Albert Burgess

SECRET

Foreign and Commonwealth Office
      London SW1

From the parliamentary Under Secretary of State
l6 February, 1972

 

APPROACH TO EUROPE, 1970/71

The campaign to win support from the public and Parliament for entry into the EEC warrants a brief report, both because it was successful, and because it may provide a guide for possible future Information campaigns. I commissioned reports from the FCO on the two sides of the campaign, the discreet largely behind-the-scenes effort (Appendix I) which laid the foundations for, and was then complementary to, the open governmental campaign from July 1971 to the vote in October 1971 (Appendix II). I summarise their conclusions below.

The operation showed that, ideally, months of quiet preparation are required to mount a large, open information / public relations campaign effectively. It was recognised at an early stage that the normal formula of a Committee of Whitehall Information Officers had neither the flexibility nor the resources to provide the scale and intensity of effort required; what was needed was Ministerial direction and full co-operation between officials and non-officials, with all assuming responsibility for areas of activity for which they were individually best equipped.

This organisation proved so effective that I think it worth isolating the constituent features:

(a) overall direction by a senior Minister (yourself) (which is rather unusual for an Information campaign);

(b) the appointment of a Ministerial Inter-departmental Co-ordinator (myself) closely supported by an Official Co-ordinator (Mr. Hugh-Jones), a special FCO unit and an operational editorial/research section within Information Research Department, which as a responsive arm of the FCO, again proved its ability to give effective research, information and public relations support to a Government publicity campaign;

(c) the enlistment of non-official organisations and individuals who provided impetus and a variety of talents and channels seldom available in official campaigns. The British Council of the European Movement , the CBI, the Prime Minister's Press Secretary , the Labour Committee for Europe, the Conservative Group for Europe, the Conservative Central Office and an independent advertising executive all formed, along with FCO specialists, an integral part of this informal team;

(d) discreet mutual support between these official and non-official bodies and people, and an intensive effort by both vis-á-vis the media and the public, spearheaded the presentation of our policy at minimal cost;

(e) the BCEM, with its own money, distinguished patronage and dedication played a most important part in the campaign and proved ideal for discreet support by FCO officials.
You are, of course, well aware yourself of the details of the campaign. On the official side, the Prime Minister has singled out the Messages and Quick Reaction arrangements as particularly useful innovations. The Diary of Events and general briefing arrangements were basic. The close support of the non-Governmental organisations proved invaluable, both for their resources and advice. So also were the various arrangements made for drawing on support from agricultural organisations, youth. the City, the development councils and industry. The coordination arrangements worked remarkably smoothly in all spheres of activity, both with the non Governmental organisations and within the Government.

Finally, I think it worth bearing in mind that the Government spent £461,400 on the campaign, and the BCEM a further £250,000 of their own money - some £700,000 in all. The Decimal currency publicity campaign cost around £2 million, entirely from official resources.
. I should be grateful, if, after perusal, you could return the two reports to me so that they can be retained by the FCO in a safe place. A similar request is being made to Geoffrey Rippon and to Mr. Maitland to whom I am sending a copy of this letter and the two reports.

Anthony Royle

The Rt. Hon. William Whitelaw. M.C •• M.P ••
The Lord President of the Council,
68 Whitehall,
London,
S.W.1.

FCO Distribution:
PS to Sir Denis Greenhill



APPENDIX I

APPROACH TO Europe 1970/71

1. The information campaign in Britain from late 1969 to July 1971 - and beyond - in support of our application for EEC membership differed from any other recent Government-inspired publicity operation in its length and the high and sustained level of Ministerial involvement and control over it. The latter was justified. The battle was won, but as in the military sphere, it may turn out to be just the first of several concerned with our interests in the EEC. This in itself is sufficient justification for placing on record an outline of the campaign.
FORMATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES' INFORMATION UNIT (ECIU)

2. When, towards the end of 1969, there were moves to resume negotiations between Britain and the Six, it became clear that there was a need for formal arrangements within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure that our supporting information effort was as effective as possible.
The ECIU was established to concert the strategy of overseas information work in support of our application, and to study hostile propaganda and advise on means of countering it. The Unit was asked to keep in touch where appropriate with various non-governmental bodies in Britain and the Unit was represented on a Whitehall Committee of Information Officers (under the chairmanship of the then Chief Information Adviser to the Government, Mr. T. Lloyd Hughes) whose function was to co-ordinate the information effort concerned with domestic opinion. The ECIU started with a Counsellor and a couple of helpers and remained very small throughout.

3. The basis for ECIU's work was therefore laid down by the Labour Government and a certain amount of activity was carried on before the General Election of 1970.

4. Almost within days of the formation of the Conservative Government it was realised by FCO ministers that the campaign to win British public opinion was going to be as important as the battle to bring the negotiations with the Six to a successful conclusion, and that all the resources of the information machine should be brought in to play.
The FCO/IRD machinery begun to concentrate on domestic opinion; liaison with the British Council of the European Movement and other pro-Market organisations was established. It was also agreed that the Whitehall Committee of Information Officers was not the appropriate body to organise such a campaign. This led to overall responsibility being assumed by the Lord President, of the Council, Mr. Whitelaw, with Mr. Hoyle, Parliamentary Under Secretary, FCO, as Ministerial Co-ordinator, and to the formation of a Standing Group of representatives of the Departments and non-Governmental organisations involved in the campaign (see paras. 2-3 of Appendix II for details).

5. In September 1970 Mr. Royle put forward proposals for a public relations programme to explain the benefits of entry in to the EEC. Its main points were:

(i) that the Conservative Group for Europe (CGE) should be more active in Parliament;

(ii) that there should be informal links between the CGE and pro-Europeans in the Labour Party;
(iii) that the British Council of the European Movement's speaking programme should be increased and that speakers should be adequately briefed;

(iv) that IRD should be responsible inter alia for helping with the preparation of / research material on which pamphlets and speaking notes might be based and stimulating letters to the Press;

(v) that the Lord President should approach Cabinet and other Ministers with a view to their taking an active part in promoting HMG's European policies;

(vi) that plans should be laid for a major campaign after the back of the negotiations had been broken. /

6. As a result, the ECIU was strengthened under its new head, Mr. W. J. Adams; and his Assistant,
Mr. S A.

Mr. S. A. Budd, was detailed to work closely with and to assist the European Movement, and to advise on the handling of the media. IRD at the same time set up a special editorial / research section to work closely with the ECIU. The IRD/ECIU co-operation produced the basic material on which most of the subsequent productions were based - booklets, talking points, speeches, notes, etc. Thus throughout the winter or 1970-71 all the infrastructure was laid down, the preparatory work initiated and the ground prepared by the European Movement in consultation with FCO Departments. The European
Movement used this time to strengthen its own organisation by the appointment of regional officers and to raise money from industry for use in the summer of 1971. This preparatory work ensured that the Government's open campaign was launched and carried out so effectively between July and October 1971.

HANDICAPS

7. For a variety of reasons our effort had to be much more effective than that or the opposition, to give us a fighting Chance of success. Three facts are worth mentioning:

(a) during the negotiations, the pro-Marketeers (official and non-governmental) were inhibited by the need to avoid any erosion of HMG's essentially "hard line" bargaining position;

(b) the desire of the media to be impartial and to present a balanced picture favoured the anti-Marketeers Who could get away with hair-raising descriptions of tile disadvantages of entry, while it was much more difficult to quantify the benefits.

(c) Mr. Wilson's about-turn, for reasons largely unconnected with Europe, inevitably confused a mass of follow-my-leader voters.

DETAILS OF THIS OPERATION

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

8. During the early period of the negotiations Foreign Office Ministers bore the brunt of the Ministerial speaking programme in the country.
Mr. Rippon made well over l00 speeches on British membership in 1970-71, thus carrying on a tradition established by Mr. George Thomson. In the early part of 1971 Mr. Rippon and Mr. Royle participated in the unattributable briefing of senior editors and journalists of the provincial Press, an exercise which had an excellent impact. Mr. Royle also visited Cardiff, Birmingham, Leicester-and Edinburgh (among other places), where he either made public speeches or gave unattributable Press briefings. He was accompanied on occasions by Mr. George Thomson, who although a member / of the Opposition, played an active part at this stage. The European Movement also increased its speakers programme dramatically.

Speakers' training conferences were held at Wilton Park and in Edinburgh. A network of 150 experienced speakers was established and by the beginning of 1971 the European Movement was supplying up to 80 speakers per month in London alone; an extensive programme was developing in the provinces. Major events included women's conferences (attended by 5,000 delegates), trade union conferences, and conferences for industrialists.
Seminars and briefing conferences for European Movement speakers were held throughout the country. Important conferences were also organised by other bodies, notably the Federal Trust. One of those, held by the Federal Trust in the summer of 1971, was for pro-European British economists and yielded invaluable material for refuting the criticisms of Professor Kaldor and others. It also stimulated many favourable Press articles.

THE MEDIA

9. Firstly, News Department was responsible for briefing journalists on the progress of the negotiations and for stimulating favourable Press comment on our application - a very important factor in the campaign. Secondly, ECIU was involved in briefing provincial newspapers and regional television organisations, and IRD wrote over 50 articles for national and regional newspapers, trade union and political magazines for signature by pro-Marketeers. There were also major national / television   programmes where help from ECIU was required. A "Europa" discussion programme involving M. Couve de Murville and Mr. Roy Jenkins was one example; on this occasion the Information Officer from the Paris Embassy flew to London to give Mr. Jenkins personal advice on the handling of the programme. There were, in addition, regular contacts between ECIU and the producers of the major current affairs programmes in addition to the day-to-day contacts of News Department and the Prime Minister's Press Secretary, and our Missions in Europe were able to help camera crews and broadcasters. Thirdly, Mr. Geoffrey Tucker and Mr. James Garrett, who acted as public relations advisers to tile campaign, started weekly breakfast meetings at the Connaught Hotel which played a key part in liaison between the media, Labour pro Marketeers, Government and other outside interests.

VISITS

10. The Visits Section of the FCO's Information Administration Department launched a major programme of 1,000 visits a year from Eastern Europe. These visits were aimed at creating a favourable climate of opinion in Europe and, at the same time, helping to educate domestic opinion about Europe.
The FCO's annual grant of £7,500 to the European movement for its own visits programme was topped up several times, and similar donations were made to a number or other organisations The EEC’s / London  Information Office worked closely with the
European 'movement in promoting visits for:-: this country to Brussels. Visitors were used as speakers and sometimes appeared on television in addition to their regular programmes of informal meetings.

PUBLICATIONS

11. It was agreed that HMG would not be involved in producing controversial attributable publications until after the conclusion of the main negotiations. EOIU was, however, heavily involved in the preparation and production of tile Factsheets and, in mid-1971, the short version of the White Paper. There was, in addition, a need for supporting material; the European Movement was responsible for producing a large number of pamphlets, leaflets and books related to British membership of the community. A simple "question and answer" booklet produced by the
Movement was written by IRD as were two other booklets. The Movement also produced a lively and popular journal the British European which was distributed free of charge. Altogether, the Movement distributed over 21 million leaflets of various kinds and 3 million copies of The British European during the campaign. IRD also wrote pamphlets for publication by the Conservative Group for Europe and the Conservative research Centre.

ADVERTISMENTS

12. A firm of advertising consultants was appointed by the European Movement to organise an advertising campaign. and a survey of public attitudes was commissioned. Corporate members of the Movement were asked to assist by including an EEC element in their own advertisement, The Times and British Leyland, in particular, produced a number of advertisements with an EEC content.

13. The Movement's advertising campaign reached its climax in the period July - October 1971. but a number of advertisements were placed in the national and provincial Press earlier in tile year. Advertisements in the national Press were tailored to particular newspapers. They included chatty articles about Europeans in the Dally Express; letters and messages signed by pro-European •'top people" in The Times; and more serious articles written by pro- European Socialists in the New Statesman and Tribune. Advertisements in the provincial Press were more informative and educational and took the form of articles on bread and butter issues - regional policy, cost of living, opinion polls etc.

14. The Movement also distributed car stickers and posters (with slogans "We've got to get in to get on" and "Say Yes to Europe") and during the summer campaign ran a commercially organised poster campaign in all major towns.

LETTERS TO THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

15. Between September 1970 and October 1971 IRD / kept up a steady stream of letters and articles to the Press , working closely with the European Movement, and also drafted the replies to over 2,000 letters from the general public.

EXHIBITIONS

16.  The European Movement arranged appropriate displays at exhibitions in London and in the provinces. A display at the Ideal Homes Exhibition was subsequently used at major agricultural and horticultural shows throughout Britain.

ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOLS

17. The European Movement commissioned Education Productions Limited to produce a series of wall charts on Britain and the EEC for use in schools. Occasional schools conferences were arranged and the European Movement provided speakers for school talks. 

RESEARCH SUPPORT

18. IRD prepared about 60 separate background briefs for speakers, journalists, and politicians in addition to providing general reference material and speaking notes.

APPENDIX II

INTRODOCTION

1.  In late May 1971, following the Prime minister's meeting With President Pompidou and the Chancellor of 'the Duchy of Lancaster's latest negotiating contacts with the Six, Ministers decided that with satisfactory terms how in sight but opinion in Parliament and the country as divided at any time since 1960, a Coordinated information campaign should be mounted at home to present the case for Parliamentary approval. It should be launched as soon as the main terms had been settled with the Six and a White Paper prepared for Parliament, which it was hoped would be by, early July. It should last at least until an affirmative vote in the House of Commons, which might be before or after the summer recess.

2. Responsibility for organising and conducting the campaign was assumed by the: Lord President (Mr. Whitelaw) as Minister responsible for Government information and Leader of the House of Commons. A Ministerial Co-ordinator (Mr. Anthony Royle, Parliamentary Under Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office) was appointed to assist him; he retained his FCO responsibilities but was to give the task priority. An Official Co-ordinator (Mr. Hug Jones) was appointed to assist Mr. Royle; he was attached to the Lord President's Office, but to work from the FCO.

3. A Standing Group was fanned by the Ministerial Co-ordinator to bring together on a regular basis the Departments and non-Governmental organisations principally concerned and already active in the field.
These were: tile Prime Minister's Office (Chief Press Secretary Mr. Maitland); the FCO (the Assistant Under Secretary Information (Yr. Reddaway), the Heads at the European Communities Information Unit (Mr. Adams).  European Integration Department (Mr. Statham) and Information Research Department (Mr. H. Tucker) and other officials); the British Council of the European Movement j(Director, Mr. Wistrich); the Labour Committee for Europe (Secretary Mr Lee Williams); the Conservative Group for Europe (Chairman, Col. Sir Tufton Beamish, and Mr. St. John Stevas)'; The Conservative Central Office (Deputy Chairman of the Conservative party, sir Michael Fraser, and. the Director of Public
Relations, Mr. Harker); The Conservative Research Centre (Head or Foreign Affairs Section, Mr. Niblock); also in their personal capacities. Mr. Geoffrey Tucker (former Director of Public Relations at the Conservative Central Office) and Mr. Michael King (CBI Information
Officer)

4. This basic organisation was established between 3 and 7 June. It was added to as time went on. Full Planning land preparation for the campaign began immediately. A good deal of groundwork had already been laid by Departments and the non-Governmental organisations concerned in the information efforts each had built up during the negotiations, and a measure of coordination had already been established by the FCO Lord President through monthly meetings of those principally concerned and. at the working level, by the FCO and No. 10. Full planning and co-ordination could only begin when tile timing and likely content of the
Government case were known. That was in early June. Final preparation and briefing could only be set in hand when the government case could be formulated for domestic consumption without reservation about the terms of fear of undermining Mr. Rippon’s negotiating with the Six. That point was reached on 23 June, with the conclusion of the main terms at Luxembourg. The expected length of the debate and campaign had by them been decided. It was to be four months. On 17 June the Prime Minister announced the programme in outline to the House of Commons, and on the 8 July the dates were filled in.

“Although it is true that the main arguments for and against our
Joining the Communities have been before the public since the first application for membership ten Years ago" said the Prime Minister, "it is right that we should take time to consider them in the light of the outcome of my Rt. Hon and learned Friend's negotiations in Brussels and Luxembourg". The Parliamentary debate set to, 21 July would be a four- day exploratory ('take note') debate , and the decisive• debate would take place when Parliament reassembled after the Recess in late October.

The campaign opened on 7 July with the publication of the Governments White Paper "The United Kingdom and the European Communities" and concluded successful on 28 October, when Parliament approved by a decisive majority the Government’s decision in principle to join the European Communities ties on the basis of the arrangements made. In its scale, complexity and cross-Party, ramifications, there were no peace-time precedents (nor indeed in wartime, in the absence then of television).

The 1961/63 and 1967 EEC and other recent Government information campaigns provided some guide to what was required; so did recent political campaigns. By and large, however, it was developed pragmatically

6. This report is an attempt to record and assess from the viewpoint of the Official Co-ordinator, the organisation and effectiveness of the campaign and its various elements. For convenience of analysis, the report is divided as follows:

I The state of public and Parliamentary opinion in June;

II The objectives and targets set. for the campaign:

III The main problems and Opposition;

IV The strategy and organisation of the campaign

V The course of the first and second phases of tile campaign (July and August / mid September);

VI  The course of .the third phase (mid-September to end October);

VII  Party Conferences and too debate final Parliamentary

VIII Assessment.

I: THE STATE OF PUBLIC AND PARLIAMENTARY OPINION IN JUNE

7. The state of opinion on the issue in Parliament in early June was not known with any accuracy. The Conservative Croup for Europe (CGE) had confidential figures on their side. The Labour Committee for Europe, however, bad not yet felt strong enough to poll Labour Members. They had their own estimates, however, and, taking account of these, the situation probably looked something like this:

 

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