We brought together many distinguished experts from across Europe. The seminar commenced with a morning panel dedicated to a debate on how to counter disinformation in the EU. First, we exchanged views on the effectiveness of the current EU legislative action in this field, especially based on the Digital Services Act adopted last year, and how the new EU legislation could evolve in short and mid-term against the increasingly challenging developments in the European communication and media ecosystem.

Since the dissemination of reliable information is essential for democracy, and even more so in the context of the many electoral deadlines foreseen this year, we not only focused on legislative instruments, but also explored other possibilities to detect and neutralise disinformation, the sharing of information on national governments’ communication plans and strategies in this field, on the responsibility of the media, and on the role and possible use and impact of artificial intelligence in this regard. The afternoon panel of the seminar focused on communication challenges in both the EU and candidate countries: from (unrealistically) high expectations to disappointment and apathy in various candidate countries, to opposition and disinterest in EU Member States, and from disinformation to propaganda. While approaching the huge enlargement in 2004, the EU had to prepare the institutional structure in parallel with carrying out the negotiating process, and we recall the adoption of the Nice Treaty as completing a memorable path for this purpose. At both the EU and Member States level a remarkable effort was made to communicate the added value of the new memberships to the citizens and to keep momentum high in public opinion.

We now find ourselves in a similar situation, but one which has prompted the following question: Can we draw positive lessons from the largest enlargement or are the circumstances so different that the processes cannot be compared? We argue that, from a communication standpoint, the principles remain the same, although the challenges are greater, especially in countering disinformation in the media and on social platforms in this regard. We are proud to host Borut Pahor, a former member of both the Slovenian parliament and the European Parliament, as well as a former Prime Minister and President of the Republic of Slovenia, as the keynote speaker on the topic of communicating the enlargement of the EU.

The Club of Venice is an informal group of the most senior communications professionals from the governments of EU Member States and candidate states, as well as from European institutions. The Club aims to promote effective government communication at both national and European levels for the benefit of Europe’s citizens and their democratic engagement.