Public diplomacy is a dynamic process of engagement which can help to ensure that the best of EU’s policies are known overseas and, if properly connected into the policy making mechanism can help produce better policy.

Source: TI International

Source: TI International

Former MEPs and their assistants as well as experts from political groups and the EP secretariat are attractive hires for organisations that seek to influence the legislative process of the EU. They often bring a wide professional network and insider experience. MEPs also come with an access badge to the European Parliament that is valid for the rest of their life. The number of MEPs and staff leaving the European Parliament in search of new employment opportunities has been increasing quite significantly over the years.

The Netherlands holds a parliamentary election on March 15. There are 28 parties competing in a volatile political environment.

LONDON

ABC

• Joseph Simonetti, Assignment Editor

Associated Press

• Gregory Katz, Acting Bureau Chief

Bloomberg News

• Emma Ross-Thomas, London Bureau Chief (Print)

CNN

• Thomas Evans, London Bureau Chief
• Christiane Amampour, Chief International Correspondent
• Nic Robertson, Senior International Correspondent

Fairchild Publications

1. The EU needs a fundamental re-balancing of its public diplomatic offer and a larger investment in it.
2. The EU does not pay enough attention to the way that stories are received in the U.S. The main way to engage with mass audiences in the U.S. is not through Embassies on the ground, but by working through U.S. correspondents in EU capitals, primarily London, Paris, Berlin and Rome.
3. The EU needs to change the tone of public diplomacy - so that it is less about winning arguments and more about engagement.

The key question to address is what the European Union is capable of achieving in the field of public diplomacy, and what is appropriate for EU actors and representatives to do. There is no question that the European Union has enormous public diplomacy potential – the combined ‘infopolitik’ might of the 27 member states and the Commission are formidable.

The visit of Mr. Pence to Brussels and the absence of press conference, replaced by brief appearances presenting statements clearly indicates that there is not much of a clear understanding about the new administration’s views of the EU except for the reality that President Trump is fixated on certain things, like trade and jobs and America’s place in the world.  

" A Worried Europe Finds Scant Reassurances on Trump's Plans" (Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 19 February): "They came from all over — diplomats and generals, policy experts and security officials — seeking clues to President Trump’s ideas and intentions. They left without much reassurance.

Author : Peter Vanderwicken is editor of Vanderwicken’s Financial Digest, a newsletter for financial executives, in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Previously, he was a journalist at Time, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal and the head of corporate communication at J.P. Morgan & Company. A version of this article appeared in the May-June 1995 issue of Harvard Business Review.

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