Britannia Radio

The pressure, although largely unsuccessful, is remorseless.    It 
also includes - though not mentioned here - sponsored visits of 
pupils and students to Brussels and to the parliament in Strasbourg.  
These are, not surprisingly, popular!

Eurobarometer surveys, mentioned here, have sdhown a continuing and 
remorseless growth across Europe in the unpopularity of the EU itself 
with antagonism at its height in Britain, Sweden, the Czech Republic 
and Austria.  This has been matched by three failures to get the 
proposed Constitution accepted in France and Holland and, in it's 
disguised form of the Lisbon Treaty , in Ireland.

The EU is desperate that no firther tests of popular opinion shall be 
allowed in any further countries and Gordon Brown helped in this 
process by going back on his promise that  Britons should have their 
own referendum on the Constitution / Lisbon Treaty.

Still our money is being wasted in forcing this EU propaganda down 
our throats.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx cs
=========================
TELEGRAPH   27.12.08
EU spends £2bn each year on 'vain PR exercises'
The European Union has been accused of spending £2 billion each year 
on 'vain PR exercises'.

By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels

New research by Open Europe, a think-tank that supports EU reform, 
has found that so-called European "information" campaigns are one-
sided and boast a budget that is bigger than Coca-Cola's total 
worldwide advertising account.

One publication, entitled How the European Union works, described the 
EU as "a remarkable success story".

Another English-language "information" pamphlet claimed the EU "is 
delivering a better life for everyone" and described the single 
market as "a winning formula."

The researchers also found a European Commission document that 
admitted: "Neutral factual information is needed of course, but it is 
not enough on its own. Genuine communication by the EU cannot be 
reduced to the mere provision of information."

Lorraine Mullally, director of Open Europe, said: "Taxpayers should 
not be footing the bill for vain PR exercises to make us love the EU. 
The EU needs urgent and radical reform, not expensive campaigns to 
improve its image."

The research also found that projects, such as the EU's School Milk 
Scheme, come with propaganda strings attached.
"The scheme requires schools to display a European school milk poster 
which must be 'permanently situated at a clearly visible and readable 
place at the main entrance' of the school," finds the study.
"It even specifies that the poster must be 'A3 or bigger, with 
letters 1cm or bigger'."


Other campaigns target young people. One project in late 2008 was 
themed "From Shakespeare to Euro Rap".
Events included: "Poetry Slam competition - Europe: I have a dream".
Miss Mullally said: "People certainly need to know more about the EU, 
but the EU has proved unable and unwilling to provide neutral, 
factual information. This senseless spending on dubious PR projects 
has got to stop."

EU and European Commission officials have stepped up "information" 
campaigns following a series of referendum rejections over the last 
three years.

Recent Brussels polling has also deeply alarmed Euro-MPs by finding 
that only that only two per cent of Britons are aware that European 
elections are taking place next year.

A pre-Christmas Eurobarometer opinion survey found that the already 
low levels of interest in next June's elections were actually 
declining as the vote gets closer.
"The number of citizens who say they are likely to vote is less than 
it was six months ago," found polling published last week.