Three easy steps to make British public love the EU

15Oct10

There’s a lot of moaning in Brussels on how the EU doesn’t get good coverage. Or how people don’t know enough about it (watch this interview).

The Solution

What the EU really needs is just country-specific PR.

Let’s take for example the UK. Let’s take the simplest approach and look at hot trends in Google this year. And there we have it, what the UK public really cares about: football, facebook, 4od (watching TV online) and Big Brother.

Step 1

How about having a football match will all the member states and calling it something like Euro Cup. Oh, it’s been done already? Bloody brilliant!

Step 2

Facebook is a bit tricky. Wish some European would have come up with that… Damn Zuckerberg or whoever he stole it from.

But maybe instead of having a Strasbourg plenary session, we should have a facebook week. Have the plenary session on facebook. Not only would it increase transparency, it would cut down costs and all those MEPs would finally shut up about having to go to France every month. Win-win I’d say.

Step 3

Watching TV online could easily be combined with Big Brother.

Let’s put the Commissioners into one floor of the Berlaymont for one week and cut off all connection to the outside world. They then have to come up with the next EU budget (or as we in the biz like to call “financial framework”). Then just watch the magic unfold in front of your eyes in real-time, online.

And there you have it, tools how you make the EU media-sexy. If that doesn’t have the British public frothing at the mouth, I don’t know what will.

Or we could accept the fact that it’s a massive legislation machine that rarely comes up with anything of interest to anyone who doesn’t already drool when words like acquis communautaire, sui generis and free drinks reception are thrown around.

Either way is fine by me.

Filed under: UK & the EU   |  4 Comments
Tags: British public, EU, media