The Brand EU Centre (in short, Brand EU) is a pro-EU research and communications centre created and run by think tank Gold Mercury International and CorporateVision.io a strategy consulting firm, both located in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Its function is to "improve the management of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

brand". The Brand EU Centre was founded in 2014, and is run by Nicolas De Santis, President and Secretary General of Gold Mercury, and Enrique Barón Crespo, former President of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. The Brand EU Centre is based in London, in Gold Mercury House, Mayfair, and is funded privately. As an independent centre it is not funded or affiliated with any EU institutions or governmental bodies, nor is it connected to any political parties.

Objectives

The centre's main goal is to improve citizens' understanding and connection to the

. The Centre asserts that member states' national governments, and Brussels itself has largely been ineffective at creating a strong EU brand identity among their citizens, and have not done a good job of promoting the EU's work. The centre's approach argues that connection with the Union has mostly been top down and must also include a bottom-up approach, stating with its citizens and civil society. Centre President, Nicolas De Santis believes that politicians do not help the EU's case, because they scapegoat it for their domestic problems, and claim the Union's successes as their own. The Centre therefore aims to promote awareness among European citizens about the benefits which the European Union brings to their everyday lives.

Treating the EU as a brand

The Brand EU Centre's mission is to treat the

and its identity as a "brand", which has to be marketed and understood clearly by its consumers (European citizens). The Centre asserts that while, over the past 50 years, Europe has been coming together via closer integration, most of the changes have been made at a political level; and the citizens have not properly connected or identified with the project as a result. The underlying concept is that the collective identity of citizens within the EU, and the values which Europeans adhere and aspire to, constitute a powerful "brand identity," which is extremely meaningful and valuable. This refers to values such as peace, democracy, the rule of law, equality, and freedom, among others. The Brand EU Centre argues that while this brand is extremely powerful and valuable, it is not being marketed effectively by official European institutions, causing disenfranchisement and

Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek reform ...

to become the popular climate. The Brand EU Centre also use publications, campaigns and events to address another "failure" of the

, namely its institutional complexity, which results in citizens' lack of understanding about its operations and democratic legitimacy.

References

External links

The Brand EU Centre's Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand EU Brand management British companies established in 2014 Companies based in the City of Westminster European Union–related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom