(December 7, 2023 – MUST & Partners)
Speaker:
- Jaume Duch Guillot, Spokesperson, European Parliament
Moderator:
- Matteo Albania, Director of Communications, MUST & Partners
Jaume Duch Guillot, Spokesperson of the European Parliament started by talking about the current campaign for the 2024 European elections on together.eu with the well-constructed video which is part of the pre-campaign. To reach people, the video had to be impactful, and for that, they had to create emotions. The aim was not only to repeat, but to also enhance the This Time I’m Voting campaign of the 2019 European elections, to promote information and participation with a campaign that people can share.
The turnout of the European elections increased for the first time in 2019. The question is what will happen in 2024. Duch Guillot declared that there are some indicators in the 2023 Autumn Survey of Eurobarometer. According to him, the two most interesting figures are about the interest in the elections and the likelihood of voting if the elections were to be held next week – both of which has increased. The importance of advertising the date came into focus when Duch Guillot jokingly added how many people just “forget” about the elections. To the issue whether the greater interest is linked to the increase in the number of people with anti-EU sentiment, he said that there seems to be a tendency of extremist parties getting more support, but he’s not convinced that the interest is due to that.
The topic of mobilizing younger generations was discussed as well. Duch Guillot expressed that addressing young people is the most challenging, because they tend to vote less than the average of the whole population. During the 2019 European elections, there was a surge in participation by young people, but that does not mean that there is no more work to be done in narrowing the gap. When adapting the messages to the youth, the European Parliament has to take into account that priorities, interests and fears are not the same in the Member States – so they have to adapt the messages to the different national realities too.
As Duch Guillot has already mentioned, they wanted to construct the campaign in a sharable way, using social media, like YouTube, Instagram and Tik Tok, even if the latter proved to be a difficult platform. He emphasized that content creators and influencers can be a “precious help” in spreading the information in this peer-to-peer exercise. Needless to deny how much visibility and credibility matter nowadays.
Talking about the elections, Duch Guillot agreed that political parties tend to campaign more on national topics – but there’s a European angle to most of them. He expects migration, climate change and economy to be the main issues in the upcoming elections and noted that the Spanish and Belgian Presidency both have the chance to spread more positive messages on migration. He thinks that the Green deal is going to be an important topic in Germany and Austria, and Schengen in Bulgaria and Romania.
In the age of AI, Duch Guillot could not walk past that subject either. According to him, AI could increase disinformation, but it could also fight it. The AI Act is going to be an important element forward, even if it might not go far enough. Duch Guillot highlighted how serious problem disinformation is, giving the example of the 2023 Slovak parliamentary elections, the 2016 US presidential elections and the 2016 Brexit referendum. He assumes that the fragility of European elections lies in its national level organisation. To fight discrimination, Duch Guillot shed light on the need for legislation, media literacy, fact checking (by creating a network of the media, NGOs and companies to exchange information and sources) and of course, information (being better at informing people).
Moreover, Duch Guillot addressed the issue of the transnational lists, which is still disputed, because not everyone sees the advantages. He thinks that it carries the risk of creating two categories: being elected by Europe vs. being elected by a section of Europe – which can have unforeseeable consequences. Being asked about the chance of electing the President of the European Commission directly, he’s sure that it’s not going to happen in the next five years. But the Spitzenkandidaten process is alive, even if it working out is questionable. In Duch Guillot’s opinion, it worked in 2014, because there was only one candidate, Jean-Claude Juncker with the majority behind him. However, it didn’t work in 2019, because there were three candidates with a minority behind each, and when the Council “checked the boxes” none of them seemed to fit. Duch Guillot admitted that the Spitzenkandidaten process might lose its credibility if it doesn’t work this time around either.
During the Q&A section, some other interesting topics have surfaced, like targeting expats during the European elections campaign. Duch Guillot stated that it is a civic duty which is working better now. DG JUST helps in targeting mobile citizens within the EU and the EEAS helps in targeting EU citizens in other countries.
To the question about the thin line between institutional and political communication, Duch Guillot replied that they recognize the ground limits from experience. He underlined that they are preparing the soil for political parties. Their task is to put on the stage for the actors and to convince the media of the importance of the elections.
Circling back to young people, it is worth to mention that the voting age was lowered to 16 in Austria, Belgium, Germany and Malta, and to 17 in Greece. But it will still be about informing people – Duch Guillot pointed out, remarking that it is what has to be done right to encourage young people to participate. He admitted that they could also use Snapchat as a platform, but it proved to be difficult as well. However, modernizing the way of voting could be a way of promoting voting, according to him.
To the question about holding special events in Ukraine, Duch Guillot noted that it is not relevant in the context of the European elections. Ukraine can be a topic though, like strategic autonomy – and how the US will act in Ukraine could be interesting too.
In reaching people who aren’t interested, Duch Guillot suggested using concrete examples like Erasmus or Schengen. But overall, he stressed that the media is fundamental for the visibility of the European elections and sparking interest in EU citizens.