Brand: eu

The European Union starts a new, centrally organized campaign towards its citizens. Nicomarket, an anti-smoking campaign, should stimulate its citizens to stop smoking. In August the EU also organized a campaign, then about obesity (gu). Central communication stimulates bonding. By communicating as one, as the European Union, its citizens get a collective subject of conversation. A conversation that unites the citizens. Although the effect of this type of campaigns is questionable, they do contribute (a little bit) to the European unification and the feeling of oneness. It might also contribute to people feeling more ‘European’, and less ‘German’, ‘Polish’, or ‘Portuguese’. And all these little bits later, in many decades, will contribute to a strong Europe, after which the process will continue on a world scale.

The European Commission has its own channel on video sharing site YouTube: EUTube. This channel provides videos about the most important issues for the residents in the European Union’s 27 member countries, which are being addressed by the European Union. At the moment there are almost 50 video clips, covering various subjects: from historic pictures about the start of the European Union to contemporary concerns about environment, immigration, and the fight against global warming. Most of the content is in English, but there is room for French and German clips. Other languages will be added ‘if possible’ (ab, Dutch). This way European citizens get more involved with the European Union, their emotional barriers very slowly disappear, and Europe will start to feel like one country. A next step will be for Europe to ask its citizens to translate content. Or to provide content. Very, very slowly, in very small steps, everybody will feel like a world citizen in the future. But that will take at least another fifty to one hundred years.