Roxburgh's Europe: September diary

Angus Roxburgh resumes his monthly diary - a wry and personal view from Brussels on events in the EU.

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Schools back. EU Commission back. Traffic back on the Schuman roundabout, at the heart of Brussels' European district.

And, yes... Romano Prodi back, reminding everyone that, whatever other qualities a president of the European Commission needs to possess, communications skills are paramount - something apparently overlooked by the EU's 15 leaders back in 1999 when they chose the Italian economics boffin to be the public face of Brussels.

Here is an unedited extract from an interview Mr Prodi gave to the BBC in the aftermath of Sweden's vote against joining the single currency. It was put to him that the EU had failed to improve its relations with its citizens.

He replied:

"Give time. Give time. And the general structure of the union, as the Estonian referendum, all the eight referendums, showed, is so big, so strong, is also emotional, but, of course, um, in Sweden, er, probably the fear of losing identity, the idea that the welfare state is a unique Swedish say prerogative or is better in Sweden anywhere else, all this, it helped to say no, you know, but as general view."

It's a PR disaster that could have been avoided. Some time after Prodi was made president, his coterie of advisers - aware of the grim reality of his appearances before the media - appointed a former BBC journalist to coach him in the art of television and steer him wherever possible away from such interviews, especially in English.

Where on earth was she this month?

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Auditions for president?

Anna Lindh: Remembered for her tenacity and charm

It would be cruel to contrast, of course. But since we're talking about commissioners and communicators, here's an extract from Chris Patten's funeral oration a few days later for Anna Lindh, the murdered Swedish foreign minister:

"I witnessed Anna battling away with tyrants... and cynics... and bullies, on issues of human rights and democracy which others would too often tiptoe past. She made her point tenaciously, while her charm invariably contained the fallout."

Sheer poetry! Next time round, maybe the 15 - or rather, the 25 - EU leaders should hold auditions for prospective candidates for the presidency of the Commission.

"You have three minutes to improvise on the subject of... Qualified Majority Voting!"

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MEPs' electoral angst

Down the road at the European Parliament, there are pre-election jitters.

Yes, I know the election is still eight months away, but the memory of the last one still haunts the glittering plate-glass chambers in Brussels and Strasbourg.

In 1999 less than half of registered voters participated - including Britain's magnificent 24% and the Netherlands' 30%.

For next June's vote, millions of euros have been allocated for an "information and communication programme" aimed at boosting what could be an even lower turnout than last time. Much of the cash is allocated to improving relations with the media.

The shuttle to Strasbourg is a sacred cow in some French circles

But how do you do that? This month more than 50 parliamentary officials and communications experts decamped to a chateau south of Brussels for a seminar on PR and "optimising interactive communication with citizens".

I hereby declare an interest. I was one of the media experts called upon to give advice, and can testify that there was a lively debate, and a rather good lunch with some fine wines.

My suggestion was that the European Parliament could instantly improve its image if it stopped the ridiculous practice of moving hundreds of MEPs and officials to Strasbourg for four days every month, and if MEPs gave up their lavish expense accounts. But it was shot down by the representative from Strasbourg, who harrumphed his way, in a very Gallic fashion, right through my presentation and even, I think, through the lunch and fine wines.

A few days later, lo and behold, there was yet another all-day conference - on "European public opinion and the 2004 European Parliament elections" - with experts flown in from far and wide to advise on the holy grail of voter turnout.

At this rate the entire budget is going to be used up months before most voters are even aware there's an election coming.

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Eurostat and the EU pigsty

MEPs themselves did their best this month, of course, to generate interest in what they do, by cranking up suspicions about skulduggery in Eurostat and baying for the resignation of some EU Commissioners.

What they may have forgotten is that the 1999 election took place precisely at the peak of the scandal that brought down the Santer Commission. Newspapers were full of how MEPs had finally shown their mettle, and how the directly elected representatives of the European public exercised democratic control over the commission.

The result? The lowest ever turnout in the history of European Parliament elections. Most voters, it seems, didn't distinguish between the good guys and bad guys. The message they got was just that Europe generally was a pigsty.

Clearly a few more seminars are called for - and elocution lessons for Prodi. Then the public will get it right.