Letter: European spin

Geoffrey Martin
Saturday 18 September 1999 23:02 BST
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THE IMPRESSION you give about an increase in Brussels-based spin doctors is wide of the mark ("EU to get Labour-style spin doctors", 12 September). The new media and communications service of the European Commission has been created to be more responsive and outward-looking. It has been driven both by the need of the Commission to communicate more effectively and by the demands of journalists themselves.

To suggest that this is going to result in a substantial increase in staff is not true. Instead of the current 20 spokespersons, there will be one. He will be assisted by a team of press officers, who will explain the policies of a restructured Commission and the 20 new Commissioners to the outside world. Most of them will come from within the Commission and extra costs will be negligible.

GEOFFREY MARTIN

The European Commission

London SW1

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