Improving the visibility of cohesion policy has become a major priority in recent years. Every year Cohesion funding supports thousands of projects across Europe, embodying the most tangible manifestation of the EU on the ground. More effective communication of these interventions would help boost awareness of the benefits of the EU to people’s lives and improve the public image of the Union. In fact, a number of research studies have found evidence that Cohesion Policy has a positive influence on citizens’ attitudes towards the European project.
With this in mind, Member States and the European Commission have committed to stepping up efforts in communicating the cohesion funds, including through more cooperation. In its conclusions of 25 April 2017 the Council made a plea to all involved authorities in Member States to engage more in communicating “widely and in a systematic way” the opportunities, results and impact of the policy.
This is at once a duty and an opportunity.
A duty because Member States are jointly responsible for the design – and in most instances for the implementation – of EU policies and should thus contribute more to their visibility. Communicating Europe must be a joint responsibility, shared between European, national and local institutions. All the more so in the case of cohesion policy where the principle of shared management applies.
It is an opportunity because improving the visibility of EU funding achievements would also benefit the reputation of national and local institutions as they are ultimately in charge of delivering the programmes.