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 Gold is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a Brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, s ...

and CorporateVision.io a strategy consulting firm, both located in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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

. Its function is to "improve the management of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

brand". The Brand EU Centre was founded in 2014, and is run by

Nicolas De Santis Nicolas De Santis (born 18 March 1966) is an internet entrepreneur. He is the CEO of Corporate Vision, a strategy consulting firm and technology incubator. In 2004 he became the President and secretary general of Gold Mercury International Award, ...

, President and Secretary General of Gold Mercury, and

Enrique Barón Crespo Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk ...

, former President of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the 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 adopts ...

. 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,

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 refor ...

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