Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process

Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process 足 Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices 足

Project is financed by:

Podgorica, January 2013

Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process PUBLICATION Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process ­ Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices PUBLISHER Center for Democratic Transition VII Omladinske bb 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro Tel: +382 20 207 070, 207 071 Tel/Fax: +382 20 207 072 E­mail: cdtmn@t­com.me www.cdtmn.org FOR THE PUBLISHER Dragan Koprivica PUBLICATION AUTHOR Biljana Jovanović TRANSLATOR Amra Močević PREPRESS AND GRAPHIC DESIGN Bojan Tešić and Blažo Crvenica PRINTING Golbi print CIRCULATION 300 copies

Citing and using the material and information contained therein for not­for­profit publications or in public media, while for the purpose of informing the citizens, as well as the use thereof for other non­commercial purposes, shall be allowed upon a mandatory stating the source thereof and the copyright owner.

The use of the material for any other purpose shall not be allowed without a previous approval by the copyright owner (Center for Democratic Transition).

CDT shall not be held liable for any subsequent interpretation of the information published herein.

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................................5 MONTENEGRIN CITIZENS AND THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS ........................................................7 PART 1: THE STRATEGY FOR INFORMING THE CITIZENS ON THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS ­ the analysis and the examples from comparable practices ..................................................................9 1. Montenegro: Communication Strategy for informing citizens on the European integrations ..............................................................................10 1.1. First Communication Strategy for informing the public on the process of Montenegro’s accession to the European Union ............................................................10 1.2. Communication Strategy for informing the public on the European Union and the Montenegro accession preparations for the period 2010 – 2014 ................................................10 PART 2: CROATIA, BULGARIA, SLOVENIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, MOLDOVA ­ comparative experiences ..............................................................................................................................15 1. Republic of Croatia ......................................................................................................................................16 1.1. Partners and target groups – similarities and differences with regard to the Montenegrin Communication Strategy ....................................................................16 1.2. Providing information on the accession negotiations course................................................................17 2. Bulgaria – the campaign of informing the public on the EU integrations ................................19 2.1. Priorities during the campaign ..........................................................................................................................19 3. Republic of Slovenia ....................................................................................................................................20 3.1. Four components of the public information campaign ............................................................................21 3.2. Target groups ..............................................................................................................................................................22 3.2. Implementation, monitoring and evaluations of the Communication Strategy ............................23 4. Republic of Moldova ....................................................................................................................................23 4.1. Target groups ..............................................................................................................................................................24 4.2. Three categories of objectives and activities ................................................................................................24 5. Republic of Serbia ........................................................................................................................................28 5.1. Public opinion study ................................................................................................................................................28 5.2. Dialogue groups ........................................................................................................................................................29 5.3. Activities and means of communication ........................................................................................................30 5.4. Directions for enhancement and broadening of communication activities ....................................31 PART 3 : KEY POINT OF ANALYSISAN ­ a short summary and recommendations for enhancements in the communication process ........33 1.1. Implementation, monitoring, evaluation and financing ..........................................................................34 1.2. Opinion polls – starting point for formulating the Strategy ..................................................................35 1.3. Target groups ..............................................................................................................................................................35 1.4. Relationship with media and civil sector........................................................................................................36 1.4. Negotiation process and the question of referendum ..............................................................................38 INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................................39

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

INTRODUCTION In September 2012, the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) has started the project “Euphoria” aimed at emphasizing the importance of timely and objective informing of citizens on the European integration process.

As a part of the first phase of the project, a research has been conducted including an analysis of the Montenegrin Communication Strategy for informing the public on the European Union and the preparations of Montenegro for accession for the period 2010 – 2014, as well as a comparative analysis of similar communication strategies of the Republic of Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Bulgaria, with the overview of the overall public information campaign and the good practices from the region.

As an organization which has been involved in and has been actively following the developments regarding the creation and implementation of the Communication Strategy, the CDT believes that the Strategy has not come to life properly. The aforementioned research has resulted in recommendations aimed at providing our assistance in an attempt to finally make information process efficient. We believe that, at the moment, it is of crucial importance to provide citizens with objective information on the integration process, the benefits as well as the potential risks of joining the EU. The research has been supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had also helped the CDT last year to initiate the topic of transparency of the EU accession negotiations through analyzing the national structures for the EU accession.

The cooperation has continued in order to shed light on one of the most important segments of the European integration process ­ the relation towards the citizens during the process itself.

The latest opinion poll, conducted in September 2012, shows that the support for joining the EU has significantly decreased in comparison to the previous years and is now only 59.9%1. What presents a concern is, first and foremost, that the current decrease of trust in the EU and the reasons behind it have not been adequately analyzed. Taking into account the current economic crisis, the future of further expansion, and the messages coming from the EU countries as a response to the present situation in the European 1

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Union, it is understandable that the citizens are becoming skeptical towards joining the organization. On the other hand, they do not come across any information which could help them understand that the European integrations are a long足term and complicated process which might bring prosperity, but which also carries with itself certain risks.

In Montenegro there is no proper dialogue on the topic, no permanent source of objective information; there are very few Euroskeptics, or, in general, people who ponder on the intention of Montenegro to become an EU member, so oftentimes, it is the NGOs and the media which are on the forefront of the communication, but their activities are not sufficient.

This publication is aimed at informing citizens, as well as all interested parties, about the results of the research, and at opening a dialogue on the topic which is of extreme importance for Montenegro and its citizens.

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

MONTENEGRIN CITIZENS AND THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS IAlthough it faces long accession negotiations, the fact is that Montenegro is every day closer to the European Union. However, the question is, in addition to thorough reforms and harmonization of the legislation, whether sufficient attention is paid to providing objective public information on the European integration process.

As it has been stated above, the latest opinion poll, from September 2012, confirms the claim that the support for joining the EU has been significantly decreased in comparison to the previous years and is currently only 59.9%. Although the information itself is important, the question is how useful it can be for formulating the strategy to be used in communication with citizens in order to familiarize them more with the topic. Namely, there is no answer to questions like what it is that interests citizens the most about the European integrations; how informed they really are about the European Union, the Government plans and the documents passed during the integration process; are they aware of the accession’s advantages and risks; how much all of the above will affect their lives, etc. The list of important unanswered questions is long, and without the right data it is impossible to adequately start resolving the problem of insufficient information.

The citizens do not have realistic expectations when it comes to Montenegro joining the European Union and it is very possible that their dissatisfaction will continue to grow unless they understand what is happening and why it is happening. Of course, due to all the things mentioned above, there is a real threat that the support for joining the EU will significantly decrease in the later stages of the process.

The communication mechanisms between the political decision­makers and the public, when it comes to the EU integration process, are still not developed enough. In addition, the opinion poll results show that the citizens’ confidence in the key decision­makers is somewhere in the middle of the scale, which means that the public is rather divided when it comes to the issue and that a huge number of citizens still do not have enough confidence in these institutions. Besides, the pieces of information we hear every day, regarding the European integrations and the negotiation process, are being provided through the prism of politics and they do not contain the information that interests an average citizen the most, i.e. how is all that going to affect his/her quality of life.

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The question is how to approach the citizens and which information mechanisms would indeed be the most efficient ones? How to provoke interest, educate the public and incite the citizens to, instead of being passive observers, become active participants in the integration process?

All of the above leads to the conclusion that the process needs to be approached carefully and with a well­developed strategy based on a previously conducted research which would answer the questions what it is that the citizens need the most and how to approach them the best. The research has to provide an insight into the current level of knowledge and to identify the key problems and disputable segments of the process, according to the citizens’ perception.

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

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ctÜà The Strategy for informing the citizens on the European integration process ­ the analysis and the examples from comparable practices ­

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1. Montenegro: Communication Strategy for informing citizens on the European integrations 1.1. First Communication Strategy for informing the public on the process of Montenegro’s accession to the European Union The first Communication Strategy for informing the public on the process of Montenegro’s accession to the European Union was adopted in 2004.

Prior to formulating this Strategy no adequate opinion poll had been conducted to direct the strategy’s development. In addition, based on the document it was not clear how the communication with regard to certain target groups would be implemented. Also, the target groups which were characterized as the priority ones were not developed enough, while youth, groups sensitive to changes, local governments, etc. were left out of the Communication Strategy altogether.

Considering numerous changes and the dynamics of the process of getting closer to the EU, the need has emerged for a new, more complex document of this sort to enable defining clear information and public communication guidelines for the process of Montenegro’s accession to the European Union.

1.2. Communication Strategy for informing the public on the European Union and the Montenegro accession preparations for the period 2010 – 2014 The new Communication Strategy for informing the public on the European Union and the Montenegro’s accession preparations for the period 2010 – 2014 was adopted in 2010. The Ministry for European Integrations, which had had the jurisdiction over this Strategy, was later abolished ­ a negative step according to the Progress Report on Montenegro. Only one Action Plan for implementing such an important document has been adopted. Since the implementation of this document has become a jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affair and European Integrations, the strategy has been forgotten. In addition, since the formulation of the strategy, Montenegro has made significant progress in the integration process, which is supposed to necessarily lead 10

Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

to the revision of the strategy, but this Strategy has not even been able to properly come to life yet.

Regarding the objectives of the Communication Strategy, its main purpose is to raise awareness domestically on all the aspects of the EU accession process. In addition, the Strategy is aimed at contributing to better understanding of the rights and responsibilities accompanying membership in the EU, increasing the level of expertise in public and private organizations and institutions, as well as informing the international public on the Montenegro’s progress in adopting the European standards and values. The Strategy also has a series of concrete objectives with regard to providing reliable and comprehensive information, improving the quality of public debates, introducing to the public the responsibilities and obligations which the EU membership brings, raising the level of general and professional knowledge in various sectors, etc.

The Communication Strategy has four basic aspects – informing, educating, promoting, i.e. advocating, and mobilizing, which are related to key approaches in achieving the Strategy’s objectives. In addition, decentralization, flexibility and dialogue are stated as the key principles. Civil society organizations, but also all other relevant subjects, are recognized as partners with whose cooperation the strategy’s objectives could be more efficiently implemented.

The tone, the language and the messages in the Strategy are defined. Namely, it is prescribed that the tone of the Strategy should reflect realistic optimism, and that the messages have to be understandable to the target groups for which they are intended.

1.2.1. Action plans, monitoring and evaluation What is very important, but unfortunately not being implemented, is related to the action plans, monitoring and evaluation. Namely, the Communication Strategy prescribes adoption of annual action plans, which the Ministry of European Integrations, in cooperation with the civil society representatives ­ the co­signatories to the Memorandum ­ should prepare for every year. Monitoring and evaluation are supposed to be done by the Work Team which took part in the preparation of the Communication Strategy. It was also prescribed to conduct occasional opinion polls, as important indicator of successfulness of the Strategy’s implementation, but no opinion poll has taken place yet.

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1.2.2. Partners and target groups The Communication Strategy recognizes a number of partners which could contribute to more successful implementation of the Strategy’s objectives. Partners on two levels have been defined – in Montenegro (institutions, media, non­governmental organizations, private sector, academic community, local governments and organizations, religious communities) and on the international level (the European Union Delegation to Montenegro, embassies, consulates, private and cultural representative offices of the EU countries in Montenegro, international institutions and organizations, international foundations, foreign media).

The communication has been prescribed on two levels – national and international.

Three target groups have been defined on the national level – multipliers, i.e. the public opinion creators, the youth and the groups sensitive to changes.

On international level two target groups have been defined – the creators of international public opinion and decision­makers, and the general public in the EU member countries.

These are definitely important target groups, but in the Strategy there is no explanation on how the communication with them is to be conducted. In addition, the question is how much the Communication Strategy can be regulated by informing the public in the EU member countries about Montenegro and its European path. Maybe it is a better solution to focus more on the internal level of communication and use all partners on international level to successfully implement the communication, and to define the communication on international level as an attempt to promote abroad, as much as possible, the Montenegrin cultural and other values, along with the degree of progress with regard to the European integration.

The target groups mentioned in the Strategy have included a large part of citizens, but some important groups are still left out, while some other groups have not been subdivided enough.

For example, in the first group (multipliers) it is only stated that some target groups are educational institutions and local governments. These groups could be further subdivided in order to make it easier to create an action plan with concrete activities. The target group “educational institutions” could be expanded to include: elementary schools, high schools, researchers, university professors, high­school and elementary school teachers. The target group “local government” could be expanded to include: local administration and government, local politicians and civil servants working in local governments.

It is interesting to see that the communication strategies of both Croatia and Slovenia included libraries in the target group “multipliers”. This is certainly good practice, 12

Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

because, if they are adequately equipped and if they offer good quality content, libraries can indeed offer a lot when it comes to informing the citizens.

In addition, the Montenegrin Communication Strategy does not recognize the target group “minorities”, and the target group “youth” does not contain sub­groups “working youth” and “unemployed youth”. In the communication strategies of Croatia and Slovenia, in the target group consisting of people sensitive to changes, there are sub­categories: “people with lower level of education”, and “people who dropped out of school” respectively, as well as “housewives” and “people working at home” respectively.

Including these target groups in the Montenegrin Communication Strategy should be considered, because their needs definitely differ from the needs of the previously identified target groups, and there are also different communication channels which could be used to familiarize them more with the information.

1.2.3. Communication channels and forms The communication channels and forms are focused on the electronic media – television and radio, print media and Internet, public events, info­desks and info­centers, as well as personal contacts. Although these are indeed the key communication channels which may be used to reach the wider public and which represent the essential forms of communication, if the intention is to really achieve progress in providing information, the question is how much, since 2010, they have been used for the purpose. The lack of info­centers and info­desks, scarce TV and radio shows which in a good­quality and citizen­friendly way discuss the topic of European integrations, the non­existence of a website with all information on the European integrations ­ all of that indicates that a lot still needs to be invested in order for these communication channels to really provide an adequate response to the challenge of providing information.

Non­governmental organizations lead the way when it comes to informing the citizens on these topics, but their projects are mainly directed at younger population, especially students. The question is – how to reach the wider public, especially the part of it that is hard to get interested in citizens’ activism.

1.2.4. Informing the public on the course of negotiations The part related to informing the public on the course of negotiations for the EU accession is covered on only one page of the Communication Strategy. This is logical if 13

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we take into account that the Communication Strategy was written in 2010, at the time when it was unclear when the negotiations would start. What is not logical is the fact that the Strategy has not been revised yet when it comes to that part. This area deals with what indeed is the most important thing to provide to the citizens in order to bring the negotiation process closer to them, but now it would be necessary to dig deeper into the topic and define constant mechanisms of communication with the public in order to ensure that all information on the accession negotiations is timely and objectively communicated to the citizens. However, very little of what is stated in the Strategy has been implemented.

Namely, the press足conferences and the theme conferences dedicated to certain negotiating chapters, aimed at informing the public on the topic, are not being organized regularly, but only after a new development in the area. There is an obvious lack of good足 quality and regular public debates on TV and radio stations regarding the European integrations, especially the negotiations. The publications intended for the general public, especially the sector publications intended for special target groups, are still not available. Public discussions and various public events regarding the topic are scarce and usually organized, as it has already been stated, by non足governmental organizations.

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

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ctÜà Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Moldova ­ comparative experiences ­

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1. Republic of Croatia In 2001, the government of the Republic of Croatia issued the first Communication Strategy for informing the Croatian public on Croatia’s getting closer to the European Union. Since the situation changed a few years later and since the accession negotiation with the EU started in 2005, in 2006, the new Communication Strategy for informing the citizens and the Croatian public on the EU and the preparations for membership has been adopted. The key objective of the Croatian Communication Strategy includes full and timely meeting the information and communication needs of the citizens, so that they, based on good information and full understanding of the facts on the EU and the accession, could shape their own views.

The tone, the language and the message in the Strategy are similar to those in the Montenegrin Strategy – rational and moderate approach; the language suitable and understandable for the respective groups; and clear messages appropriate for the issues and requests being addressed.

1.1. Partners and target groups – similarities and differences with regard to the Montenegrin Communication Strategy Regarding the partners recognized to be the key ones in the process of informing the public, the Montenegrin Communication Strategy includes a more detailed list in comparison with the Croatian Communication Strategy, because the partners on the international level were not included in the case of Croatia.

When it comes to the key target groups, the Croatian Communication Strategy is somewhat different from the Montenegrin one. Namely, the target groups identified by this Communication Strategy are: multipliers, i.e. the creators of public opinion, the youth and the groups sensitive to changes. As it has already been mentioned above, these target groups are somewhat wider than it in the Montenegrin Strategy.

In the first group ­ the multipliers ­ a special emphasis is placed on the local level (local politicians, local administration and self­government, local unions, associations, and groups) which is not the case in the Montenegrin strategy. In addition, the multipliers which are in the Montenegrin Strategy included under “religious community” are in the Croatian Strategy divided into “religious communities, the persons with religious titles 16

Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

and religious dignitaries”. A more thorough approach to target groups eliminates the possibility for certain members of a target group to be neglected.

In the Croatian Strategy the target group of youth (in addition to pupils, high­school students and university students) also includes the working and unemployed youth. This is very important, because this group of youth has different needs than the youth still in school or university, and therefore it requires a different approach.

With regard to the groups sensitive to changes, the difference between the Croatian and the Montenegrin strategy is that in the Croatian strategy this group includes also people who work at home and people who quitted their jobs. As in the previous case, these groups also require a different approach and should therefore be separately mentioned in the Montenegrin strategy as well.

1.2. Providing information on the accession negotiations course The part related to informing the public on the accession negotiations course is very similar in both strategies and it includes: organizing regular conferences, debates, public discussions, and other public events, creating a website intended for providing information on the negotiations, publishing publications, etc. The difference is that the Montenegrin Strategy states that it is important to establish interactive communication tools such as Web 2.0, info­ line, e­mail, etc., which is something that is definitely lacking in the Croatian Strategy.

Furthermore, the Croatian strategy states that it is necessary that the negotiating team prepares reports on the negotiation course, with special emphasis on the sensitive issues, and that the reports should be made available on the website intended for providing information on the negotiations. This is one of the key items lacking in the Montenegrin Strategy.

Although it is known that the negotiating process in Croatia was not transparent enough and that the negotiating positions were made known to the public only a few weeks before the referendum, it is of key importance to inform the public on the most important information regarding the negotiations. It would be good to regulate, by the Communication Strategy or some other document, the responsibility of members of the negotiating team and the work groups to inform the public about what exactly the accession negotiations mean and what the most important things are that the citizens should be aware of.

The part called “Providing information ahead of the referendum (campaign)” is very short and insufficiently elaborated. On the other hand, the Montenegrin Communication 17

Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process

Strategy lacks this important part completely. Therefore the revision of this segment of the Montenegrin Communication Strategy should also be considered and it should at least be noted that the part related to providing information ahead of the referendum would be subsequently added to the Strategy.

The Croatian Communication Strategy has two addenda. The first one included the already mentioned target groups, while the second one is related to the working tools.

Namely, just like in some of the strategies that we will discuss later, it lists tools that could be used to reach each of the sub­groups in the target groups, which represents a good practice and makes it easier to start creating action plans.

The part related to work tools, activities and approaches includes the list of the existing, as well as the new work tools, activities and approaches. However, the new work tools, activities and approaches should be more thoroughly explained, because, for example, the syntagma “strengthened cooperation” does not explain which actions exactly would be taken in a certain area.

As the analysis indicated, the communication strategies of Montenegro and Croatia are similar, but there are differences worth considering. The most important among them is the fact that the Croatian strategy deals with the negotiations more than the Montenegrin strategy, and this difference is the result of circumstances in which the strategies were written. Maybe it is now time for the Montenegrin Communication Strategy to be revised in that aspect and to have more attention paid to the mechanism of informing the public on the negotiation process itself, as well as on the referendum during which the citizens would be deciding on whether Montenegro will become a part of the European Union.

It should be emphasized that the Croatian Communication Strategy was facing criticism from the non­governmental sector. Namely, an analysis by the Croatian NGO “GONG” stated that the opinion polls conducted in Croatia in the period 2004 – 2011 had indicated that, due to the lack of systematic information providing, debates and dialogue on the EU accession, the confidence of citizens in the EU had gradually decreased, while the distrust towards the governing structures had risen. In addition, it was stated that the dissatisfaction had been expressed the most among the youth which was, according to the Communication Strategy, recognized as one of the key target groups.

Furthermore, in addition to the claims that not enough was done to communicate the negotiation process to the public, except when it comes to the youth (but then again only one part of the youth), the Communication Strategy also faced criticism for not being clear 18

Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

enough in the part about providing information to “the groups sensitive to changes”. In one of its parts the Strategy hints that members of this target group will be addressed as the group expressing euroskepticism, but it is not clear why pensioners, farmers and others in the group are considered to be euroskeptics. Also, it was stated that it was not clear whether the multipliers were individually defined at all; that the topic of the integrations was not sufficiently present in the media, although the importance of the media was especially emphasized in the Strategy; that the question of referendum was only partially covered, etc. However, one of the stronger criticisms of the Government was related to the fact that the Croatian negotiations had a closed character, i.e. the content of the negotiating positions was made public only a few weeks before the referendum.

2. Bulgaria – the campaign of informing the public on the EU integrations The Bulgarian EU Communication Strategy was adopted in 2002, aimed primarily at involving into dialogue all age and social groups, including those who have not yet been interested in the EU­integration process.

The Strategy’s target groups included the wider public, multipliers, the social and political institutions in Bulgaria and the EU member countries, as well as the public in the EU member countries. The implementation of the Strategy was based on four main principles ­ stimulating dialogue, respecting the principle of transparency, coordination with other programs implemented by the state administration and efficient spending of the available funds.

In order to achieve the Strategy’s main objective, the campaigns for raising public awareness, discussions, debates, conferences, workshops, and forums were organized, the websites for easier access to information regarding the negotiations were created (Evroportal, Euractiv) and info­centers were set up. The Communications Strategy was implemented as a part of the Action Plan 2002 – 2006 and through annual programs of work.

2.1. Priorities during the campaign 2In 2002, the priority was to create a decentralized network of contacts which could assist in the Strategy’s implementation. For that purpose, a network of more than 100 organizations (governmental and non­governmental, media, academic community, 19

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professional and business associations, experts, etc.) was established with the aim to ensure that the Strategy’s messages were clear and available to everyone, which is a great idea, because that kind of a system definitely facilitates passing of information and adjusting of messages for the target groups.

Since the citizens’ support for the EU accession was very high, in 2003 the Government decided to focus on the campaign’s international aspect. Numerous cultural events, exhibitions and promotions of Bulgarian art, music and cinematography were organized in the EU member countries in cooperation with the countries’ governments and organizations. In addition, certain government organizations were tasked to produce advertising and multimedia materials aimed at presenting the country’s contribution in various fields – economy, culture, tourism, etc.

The 2004 Program of Work was focused again on the national campaign. Although 2004 was a complex year for the European Union, due to the difficult debates over the adoption of the European Constitution, the expansion process, etc., the Bulgarian citizens’ support for joining the EU remained at a very high level. Therefore, the campaign was now aimed at presenting, in the best possible way, the benefits and the risks of future membership, in order for the citizens to have a realistic picture and realistic expectations.

The year 2005 was marked by signing of the Accession Agreement, which drew a lot of attention, both nationally and internationally. Providing information to the public on the final stage of the negotiations continued, as well as informing the public on what Bulgaria was about to face, as an EU member, in a number of important areas. The efforts were mainly directed at promoting the Accession Agreement and presenting Bulgaria as a truly promising member country in order to speed up the agreement ratification.

The Communication Strategy has ensured efficient mechanisms of communication and coordination between state institutions, local and regional governments, civil sector and media; it enabled the communication with citizens to truly come to life and it helped presenting Bulgaria in the best possible light to the foreign media, and getting the Bulgarian culture closer to the EU member countries.

3. Republic of Slovenia A very successful public information campaign on the European integration process and the accession negotiations was conducted in Slovenia and it was based on previously conducted research and a well­conceived communication strategy. The Slovenian 20

Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

Communication Strategy was only a part of a well­coordinated program aimed at raising public awareness on the European integration process.

The aforementioned program consisted of four components: opinion polls, co­financing of informative and educational activities of non­governmental organizations, cooperation with media and implementation of the Government’s Communication Strategy.

3.1. Four components of the public information campaign Opinion polls were conducted annually and were extremely important, because they provided an insight into the citizens’ views and their way of thinking regarding the EU issues, as well as the topics and events related to the integration process, which were in the focus of the public’s interest. In addition, the opinion polls also indicated that the support for joining the EU was decreasing as the citizens were getting more and better informed on the European Union, because they were becoming more aware of the membership’s negative aspects. However, despite that, implementation of the program continued in order to provide as realistic as possible picture to the citizens, so that they could be timely informed on the benefits, but also the potential risks of the accession, and that way to avoid disappointment and dissatisfaction in the later stages of negotiations.

With regard to the non­governmental organizations in Slovenia, in a document2 describing the information campaign, it is stated that they do not have a strong independent fund­raising tradition. An important step in the public information program was related to the co­financing and encouraging the NGOs to develop activities aimed at the communication about the most important and the most interesting issues with regard to the negotiations between Slovenia and the EU. It was not important whether the co­financed NGOs were “for” or “against” joining the EU. The accent was on quality and importance of the project activities.

The next aspect of the campaign was related to the cooperation with media. Since the media preferred an independent approach regarding the cooperation with the Government, the relationship development strategy was based on two approaches.

Namely, the Government organized and financed a number of seminars for national and specialized media in Brussels, as well as seminars for regional and local journalists in Ljubljana. In addition, the media were encouraged to systematically follow the EU events, the expansion process, the legislative harmonization, etc. Also, the Government provided 2

Informing the Slovene Public about the EU and Slovenian Accession 21

Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process

a material support to the media for giving more space to these topics through various columns, special shows, etc. The Government did not meddle in the editorial policies, but was only recommending possible topics, collocutors, etc. Since the approach produced significant results, the Government turned towards the media which had the most contact with certain target groups – e.g. farmers and rural population who were informed the least and interested the least in the European integrations.

The program’s main objectives, ideas, target groups and methods of communication were stated in the Communication Strategy, created in cooperation with a professional PR agent and a marketing agency, which definitely contributed to its higher level of efficiency.

In the first two years of its implementation, two key objectives of the Strategy were defined – to increase the interest of citizens in the EU topics and stimulate them to request information, and to establish a firm system of providing objective information.

3.2. Target groups Four target groups were defined, out of which the first target group members were at the same time recognized as both partners and a target group.

Namely, the first target group consisted of multipliers (politicians, government officials, media, business associations, trade unions, NGOs and interest groups, local governments, academic community and lecturers, libraries). It is interesting that this Strategy, just like the Croatian one, also stated libraries as multiplies, which is really a good idea, because, with the right incentive, libraries can and should become an EU info­center. The other target group consisted of the members of society who are sensitive to changes (farmers, rural population and “uninformed and unmotivated citizens” – retired people, housewives, unemployed people and people with lower education level); the third group consisted of the youth (pupils, high­school and university students), while the fourth group consisted of minorities (Hungarians and Italians and persons with visual and hearing impairments). Having minorities as a separate target group may be characterized as a good practice, due to their specific needs and areas of interest.

The information providing methods and tools were included for each sub­group in these four target groups. In addition, the Communication Strategy also contained a separate table which included target groups, as well as all their respective sub­groups, partners in the program’s implementation, key topics for each group, and the information providing methods and tools.

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

3.2. Implementation, monitoring and evaluations of the Communication Strategy The implementation of the Communication Strategy was primarily under the jurisdiction of the Public Relations and Media Office (PRMO), but both the Government and the ministries were also responsible for raising public awareness in their areas of work.

The PRMO worked in cooperation with the Government Office for European Affairs and the negotiating team. Outside the Government, one of the key partners was the Delegation of the European Commission and its Europe Center. Furthermore, the European documentation centers (universities in Ljubljana and Maribor), EU member countries’ diplomatic missions and cultural centers, as well as various interest groups with the EU info­centers were also recognized as partners in the implementation.

Naturally, among them were also the aforementioned multipliers who were, at the same time, the first target group.

The PRMO was in charge of monitoring and evaluating the Strategy, and it was envisioned for the Strategy to be revised and re­oriented in accordance with the specific needs that might emerge during the course of negotiations. The evaluation criteria, based on which the Strategy’s success would be measured, were defined, and it was envisioned for the strategic approach to be amended mostly depending on the data obtained through research and opinion polls. It is a very good practice to leave an option for revising the Communication Strategy based on the citizens’ needs and the changes in the integration process dynamics. That is the only way to have this document truly matching the actual needs of the society regarding this topic.

4. Republic of Moldova Although it might seem to us that Moldova is far from the European Union and that we cannot use its experience to enhance our procedures and practices, some useful aspects can be found in the Moldova’s strategy aimed at informing the citizens on the EU. In the period 2007 – 2010 a comprehensive campaign aimed at informing the citizens on the European Union was conducted in Moldova, since the general conclusion was that the citizens of Moldova really did not know much about the European affairs. It was defined for the campaign to be informative and educational, aimed at explaining, in a citizen­friendly and interactive way, the details about the EU and Moldova’s position as an EU member. Here 23

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as well, formulation of the Strategy was preceded by an opinion poll which indicated that the citizens were selectively informed, that a large number of them were not aware of the content of the most important documents about the topic and that they expressed a lack of interest regarding important aspects of the relationship between Moldova and the EU. What is very important is that, while initiating a huge project aimed at informing the public about the EU, the Government started defining potential risks which might emerge due to geopolitical, political and economic circumstances. This is a good practice, since recognizing potential risks on time enables easier solving of potential problems which could emerge.

It was very obvious that, if a good communication strategy is to be formulated, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive opinion poll which would provide answers to numerous questions and enable a good quality and precise defining of target groups, objectives and activities. Namely, it was emphasized that, in order to get the best quality answers, it was necessary: to regularly conduct opinion polls related to the Government’s priorities with regard to the EU and about various aspects regarding the EU; to do at least 100 interviews with politicians, business sector representatives, and prominent figures from the region; as well as to conduct an in­depth analysis of opinion poll results to cover all main areas regarding the process of the EU integration of Moldova (benefits, risks, information availability, trust in the EU institutions…).

It was determined that the general objectives of the Communication Strategy for the period 2007 – 2010 would be defined on the basis of a series of specific objectives, the key ones being: raising awareness of Moldova’s key priorities regarding the EU issues; increasing the level of knowledge, information and understanding about the relations between the EU and Moldova, the Action Plan of the EU and Moldova, etc.; stimulating relevant and effective dialogue on the topic; achieving that, by 2010, 75% of the citizens become aware that the EU integrations are Moldova’s key priority; making information on the topic available and inciting interest in obtaining information; involving decision­ makers in a dialogue; stimulating media involvement, etc.

4.1. Target groups It was decided that informing would be directed towards three primary target groups, i.e. the information conveyers (media, Government members, government offices, academic community, local government, libraries, student associations, business associations, etc.), the creators of public opinion (journalists, politicians, NGO 24

Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

representatives, etc.) and the general public (the youth, private sector, farmers and all those people who do not know enough about the EU­related issues). Although the target groups are not defined clearly enough, it is interesting that here as well libraries are awarded the role of an information conveyer. The novelty in comparison with previously discussed communication strategies is that student associations were recognized as a separate sub­group within the target groups, which is an excellent idea considering the fact that this sub­group can indeed have a significant role in the process of conveying information.

4.2. Three categories of objectives and activities It is also interesting that the objectives and activities were grouped into three categories: short­term (2007­2008), mid­term (2007­2009) and long­term activities (2007–2010 and beyond). This approach enables more realistic planning and more precise and better categorizing of activities.

4.2.1. Short­term activities The first short­term activity was related to enhancement of the Government Press Service. Namely, after discussions with media representatives and after hearing their complaints, it was concluded that the work of the Press Service was not on a satisfying level and that the information available on the Government’s website was either non­ existing or insufficient. A detailed plan for enhancement of the Press Service’s work was made and it included, inter alia, the process of professionalization and training for the Press Service officers both in the country and abroad, organizing individual meetings with journalists, organizing Government press­conferences regularly, inclusion of the Press Service into implementation of the Strategy, etc.

It is very important for citizens to get from their governments timely and good­quality information regarding the European integrations. When it comes to Montenegro, the fact is that the Government’s website is being updated with news items and new developments on regular basis. However, what is even more important than that, and something that is partially lacking in the case of Montenegro, is providing the citizens with clear information, in the sense of presenting concretely how a certain event will affect their lives and standards, how it will affect a specific area which is in the focus of their interest and what the potential risks of certain decisions are.

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The European integration Communication and Information Strategy of the Republic of Moldova has established, within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a consultative mechanism regarding the process of informing the public about the European integrations.

First and foremost, the Consulting Board has been established as an advisory body within the Department for European Integrations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integrations, and it was consulted during the preparations and the implementation of the Strategy for informing citizens about the EU. The Consultative Board consisted of the Consultative Council and two expert groups.

The members of the Consultative Council were representatives of state administration, as well as representatives of other relevant sides, from both private and non­profit sector, who convened ad hoc depending on the agenda or the provisions of the Council’s Statute and Regulations. The Council’s role was to take part in preparation, implementation and coordination of the Strategy.

As mentioned above, the Strategy prescribed forming of two expert work groups. One is a permanent working group consisting of communication experts, journalists, lawyers, sociologists, political analysts, representatives of relevant NGOs, political parties’ representatives, economists, representatives of academic community and interest groups, etc. Its task is primarily to provide feedback on the success of the Strategy’s implementation, the communication instruments used and the recommended solutions.

The other work group is established in coordination with the Delegation of European Commission to Moldova. This work group is tasked to review the Strategy’s content, identify possible sources of financing and adapt the Strategy to political developments and identified good practices.

4.2.2. Mid­term activities Mid­term activities were related to forming of the campaign visual identity and selecting the information means.

Right after that, the priority is to set up an integrated system for providing information about the European Union to be coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integrations and based on the following segments – an internet portal offering 26

Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

information about the EU, setting up of info­centers, free phone line, publishing of newsletters, knowledge and experts database, the EU library and distribution of educational material. A detailed plan has been made for how each of these communication channels is supposed to look like and function.

What is interesting, and what is lacking in Montenegro, is a plan of the Ministry of Foreign Affair and European Integrations to set up the Info­Center on European integrations enabling direct contact with the citizens. The Center is supposed to help in implementation of the Strategy, distribution of educational material, organizing of theme seminars, debates, etc.

An Info­Center of this kind would also be very useful in the process of informing the Montenegro citizens, because it would represent a center of activities and information in the area, a place where people could get information directly and be provided with educational material.

A database of experts would also be more than useful, because it would provide a quick access to these data, the institutions and the non­governmental organizations alike, whenever the need arises for an expert in the field of European integrations.

4.2.3. Long­term activities In the case of Moldova, the long­term activities are related to monitoring of media reporting on the EU topics in order to get an insight into the topics’ coverage and the way in which they are presented to the public. The analysis is supposed to include the image of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integrations and his ministry in the context of the EU integrations, effectiveness of the conducted activities which are a part of the communication strategy, media trends and perceptions in the area, etc.

In addition to the media content analysis, the training for civil servants was also planned, with special emphasis on the local level, in order for the Communication Strategy to be implemented properly.

In addition, there was a plan for the campaign which would include a research on the educational system’s relation towards the EU issues, workshops in schools, trainings for teachers, cooperation between educational institutions, etc.

It is very important that a special part of the Communication Strategy was dedicated to improvement of the EU topics media coverage. In addition to some standard ideas, such 27

Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process

as – improving the Government’s Press Service; placing the EU topics in a framework which would be interesting for the citizens; publishing publications, newsletters, etc. – some new solutions were also mentioned, such as – organizing of trainings and seminars for journalists in the country, in Brussels and in the EU members countries; organizing of informal debates with journalists on the EU­related topics, as well as engaging journalists directly into the integration process and implementation of the Communication Strategy.

5. Republic of Serbia The Communication Strategy on the EU accession of Republic of Serbia has been adopted in late December 2011.

One of the Strategy’s key objectives is to ensure the citizens’ understanding and support for all aspects of the EU accession of Serbia. In addition, the Strategy is supposed to raise citizens’ awareness about the accession process actually being of crucial interest for people individually, as well as for the society and the country as a whole.

5.1. Public opinion study In order to understand communication problems as much as possible, and have an insight into views, interests and the public’s general mood, the results of opinion polls (conducted and published twice a year by the Office for European Integration) were used in creating the Strategy. In addition, the results of four studies, conducted using the focus­ group method with eight participants each, were used, as well as the results of an analysis of the ways in which Serbia’s EU accession topics were presented and treated in the media. This is an excellent example of a serious and thorough approach to such a serious issue, because it is only through a detailed analysis revealing true needs that a strategy of communicating with citizens can be properly and effectively created.

The opinion poll has indicated that the citizens want to be informed about the advantages which the accession would bring them in daily life, but they criticize the fact that the information on Serbia’s EU accession is most frequently being presented in the form of news and using an unintelligible language in news programs. The main problem, as perceived by the citizens, is not the quantity, but the quality of information, and they have shown that they indeed do not know enough about the key aspects of the accession process.

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

In the opinion poll, the citizens were asked a number of questions regarding a possible referendum on the EU accession, the accession’s positive and negative aspects, the current image of the European Union, fears surrounding the accession, the reform­ related issues, the EU funds, etc.

In order to make it possible to accomplish the Strategy’s objectives, it is first and foremost necessary to inform citizens about the reforms which are to be implemented and their essence, and to explain to them that the reforms are actually the foundation for progress. In addition, the decision­makers should be prepared for the role which they will have in the negotiation process and the process of informing citizens about the European integrations. All in all, the opinion polls should provide a new context and a new approach to the information process and their main characteristic will be transforming the highly political topics regarding European integrations into the topics related to concrete interests of citizens and certain groups, which is actually the best way to encourage interest in the topic among citizens.

In Serbia as well the campaign logo has been made in order for the accession process to be recognizable and close to all target groups. It has been decided that the language to be used in the information process should be suitable for the message being sent and understandable to everybody for whom the information is intended.

5.2. Dialogue groups It is interesting that in the Communication Strategy of Serbia there are no target groups, but dialogue groups. It is stated that the reason for this is the fact that strategic communications nowadays are being accomplished in dialogue groups within which the views and preferences of target groups are being formed. Namely, each dialogue group has its own communication network and the way it obtains information, and it uses its own specific language.

As a part of the strategy, four dialogue groups have been identified, including: the decision­makers and multipliers, i.e. creators of public opinion; the youth, the groups sensitive to changes and the opponents to Serbia’s accession to the EU. The decision­makers and multipliers include state officials, civil servants and elected representatives, political parties’ representatives, media (editors and journalists), commercial sector/business associations, trade unions and civil society organizations. In 29

Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process

addition, there are also local government officials and local assemblies’ representatives, which means that the Strategy has recognized the importance of communication on a local level. This dialogue group also includes experts, university professors, high­school and elementary school teachers, which means that all educational cadre has been included, from elementary schools to universities. Religious communities and people with religious titles are also in this group, as well as diplomatic corps representatives from the EU member countries and the EU Delegation to Serbia. It is interesting that the multipliers in this dialogue group also include celebrities (actors, athletes, artists), which was not the case in any of the communication strategies discussed earlier.

The dialogue group “youth”, in addition to pupils, high­school and university students, also includes the working and the unemployed youth, which is a positive example that is not seen in the Communication Strategy of Montenegro.

The groups sensitive to changes include: housewives, pensioners, farmers and disabled persons. This Strategy as well lacks minorities as a separate dialogue group.

As already mentioned above, the last group consists of the opponents to Serbia’s accession to the EU. Since the opinion poll has shown that the opponents have various motives for their negative views and that they come from various segments of society, they have been placed into a separate dialogue group in order to be approached properly.

Recognized as the Government’ most important partners in the implementation of the Strategy are: media, civil society organizations, business sector, academic community, high­school and elementary school teachers, local governments, religious communities, the EU Delegation to Serbia and the embassies of the EU member countries.

5.3. Activities and means of communication First, it has been determined that internal communication maps “Arguments for Europe in Serbia” need to be made, aimed at having the tasks and responsibilities from the accession process transferred into a suitable communication framework, in accordance with the set goals and the key message.

Then, regular consultations have been marked as important activities. Organizing consultations on three levels has been planned. The first level refers to consultations between the Government’s Media Relations Office, the heads of PR Services and members 30

Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

of the Coordinating Body for Serbia’s accession to the EU. The second level of consultations should be taking place between the European Integration Office and the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Serbia in order to plan communication activities. Finally, the third level of consultations includes consultations between the European Integration Office and the National Assembly’s European Integration Committee. Although these formally defined consultations are of extreme importance for establishment of a well­organized information process, the process of consulting with the civil sector has not been formulated.

Finally, it has been decided to form a network of experts, similar to the experts’ database in Moldova, from all sector policies, who would provide expert feedback to the issues regarding the European integrations. Such a network would be a valuable, unified source of contacts from this area and would significantly make access to information easier for institutions, media, and citizens alike, as well as for anybody else needing the information.

5.4. Directions for enhancement and broadening of communication activities The Strategy also defines the directions for enhancement and broadening of communication activities, but also the new means of communication.

Regarding the training of journalists, the goal is to familiarize journalists with concrete effects of the European integrations and reforms on the citizens’ daily lives, as well as with the positive examples from the EU member countries, i.e. how the process affected individuals and individual social groups. In addition, the plan is to intensify communication with media and ensure that journalists regularly get information on concrete examples regarding the Serbia’s accession process to the EU. Organizing consultations on a quarterly basis has also been planned. In addition, the aforementioned network of experts is supposed to expand the number of possible expert collocutors for certain topics regarding this area.

Interesting events within the campaign are the exhibitions called “My Europe” with photographs and messages of typical representatives of certain dialogue groups on the effects that accession to the EU has on citizens’ everyday life.

Broadening of communication activities is related to strengthening of cooperation with local government units; creating various media events; engaging public figures in the process of conveying messages during the campaign; strengthening of cooperation with national and local media; strengthening of cooperation with religious communities; 31

Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process

organizing study trips for the youth, as well interest groups; conducting information campaigns for certain dialogue groups, as well as organizing an annual tender for the EU­related civil sector projects.

Regarding these activities, it is of extreme importance that the emphasis has been placed on the local level, through intensifying cooperation with local communities and local media. This is a very good way to make the topics closer to citizens, since in some municipalities citizens are limited to certain media and to local governments, so the probability of the intended information reaching them is thereby increased.

Besides, the campaign is supposed to offer young people the possibility to travel and familiarize themselves with both the EU institutions and the situation in the EU, as well as to get to meet young people from the EU member countries. This should enable young people to learn more about the way of life in the European Union, which would definitely strongly influence forming of their views.

The decision to organize tenders for civil sector projects is also positive, since the opinion polls have indicated that citizens have more confidence in non­governmental organizations than, for example, in political parties or the National Assembly.3 Therefore, since the NGOs are already active the most in informing citizens on the European integrations, such activities should be encouraged as much as possible, so that they could have good­quality content and be able to reach a large numbers of citizens.

The Strategy also mentions new means of communication, such as an internet portal on the EU, especially prepared “online content” contributions for other internet portals, the EU info­centers all around Serbia, and a free EU­info telephone line. These information means are necessary in Montenegro as well, and, although they have been prescribed by the Communication Strategy, they still do not exist.

The Communication Strategy on Serbia’s accession to the European Union ends with a table containing methods and means of communication corresponding to the already mentioned dialogue groups, which is very useful considering that it makes creation of the Action Plan a lot easier.

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http://cedem.me/sr/programi/istraivanja­javnog­mnjenja/politiko­javno­mnjenje/viewdownload/36­ politiko­javno­mnjenje/346­politiko­javno­mnjenje­septembar­2012.html 32

Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

3

ctÜà Key point of analysis ­ a short summary and recommendations for enhancements in the communication process ­

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Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process

The Communication Strategy for Informing the Citizens on the European Union has been adopted in 2010 without an expert evaluation of the previous strategy’s reach and action plans ­ without assessing what was bad and what was good in the previous strategy, what should be excluded and what should be more emphasized ­ and, most importantly, without conducting opinion polls.

1.1. Implementation, monitoring, evaluation and financing The Strategy prescribed making of annual action plans, which were supposed to be prepared for every year by the Ministry of European Integration, in cooperation with civil sector representatives, signatories to the Memorandum.

The CDT ­ which had its representative in the Work Team who was supposed to do monitoring and evaluation of the document ­ states that since then only one Action Plan (for 2010) was made, while the majority of the Strategy’s activities remained a dead letter. In 2011 and 2012, no annual Action Plans were adopted.

In addition, the funds have never been planned in the budget for implementation of the activities prescribed by the Communication Strategy, which speaks of the level of unprofessionalism in approaching the issue of providing information to the citizens. Good practices for this could be found in Croatia and Slovenia where it was considered a given to have financial support from the government for implementation of such important documents.

Since formulating the Strategy, Montenegro has made significant progress in the integration process and it is therefore necessary to start with its revision as soon as possible. In addition, a possibility must be left for further revisions in the future depending on the dynamic and the challenges of the European integration process.

After revising the Communication Strategy, good­quality and realistic action plans should start being created on regular basis and they should be based on specific needs of target groups and the EU integration priorities. It is essential to form a team, or a special body, to monitor the Strategy and take part in creation of action plans.

In order for the activities within the information campaign to be well­coordinated, it is necessary to organize regular consultations on several levels (Government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, civil sector, local government).

It is of key importance to ensure budget funds for implementation of activities and measures promoted by the Strategy.

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

1.2. Opinion polls – starting point for formulating the Strategy Without thorough opinion polls, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the Strategy cannot be formulated well.

These kinds of opinion polls were conducted in Slovenia and Serbia and they have helped both in recognizing the key issues and topics of interest for citizens and in finding the most adequate and for the citizens most understandable framework for providing information. It is interesting to mention that these opinion polls, which were one of the key and constant segments of the public information program in Slovenia, indicated at one point that the support for joining the EU was gradually decreasing as citizens were getting more and better informed, because they were becoming more aware of negative aspects of the accession.

However, despise that, the program in Slovenia continued to be implemented in order to provide as realistic as possible picture to the citizens.

The CDT believes that prior to revising the Strategy, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive opinion poll, with a series of specific questions, and, based on the results, to revise the Communication Strategy so that it could adequately respond to the citizens’ real needs.

After that, the EU integration and negotiation topics should be put into a framework which would be interesting, understandable and relevant for the citizens.

1.3. Target groups The target groups in the Communication Strategy are not subdivided enough, and some important target groups, such as minorities (ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, etc.) have even been left out.

If we refer to the good practices from the region, we will see that in Croatia and Slovenia libraries are recognized as a multiplier, i.e. a creator of public opinion, which is definitely justified, because if they are adequately equipped and if they provide good­quality content, libraries can indeed offer a lot when it comes to providing information to citizens. In addition, there is room in the Montenegrin Strategy to have multipliers, such as “educational institutions” and “local government”, and the target group “youth”, further divided into more sub­groups, in order for the Strategy to be as concrete as possible and in order to precisely define the methods of communication with all sub­groups.

One of the target groups in the Strategy of the Republic of Slovenia consisted of minorities (Hungarians and Italians, and persons with visual and hearing impairments).

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Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process

Having minorities as a separate target group can be characterized as a good practice which enables more attention to be dedicated to them, taking into account their specific areas of interest requiring adequate and expert approach.

Therefore it can be concluded that during the Strategy’s revision it is necessary to precisely identify multipliers and to form more sub­groups within the already existing target groups.

Namely, the already existing target group “educational institutions (at all levels)” should be subdivided into the following sub­groups: elementary schools, high­schools, universities, researchers, university professors, elementary and high­school teachers; while the target group “local government” should be expanded to include: local administration and local self­ government, local politicians and civil servants working in local self­government. Libraries should definitely be added into the target group “multipliers”, while the categories “working youth”, “unemployed youth” and “youth which has dropped out of school” should be added to the existing sub­groups within the target group “youth”. In addition, minorities should be added as a separate target group due to their specific interests. After that, the ways and means of communication with each group and sub­group should be precisely explained.

Also, it is necessary to revise the part of the Strategy related to the international level of communication, i.e. to focus more on the domestic level of communication and to use all international partners in order to successfully implement the communication. The communication on international level should be defined as an attempt to promote abroad the Montenegrin cultural and other values as much as possible, along with the level of progress in the European integration process.

It is of key importance to develop a plan for providing information on integrations locally and to organize trainings, on both state and local level, for civil servants who are in charge of the Strategy’s implementation, in order for the Strategy to be adequately and effectively implemented.

In addition, since the needs and interests of citizens vary a lot depending on the areas where they live, developing a regional approach, which would adequately respond to the population’s specific requirements, is worth considering.

1.4. Relationship with media and civil sector The Montenegrin Communication Strategy recognized media and civil sector as partners in the Strategy’s implementation and as creators of public opinion. However, the question is if that is enough.

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

For example, in the program of informing the public on the European integrations in Slovenia, one of the four key segments was related to co­financing and encouraging NGOs to develop activities directed toward communication on the most important issues regarding the negotiations between Slovenia and the EU. Another segment was related to cooperation with media, more precisely, to organizing and financing numerous seminars for media representatives who were encouraged to systematically follow the EU events and were financially motivated to allow more room for these topics through their columns, special shows, etc. Since this approach had produced significant results, the Government turned to media that are in contact the most with the target groups which were the least informed and the least interested in the European integrations.

Only a well­planned approach and a well­organized cooperation with clearly defined priorities can yield concrete results. A mere verbally expressed desire for cooperation and a few short sentences about the direction which the cooperation would take mean absolutely nothing, unless the ideas are developed through action plans and concrete steps taken toward their implementation. Without regular consultations with all participants in the process, without a detailed analysis of media coverage of the topics, without a sector approach with a clear plan of activities and without reaching agreements with the non­governmental organizations, the information process cannot be efficient and well­coordinated.

The CDT believes that it is necessary to develop a strategy of cooperation with media, which would be implemented in the process of informing citizens about the EU integrations, as well as to precisely define the ways for including media in implementation of the Communication Strategy.

It is also necessary to conduct an analysis of media coverage of the EU topics in order to get an insight into which EU­integrations topics were covered by media and how. That way it would be possible to get information about the topics that were insufficiently covered, about the ways in which important issues were presented to the citizens and which areas need to be improved. Media have to be stimulated to cover certain EU­related topics through organizing theme seminars and trainings for journalists, both in the country and abroad.

It is necessary to establish contact with experienced correspondents from Brussels who would, in cooperation with local journalists, initiate the topics related to the European integrations. Experienced foreign correspondents could help local media to select a source in Brussels or in the EU, by explaining the ways of obtaining information and, eventually, passing some of their experience, both positive and negative, regarding reporting about the European Union.

It is essential to incite journalists to systematically cover the EU events in concrete areas and to encourage them to give more space to certain topics related to the process through various columns, special programs, etc.

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Informing Citizens on the European Integration Process

Local media often follow developments in the European Union through trips of local officials’ delegations or through news agencies. It is maybe worth considering forming an office, within the Mission of Montenegro to Brussels, which would systematically and in a timely manner provide necessary information to journalists and which would be connecting domestic journalists with collocutors from Brussels or possibly from elsewhere in the EU. Regular consultations with media representatives are more than preferred in order to evaluate conducted activities, recommend joint solutions and enhance efficiency of the citizens’ informing campaign.

1.5. Negotiation process and the question of referendum Although the negotiations with the European Union have already started last summer, only a small part of the Communication Strategy is dedicated to this stage of integrations. This is logical if we take into account that the Strategy was written in 2010, at the time when it was unclear when the negotiation would start. However, it is not logical that the document has not been revised yet when it comes to that part. Namely, in the Strategy, the part dedicated to the negotiations deals with what indeed is the most important thing to provide to the citizens in order to bring the negotiation process closer to them, but now it would be necessary to dig deeper into the topic and define constant mechanisms of communication with the public in order to ensure that all information on the accession negotiations are timely and objectively communicated to the citizens.

The obligation to write and publish periodical reports about the negotiations course would help citizens understand the process better. Furthermore, as much as possible information on the subject should be shared with citizens via social networks (Facebook, Twitter) which have become an inevitable channel of communication.

In addition, a possibility of revising the Strategy, when the time for that comes, in terms of methods, priorities and citizen’s rights regarding the referendum on the EU accession, should be clearly emphasized.

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Analysis of Communication Strategies with Overview of Information Campaigns and Good Practices

INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION The aforementioned communication strategies from the countries in the region do not necessarily have to be something which Montenegro will unconditionally accept. Of course, like the Montenegrin one, those strategies have their good and lesser parts. What is important is to recognize good and useful practices which can help and make it easier to establish a good­quality relationship with citizens.

As already mentioned, in order for the Strategy to finally come to life, it has to be revised in accordance with the new requirements of the integration process and a thorough opinion poll, followed by regular and detailed action plans, as well as adequate monitoring, reporting and evaluation of conducted activities. There have to be funds in the budget which would enable a good­quality and timely implementation of activities and measures. Furthermore, only a well­planned and well­coordinated cooperation between all segments of society taking part in the process can lead an efficient process of informing the public.

This is an issue that needs to be approached very seriously, since it is the key foreign policy priority of Montenegro and it deals with the future of its citizens who, the way the situation looks like now, are not even aware where they are heading and what it is that they could expect on the path.

The CDT will continue informing citizens on the topic through debates and the TV program which will be implemented as a part of the project, and the results of studies will be published and made available to public. Hereby we invite citizens to use their right to be informed and become active citizens – to request information and answers to the existing dilemmas and ask questions about any aspect of the European integration process they would like to know about. We also invite all decision­makers and all participants in the integration process to join us in the effort to make the process the way it should have been from the very beginning – efficient, objective and coordinated.

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