UK Office of the European Parliament
Face to face with ... Ian Thomson, President, European Information Association
Ian Thomson is Mr EU Information in the UK. He is Manager, European Documentation Centre, Cardiff University, Consultant to the Enterprise Europe Network Wales, Executive Editor, European Sources Online (ES0), has been Director, South Wales Europe Direct Information Centre (SWEDIC) and also finds time to be President of the European Information Association and Chair of the UK European Information Networks: Steering Group
You have been dealing with European issues for quite a few years now, how and when did it all start?
‘Europe’ and ‘Information’ have been the two connecting threads of my entire working life (over thirty years now). After obtaining a first degree in Librarianship and International Politics and then a Masters in International Politics in the 1970s, I had a period as a researcher to Allan Rogers, one of the first of the directly elected MEPs from the UK. A fascinating time - especially as I felt he was somewhat Eurosceptic and I was more enthusiastic and occasionally I was asked to write his speeches! The experience also taught me that in addition to finding answers to questions in books, journals and documents in libraries, developing a network of contacts was often just as useful.It was also at that time that I started my first efforts to disseminate information about the EU. In July1980 I typed out on an old fashioned type-writer Issue Number 1 of European Access and distributed it to colleges in South Wales. From this developed thirty years of effort and initiatives to try and produce the ‘perfect’ European information service – I am not there yet but still trying.
Besides being active in Wales, you also give regular talks across Europe. Do you feel the EU is perceived differently in other countries? Do audiences ask different questions and do they respond differently to you as a speaker?
I train and talk to groups such as civil servants, journalists, students, European information network personnel and others on a regular basis in Warsaw, Zagreb, Maastricht and Örebro and on a one-off basis elsewhere.From my experience I am not so convinced that there is any basic or fundamental divide between the United Kingdom and other EU Member States in terms of attitudes to the EU. There are differences, of course, based upon history and culture. However, I come across acceptance, resignation and even enthusiasm for the EU in all Member States, while also coming across indifference, concerns, and hostility in many Member States as well. Knowledge in detail of the EU is generally pretty poor.
The European Union shares with many national, regional and local governments the challenges of engaging the interest of citizens and it is interesting to see the participatory democracy initiatives of the EU Institutions (such as the European Citizens’ Consultations financed by the European Commission, the AGORA of the European Parliament and the Open Space activities of the European Economic and Social Committee), as well as the European citizenship education activities usually geared towards young people.
In terms of questions: I do find when answering questions in the UK that it includes defending the existence of the EU alongside providing specific policy information. This is somewhat less common in other EU Member States. People inevitably ask questions relating to the local impact of the EU upon their own country and so I try to immerse myself in such important issues before I visit.
Do you feel there has been a change in awareness of the EU and feelings about the EU in Wales during your time in Cardiff? Has the arrival of the Welsh Assembly made a difference to EU priorities?
In the 1980s the EDC at Cardiff was one of the few specialist centres in Wales able to provide information about the European Union. Consequently, we were busy with enquiries from the general public and professional people, in addition to our university student users.
That changed over the years for two reasons. Firstly, the growth of other European information networks such as the Euro Info Centres and the European Public Information Centres meant there were alternative places for people to go for EU information. Secondly, over the years, many professional groups such as local government officials and lawyers developed their own focused expertise. The granting of ‘Objective One’ status to parts of Wales also raised the profile of the EU within Wales.
The devolution movement and the creation of the National Assembly for Wales (NAW) coincided to an extent with the wider debate about a ‘Europe of the Regions’. Links with ‘Europe’ were seen as positive signs of Wales developing its own identity and capabilities. The creation of offices in Brussels for the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), the NAW, and also for Welsh local government and higher education, are also both significant and symptomatic of the need for Wales to have a distinct voice and presence in dealing with the EU Institutions.So, yes, there has been a change of awareness of the EU in Wales over the years. While the Structural Funds probably still dominate in terms of concerns, Welsh interests do engage with the EU on many other issues as well, be they economic, social, environmental or whatever. The Welsh Assembly has maintained an interest in the EU through its External Affairs and European Committee.
Whether the general public in Wales has a measurably greater knowledge or distinct set of opinions on the EU to their counterparts in other parts of the United Kingdom is debatable.
You have several European hats, how do you juggle between all of them
‘Europe’ and ‘information’ are the common features of all my responsibilities. I am very passionate and disciplined about what I do, but it only begins to work because there is some overlap between activities. As well as developing an expertise concerning the information sources about the European Union and the wider Europe, all the linking jobs have also necessitated learning a lot about the institutions and policies of the EU itself.On a ‘normal’ day I will try to start about 07:30 and work for two hours on creating index records for ESO on what has been happening in the EU and the wider Europe on the previous day. This involves scanning the Financial Times and the websites of a wide range of news sources. I will then have a word with my Enterprise Europe Network Wales colleagues. Then, it is a matter of juggling dealing with enquiries, meetings on SWEDIC and ESO issues and providing classes for students. From about 18:00 I usually try to get in another two hours of indexing for ESO
If you were asked for a website for people who want basic information about the work of the EU which would you recommend?
That is a difficult question as inevitably I feel that my own European information service European Sources Online is intended to answer both basic and more advanced questions about the European Union, the fifty countries of Europe and the issues which concern citizens, researchers and stakeholders in Europe. Whether searching its database of 150,000 sources or browsing the 100 unique Information Guides, ESO can help people find information from a uniquely wide range of sources.The websites of the EU Institutions themselves are important. The challenge for the European Parliament with Europarl, and for the websites contained within EUROPA is that they are trying to appeal both to the general public AND to a more specialist audience – the two audiences want different things and I fear that the latter group is suffering somewhat as websites are being geared to the general public. Searching the EU’s own websites via their own search engines is not to be recommended. Much better to search them through an advanced search on Google and add the relevant domain name in the Search within a site or domain field.
I also rate highly EurActiv, the Financial Times and BBC News websites. In my own more specialist work I also use OEIL, Prelex and the Registers of documents.