European Parliament launches web TV in bid to beat public apathy

rajput49 · #1 18-09-2008, 10:28 PM

THE EUROPEAN Parliament (EP) yesterday launched its own webTV channel, providing live coverage in over 20 languages, in an effort to boost its image among EU citizens before next year’s euro-elections.

Launching the site, EP President Hans-Gert Pottering said: “As we approach the European elections of June 2009, EuroparlTV should be an excellent internet tool for citizens, especially young people, to keep themselves informed about the activities and decisions of the directly-elected European Parliament.”

Pottering noted that decisions taken by the EP, the only internationally elected parliament of its kind, had an impact on the everyday lives of almost 500 million EU citizens.

The online platform would be available 24 hours a day, providing better transparency and greater choice for people around the world interested in learning more about the EP.

Cyber surfers can stream live and archived material from parliamentary sessions and committee meetings in over 20 official languages of the EU, either provided as voice-overs or subtitles. Online visitors can access debates, analysis and interviews on EU affairs, while having the option of making their own voice heard, and even uploading their own content.

EuroparlTV is split into four channels, each directed to a different audience.

Your Parliament is aimed at those with a particular interest in politics at the EU level: informed citizens, industry groups, social partners, lobbyists, academics as well as those working in the EU institutions.

Your Voice was conceived for the general public, providing the possibility of featuring user-generated content.

Young Europe is aimed particularly at school-aged children, high users of the Internet and the European electorate of the future.

Parliament Live provides continuous coverage of live events in Parliament, notably debates in the plenary sessions, with a link to the audiovisual archives of previous sessions, as well as in the coming months, the activities of committees.

The EP has long suffered from voter apathy among EU electorates, despite the many efforts of its members to upgrade its image. The complex nature of the EU institutions and the Parliament’s role within that structure has not made their job any easier.

Most EU citizens remain unaware of the co-decision procedure that gives the EP power to adopt legislation jointly with the European Council, lending a more democratic face to EU decision-making in Brussels.

EP Vice-President Alejo Vidal-Quadras stressed that the EP “is committed to making its work as transparent and understandable as possible to European citizens. They have a right to know and be able to make sense of what happens in the Parliament that they have elected.”

Setting up its own web channel is seen as a cheaper alternative to launching a TV channel, and a more effective way of targeting tomorrow’s voters, European youth who increasingly look to the internet for news and information.

Another consideration was the direction technology is taking, in particular, with the convergence of computer and television technologies and the rapid spread of broadband.

An online platform also offers users the choice of material to watch and in their own language, creating a form of “democracy on demand”.

The annual budget for EuroparlTV is estimated at €9m. Users can access the site at EuroparlTV.

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