The European Parliament is to spend almost £2 million on press monitoring and trawling Eurosceptic debates on the internet for "trolls" with whom to debate in the run-up and during euro-elections next year amid fears that hostility to the EU is growing.
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| The European Parliament fears that hostility to the EU is growing Photo: Reuters |
Key to a new strategy will be "public opinion monitoring tools" to "identify at an early stage whether debates of political nature among followers in social media and blogs have the potential to attract media and citizens' interest".
Spending on "qualitative media analysis" is to be increased by £1.7 million and while most of the money is to be found in existing budgets an additional £787,000 will be need to be raised next year despite calls for EU spending to reflect national austerity.
"Particular attention needs to be paid to the countries that have experienced a surge in Euroscepticism," said a confidential document agreed last year.
"Parliament's institutional communicators must have the ability to monitor public conversation and sentiment on the ground and in real time, to understand 'trending topics' and have the capacity to react quickly, in a targeted and relevant manner, to join in and influence the conversation, for example, by providing facts and figures to deconstructing myths."
Training for parliament officials begins later this month.
Paul Nuttall, UKIP's deputy leader, has attacked the proposals, which he said, violate the neutrality of the EU civil service by turning officials into a "troll patrol", stalking the internet to make unwanted and provocative political contributions in social media debates.
"Spending over a million pounds for EU public servants to become Twitter trolls in office hours is wasteful and truly ridiculous," he said.
"It strikes me as bizarre that the EU administration is playing such an explicitly political role with a brief to target Eurosceptics - that's code for parties like Ukip, and this is hardly neutral."
A confidential document discussed by officials last week appears to acknowledge problems by admitting that "there are fine lines separating institutional and political communication".
Parliament officials declined to comment on the confidential documents and ongoing private discussions within the EU assmbly's administration.
A confidential document entitled "political guidelines for the institutional information and communication campaign" was agreed by the parliament's administrative "bureau" last July.
The text highlights a "sharp contrast" between "growing perception of endangered welfare, rising insecurity and financial instability" and EU promises to guarantee "freedom, security and social justice with a prosperous internal market".
"The current economic and financial crisis together with high rates of unemployment, particularly among young people, is resulting in diminished trust in European institutions by citizens... it is evident that the EU's image is suffering," the document said.
"In order to reverse the perception that 'Europe is the problem', we need to communicate that the answer to existing challenges... is 'more Europe' not 'less Europe'."
Parliament officials are especially worried that new powers for MEPs under the Lisbon Treaty have not been reflected in growing popularity, as voting turnout for the parliament has declined successively since the first direct elections 34 years ago.
"The increase in power has met with increased influence, responsibility and transparency which should be reflected by enhanced visibility, credibility and a better reputation," said the document.
"Beyond the indisputable success story of European integration, the public's image of the EU and that of the parliament is rather lacking, as represented by the steadily declining election polling figures since 1979."
This year MEPs are to increase spending on promoting themselves ahead of European elections next year even as EU countries face an unprecedented period of fiscal austerity.
Spending includes a £9.4 million instalment for a controversial new museum of Europe, an £82 million "House of European History" opening in 2015 to celebrate the EU's "historical memory" and to "promote awareness of European identity".
Under the spending plans, cash for "seminars, symposia and cultural activities" will swell by 85 per cent, £2.5 million. Expenditure on "audio-visual information" will rise by 36 per cent, or £4.3 million.
There will be 15 per cent increase in funding for the EU's political parties, such as the European People's Party (EPP), and spending on the parliament's hi-tech visitor, centre the "parlamentarium", will increase by nine per cent.
source: uk telegraph
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