LUXEMBOURG--The European Parliament has called in three agency consortia to handle a €60m assignment that aims to promote understanding and awareness of the European Union’s parliamentary institution.

The four-year project is overseen by the European Parliament’s Directorate-General for Communication and covers a range of communications and media services. The decision to select three groups follows a lengthy tender process, revealed by the Holmes Report last year.

One consortium is headed by Ogilvy PR Brussels, and another by Saatchi & Saatchi Belgium. The third, meanwhile, is led by Belgium comms agency ESN and includes Grayling and M&C Saatchi.

According to the tender, agencies must aim to “stimulate interest and understanding of the European Parliament's activities”; “promote awareness, knowledge and understanding of the institution and its work”; and, “reinforce its visibility in respect of various target groups.”

The brief calls for a particular focus on creativity, to help the European Parliament express institutional and policy concepts in a way that appeals to EU citizens.

The contract is the latest in a series of big-budget EU PR programmes. Last month, the European Commission hired four consortia for a €40m economic growth brief. The European Union is also readying a €20m budget to make the case for enlargement and, last year, the European Commission selected Grayling to help oversee a bumper anti-smoking brief.