Abstract:

Internal marketing at the European Union (EU) level needs to involve training and motivating the younger generation to want to be a part of something bigger than themselves and than their nations. It should involve the creation of a unified and identifiable European culture – knowing that culture, along with leadership, continues to be one of “the least understood topics in the social sciences” (Chhokar et al., 2008, p.1). Schein (1992, p.5) wrote that “leaders create and change cultures” and so, in this respect, the EU needs to act much as a company does, preparing its “staff” [EU members], in particular the future generation, to work together towards a common goal – towards a more competitive Europe, with improved quality of life. Too little is being done though, we argue. One important internal EU marketing initiative is the Euroscola day whose objective is to “allow thousands of young Europeans to be in the shoes of Members of European Parliament for a day!” (EU, 2014). In March 2015, 24 Portuguese students, in the 11th and 12th grades at high school and all studying in Porto, went to the Euroscola day. Divided into large groups in Strasbourg, they did an ice-breaker activity to bring the various youths of different nationalities closer together and then discussed a number of important political issues which were subsequently discussed and voted on in the “European Parliament” where hundreds of other students in the same age group were gathered and seated in the hemicycle, having come from their nations to participate. Cooperation across cultures is a main focus and this EU internal marketing activity is fully EU-funded. Eight students of the aforementioned Portuguese contingent were approached for their views on the event (one of the group leaders was interviewed and seven others answered a qualitative survey, with the same questions as the interview). The results show that the students appreciated, learned from, and enjoyed the Euroscola day and indeed are willing to be EU ambassadors, as was suggested and asked of them at the event. However, on the other hand, the students are not aware of any other EU internal marketing activities being performed and so not enough is being done to create a unified culture with EU citizens becoming more cohesive as time goes by. This article discusses what other pro-EU educational activity could take place for the younger generation, discussing also the very different views of Portuguese, British, and German citizen interviewees of the future of the EU in itself. EU marketing needs to go beyond the electoral act and time frame and it needs to forge a future where EU citizens will want to cooperate with each other – and this will inevitably involve a new approach to educating our youths. “What must be common… such that they may be ruled through the same institutions?” (White, 2011, p.1).

References:
[1] Chhokar, J.S., Brodbeck, F.C., House, R.J. (2008). Introduction. In: Chhokar, J.S., Brodbeck, F.C., House, R.J. (Eds), Culture and leadership across the world – The GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies. New York: Routledge, pp.1-15.
[2] EU (2014). European Parliament / Euroscola. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/euroscola/en/past_events/euroscola2014.htm, accessed on 24-03-2015.
[3] Schein, E.H. (1992). Organizational culture and leadership. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
[4] White, J. (2011). Political allegiance after European integration. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Keywords:

Internal marketing, culture, European Union, education, youths, cooperation.