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges are difficulties which we encounter across the Union.

In October last year, we presented a communication on “Communicating Europe in Partnership” which outlined a number of ways in which the EU, through the institutions and the Member States, could address these challenges. I want to share with you now some thoughts on the lessons learnt on how to work together on communicating Europe, and some idea on the way ahead and on where greater efforts are needed, particularly in the run-up to the European Parliament elections in June 2009.

Lessons from the Referendum

Even though ratification of the Treaty is a national affair, there are some general lessons that can be drawn from the results of the referendum on how to communicate, both on the Treaty and on the EU more generally.

- The more emotive no campaign worked better than the more factual yes.

- Not enough was done by the yes campaign to reach out to young people and women.

- The internet was almost exclusively used by no campaigners.

- There was no effective rebuttal of misinformation about the Treaty.

The context of the vote in Ireland is also important. There has been a general deterioration of confidence among citizens in almost all Member States, similar in scale to the one that followed the events of September 11th, 2001. This appears to be mainly due to the difficult situation of the economy and of employment. It is certainly not related to the Irish referendum.

Consequences for Communication Policy

Overcoming the distance of the EU from its citizens is a long-term project, involving delivery of good policies as well as communicating them well. This Commission has taken the decisions to modernise and change the Commission’s approach to communication that can be summed up by:

– Two-way communications (listening as much as talking; responding to citizens’ interests and concerns);

- Going local (investing more of our communications resources in the Representations and redesigning their approach through Europe Houses and European Public Spaces);

- Strengthening and modernising our communication tools (through the adoption of new internet and audiovisual strategies);

- Stimulating political debates across Europe on the EU (Plan D/European Political Foundations regulation/Debate Europe/MyParl.);

- Strengthening our partnership in communication with the European Parliament, Council and Member States at national and regional level.

Some of these improvements will need some time before they have a real impact. Yet the political calendar requires faster delivery. As agreed by the June European Council, the ratification process will continue. With four more parliaments voting since the summit, 23 Member States have now approved the Treaty. The way forward will be explored at the October European Council. The Commission will continue to support those Member States that still have to ratify the Lisbon Treaty in order to ensure that the fullest possible information is available to the public. Voices have been raised calling for a “citizen’s summary” of the Treaty and the Commission could assist in its preparation.

Beyond the ratification process, the European elections will be the next important “test case” on which judgements will be made on the level of engagement of our citizens with the EU.

In this context, what can we already do now?

A. Agree a Partnership on Communication with the Institutions and Member States.