WHY IS THE COMMUNICATION OF COHESION POLICY IMPORTANT? The policy context for the COHESIFY project Professor John Bachtler , EPRC, University of Strathclyde COHESIFY Final Conference, Brussels, 26 April 2018 The COHESIFY project (February 2016-April 2018) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 693127 1
1 TRUST AND IMAGE OF THE EU 2
DOES THE EU CONJURE UP a positive, neutral or negative image? Source: EB 88, Autumn 20017 http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/81148
HOW MUCH TRUST do citizens have in institutions? Source: EB 88, Autumn 20017 http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/81148
2 POLITICAL DIVISIONS WITHIN MEMBER STATES 5
THE CHALLENGE OF COMMUNICATING COHESION POLICY “In spite of huge EU investment, which forever changed the face of thousands of EU communities, there are still many people across the Union who remain unaware of what we do and what we achieve. Even worse, polls show that a too large share of EU citizens has doubts on the Union's ability to address their concerns ; on its ability to deliver on our Forefathers' promise to live, grow and progress together." Commissioner Creţu, April 2017 7
COHESIFY OBJECTIVES 1 To assess the impact of EU Cohesion policy on citizens’ perceptions of & identification with the European Union 2 To investigate how effectively the results of Cohesion policy programmes and projects are communicated to the citizens 8
COHESIFY RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1 How European identity and perceptions of the EU & Cohesion policy vary at national, regional and local levels 2 The impact of Cohesion policy on citizens’ perceptions of the policy and identification with the EU 3 Whether and how Cohesion policy communication strategies affect perception and identification 4 What is needed to make Cohesion policy more effective in terms of people’s perceptions of the policy and the EU more generally 9
CASE STUDY REGIONS
OUR AGENDA FOR TODAY: Three questions 1 What do citizens think about Cohesion Policy? 2 What are the media narratives? 3 How to reconnect with citizens? 12
john.bachtler@strath.ac.uk The COHESIFY project (February 2016-April 2018) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 693127 13
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