On Tuesday, 16 June from 10:30-11:30 CET, the first digital edition of Talking Europe was held in partnership with the European Commission. This new series of online events aims to discuss the EU’s work and how it affects all Europeans.

Our first guest, Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, Director General of the Commission’s DG Communications, discussed what the EU has been doing to address the COVID pandemic and to communicate its efforts.

As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic rippled across the continent, the European Commission took rapid and decisive steps to coordinate a common European response to the global outbreak with an aim to limit the spread of the virus and its impact. Since then the Commission has been working on producing exit strategies which allow for economic reboot, while continuing to protect the health and security of citizens are key.

The Commission has also been active in the communications domain, sharing reliable scientific information, combating disinformation and showcasing how the EU has stepped forward to protect European from the pandemic.

The event was be streamed live on our Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. After the initial discussion, attendees had the opportunity to engage in a Q&A session.

A replay of the live event is available here :

We encourage participants to join the discussions on Twitter using the hashtag #TalkingEurope. When tweeting, please use the handles @EMInternational and @EU_Commission.

The event is the first of a series of discussions entitled ‘Talking Europe’, organised in partnership with the European Commission with the aim to foster debate on the European Union’s work and its affect on the everyday lives of citizens, involving stakeholders from civil society, political institutions and the wider European community.