On 20 March 2014, the Foundation organised its 11th European Dialogue on the campus of the University of Lausanne in partnership with the magazine L’Hebdo from French-speaking Switzerland. The Dialogue focused on Europe and the media, a highly topical theme on the eve of the European elections. A large audience of about 300 people attended. The Dialogue was filmed in its entirety (see the different sequences below).
• Dialogue programme (only in French)
José Maria Gil-Robles, President of the Foundation and former President of the European Parliament, opened the Dialogue and introduced the other speakers: Alain Jeannet, Editor-in-Chief of L’Hebdo, Roger de Weck, Executive Director of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), and Thomas Klau, Director of the Paris office for the think tank European Council on Foreign Relations.
Sylvie Goulard, Member of the European Parliament, was unfortunately forced to withdraw, being involved in an “end-to-end” negotiation concerning the European banking union project. However, it did send an audiovisual message, much appreciated by the public, which takes precisely this banking union project as an example to show the difficulty often encountered by the media in dealing with European affairs.
Paul Collowald, former Director General for Information at the European Commission and then the European Parliament, agreed at the earliest opportunity to join the panel to participate in the debate between the speakers. Earlier, he had already agreed to a filmed interview for the Foundation in which he reviewed his professional experience within the European institutions. It also discusses the role of the media in informing the public about European issues and in creating a European public space (the interview can be viewed in its entirety at the Foundation).
Alain Jeannet then presented the theme of the Dialogue, referring at the outset to the crisis in Ukraine and the vote of 9 February 2014 in Switzerland. He proposed to address several questions: are European affairs well covered by the media? Why is the European press more interested in what is wrong with Europe? Is there a European media space or is it still fragmented at national level? What are the implications of new digital technologies?
Opening of the Dialogue and message from Sylvie Goulard
In his speech, Roger de Weck presented the European Union as a “compromise machine”, complex, repetitive, sober, rational, without stars or surprises, without much decorum, and always in search of a new political form. This is why the media is a handicap for the European Union, which is more alert to conflicts and controversies, favours news that is quickly renewed, tends to solicit emotions, prefers large decorums and accomplished forms that are more easily understood.
Intervention by Roger de Weck
Thomas Klau has endeavoured to show the limits of this beautiful “compromise machine”, in particular by stressing that its democratic legitimacy is not equal to the powers exercised at this level. There is a perception by European citizens of democratic dispossession. In comparison with Switzerland, which is also characterised by its ability to create consensus and compromise, the referendum “valve”, which plays its full role in Switzerland, is missing at the European level. The alternative for the European Union would be to go to the end of the logic of a parliamentary political system and therefore of the politicisation of the European Commission. Now in the middle of the ford, the European Union will one day have to choose its way: parliamentary system or “Swiss style” system. Thomas Klau also mentioned the difficulties faced by the press in general in producing quality journalism due to a growing lack of resources.
Statement by Thomas Klau
Debate moderated by Alain Jeannet and José Maria Gil-Robles, with the participation of Roger de Weck, Thomas Klau and Paul Collowald
Conclusions by Alain Jeannet and José Maria Gil-Robles