The European Union (EU) is aware that the participation of the mass media is indispensable in the European construction.
In spite of this, the lack of knowledge of the citizens is a fact: a great majority claim to have a minimum or almost no knowledge about Europe. A lack of knowledge in which society points the finger at, among others, the mass media.
For its part, the media look kindly upon initiatives like the "White paper on a European Communication policy", but do not fail to show apprehension towards the facilities that the different institutions offer to the correspondents and the way in which they offer the information.
Then, the questions arise: What role should the European media play in the construction of the EU? Do the community institutions risk turning into mere institutional propaganda because of trying to make the informative tasks easier? Up to which point do the European institutions offer information that is of interest to the mass media and their audiences? How can the EU reach society through the mass media? In short, is it possible to go from the institutional monologue to a dialogue with the citizens of Europe?
In this context, the objective of the seminar, organised by the General Secretariat for External Affairs of the Basque Government, will be to give rise to an open debate among representatives of the institutions, mass media, social organizations and the general public, about the role of the press in the construction of Europe.
As a result of the seminar, a document of conclusions will be drawn up, in which an attempt will be made to define a series of best practices to promote the role of the press in the job of communicating the project of the European Union to society. The said document will be sent to the institutions of the European Union as a second contribution from the Basque Country to the 'Plan D' (Democracy, Dialogue and Debate) and, in short, as a Basque contribution to the process of reflection about the future of Europe.
