BRUSSELS--The European Parliament is putting an eye-catching €60m assignment up for grabs, designed to promote awareness and understanding of the European Union’s parliamentary institution.

According to tender documents, the body is searching for three PR agencies to fulfil the brief and is estimating a total spend of €60m for the four-year contract, which will run from 2012 to 2015.

The project is overseen by the European Parliament’s Directorate-General for Communication. 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.

A compulsory briefing for tendering firms will take place on the 18 October. The deadline for tender responses is the end of October.

The contract is the latest in a series of big-budget EU PR programmes. Earlier this year, the Holmes Report revealed that the European Union was readying a €20m budget to make the case for enlargement. In May, the European Commission selected Grayling to oversee a bumper anti-smoking brief.