The Information Office of the European Parliament (EP ) in Romania has launched on Friday, in Bucharest, a campaign dedicated to informing citizens of Member States on the European elections in 2014 , under the logo “Act. React. Decide ” and the slogan ” Now it’s different “, an event carried out in the presence of three vice presidents of the political groups in the EP, Corina Cretu ( group of European socialists and democrats – S & D ), Adina Valean ( Liberal Group – ALDE) and Marian-Jean Marinescu ( European People’s Party Group – EPP) .
“The objectives of this institutional campaign are to inform the European citizens on the European elections, why is it important to participate in these elections and, in particular , to better understand the impact of decisions taken at the EU level, including in the European Parliament, upon their lives, our lives, the everyday life. Perhaps one of the most important things and that differentiate this campaign from similar information campaigns in the past is that, in the context of this campaign, the impact of citizen’s voting is to be more clearly emphasized upon the establishment of a political majority in the EP, set to elect the future president of the European Commission”, said Madalina Mihalache, interim head of the EP Information Office in Romania, at the launch of the raising awareness campaign.
She stressed that, as it is designed, the campaign will be ” politically neutral ” and will be accompanied by a video presentation available for all the Member States.
“It is nonpartisan. It will highlight, as I said, the impact of Parliament’s decisions on daily life, but will not be involved in any way in the campaigns that the European political parties and the national parties will conduct in their countries and at the European level “, said Madalina Mihalache .
The main message of the campaign, she added, is to highlight the difference from earlier stages of EP’s activity.
” Namely, that we are in a much different context than in previous years, we are in a situation when the Parliament has more powers after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and we also find ourselves in a situation in which the Parliament wants to make this connection between voting and the appointment of a new president of the European Commission”, the head of the EP Information Office in Romania pointed out.
Madalina Mihalache emphasized that the results of a Eurobarometer survey show that the citizens of Europe have answered favorably to the question of their participation in the ballot for the EP elections, 55 percent of them, should they know in advance who are the candidates for the presidency of the European Commission.
The campaign will have four stages. The first stage is carried out under the slogan “Act. React. Decide” and plans to explain the new powers of the European Parliament and how it influences the inhabitants of the EU.
The second stage, carried out from October to February 2014, will be centered on five major themes—economy , quality of life, jobs, budget and the use of European Union money, as well as the EU in the world—through some interactive events held in the cities of Europe.
The third stage, the election campaign itself, will begin in March and will focus on the election date—May 22 to 25. These data will be added on the logo as the elections draw closer. At this stage it is expected that the European political groups will announce their candidates to the Presidency of the EC .
After elections, in the final stage, which will last from late May till November 2014, the focus is set on the new European Parliament, on the election of a new president of the European Commission and on the inauguration of the new Commission.
The campaign will cost 16 million euros at the European level, funds distributed to the 28 Member States, Madalina Mihalache noted.
Since December 1, 2013, a page will be opened on the European Parliament website referring to this information campaign.
The European Parliament has launched in Strasbourg, on September 10, 2013, the institutional information campaign for the European elections, which will take place on May 22-25, 2014. AGERPRES
