Perception: EU Politicians are not people friendly

Perception: EU Politicians are not people friendly
A Europe House Report

With more and more Europeans complaining about knowing very little about the new European Constitution, a recent investigation by Europe House showed that one of the causes might be that most European politicians are not very people friendly.

Even though most European politicians, and in particular those at the European parliament have an e-mail address, this e-mail address is usually difficult to locate and not easily accessible by the public they serve.

What is even more disturbing, say some of the people who tried contacting their local politicians serving in the European parliament on-line, is that after making a considerable effort to find their e-mail address, most of their messages do not get answered or even acknowledged.

The situation is not much better when it comes to the local member state government civil servants. The number of heads of state or ministers who have their e-mail address listed on their national websites is just about non-existent.

Our investigation showed that most EU member state governments websites usually only provide a clickable information or comments section. These electronic mail forms do not identify where your e-mail message is going to, or if you will ever get a response to your question. In that respect, we Europeans can learn from America. Every politician and public servant in that country, including the President is easily accessible by e-mail and you will usually get a response.

There are exceptions to the rule in Europe. Mr. Heinz Fischer, the President of Austria has his e-mail address on the Austrian Website (Heinz.Fischer@hofburg.at) and can be contacted by anyone.

Instead of blaming Brussels for doing a bad job at informing the people of Europe on their future, EU politicians should do a better job at opening communications with their own constituents and become more transparent.

Everyone will benefit. RM