Study reviewing the European Commission publications for adult citizens

A study conducted on behalf of the European Commission, evaluating the publications for citizens published between 1 January 2018 and 31 October 2019.

The evaluation was conducted by Ecorys. The objective was to explore the extent to which Commission publications for citizens address their EU information needs as well as the political priorities of the Commission and the communication objectives of its author services.

Main recommendations: The author services are recommended to develop and share publication plans and consider the Commission’s political priorities and citizens' information needs. The Commission should conduct audience research, define the target audience, and develop a more systematic definition of ‘General’ audiences. The tone of the Commission’s publications should be balanced and cover current topics. The Commission should use a mix of publication formats and make its publications available in all official languages of the EU. The Commission should also focus on improving the layout, organization and search functionalities of Europa webpages and use online and offline promotion opportunities. The author services should collect and use citizen feedback to better address their needs.