EC ad blitz to push benefits of citizenship

The European Commission is planning an autumn advertising campaign to promote the benefits of being a citizen of the European Union.

“We’ve got to bring Europe closer to its citizens,” Italian budget minister Mario Arcelli told an informal meeting of the Internal Market Council in Brussels on Saturday.

The campaign already has a working title – Citizen First. It will comprise TV commercials and information packs to explain people’s rights to work and study in other European countries.

An advertising agency and campaign budget have yet to be fixed, sources say.

Citizen First is a separate initiative to the EC’s recently discussed campaign to pave the way for the launch of the “euro” in four years’ time.

Even so, it is regarded as an integral part of a long-term strategy to bring Europeans closer together and to better communicate the benefits of the single market.

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