Commission calls in the emergency PR men

Ever wondered who you would turn to if your company made the rattly bit on the Challenger space shuttle before it blew up? Or was the owner of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant (the one that suffered a meltdown in 1986)? Or perhaps if a group of pesky NGOs stopped your consortium of oil giants building a pipeline in Africa?



Answer: The same guys who are now doing "crisis communications" for the EU...

The operation is being headed up by one Ethan Winner (a great name, incidently). According to his profile:

"Presently, Mr. Winner is heading an international team in creating a Europe-wide crisis and communications campaign to promote the European Union."

Winner & Associates seem to have enjoyed past success in extricating their clients from a variety of tight spots. Will they be able to do the same for the EU following the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty?

If, as seems likely, the Irish are invited to vote again, it is probable that Winner's crisis communications campaign will be on the front-line of the EU's 'public information' offensive.