Visualising the EU: the Central and East European Enlargement Experience

Starting with an analysis of the recent launch of EUTube, this article poses a number of different
questions about the EU’s visibility, particularly from a Central and East European
perspective. Arguing against the more commonly held belief that the EU’s visibility is on
the decline, the article showcases a number of alternative examples of visibility whereby
other actors, coming from the publicity world, critically engage with problems surrounding
the EU such as discrimination, the work-visa regime, the EU Constitution and the CAP
reforms. Focusing on the Polish Plumber campaign in France and Poland as well as the
Bucegi and Ursus beer campaigns in post-enlargement Romania, the article argues that
such campaigns could and should play an important role in expanding the visual horizon
of the EU and opening the door to other ‘legitimate’ authors of ‘text’ and ‘images’ pertaining
to the EU.