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A white paper is an authoritative report. White papers are used to educate customers, collect leads for a company or help people make decisions. They can also be a government report outlining policy.
In the Commonwealth of Nations, "white paper" is an informal name for a parliamentary paper; in the United Kingdom these are issued as "Command papers". White papers are issued by the government and lay out policy, or proposed action, on a topic of current concern. Although a white paper may on occasion be a consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. By contrast, green papers, which are issued much more frequently, are more open-ended. These green papers, also known as consultation documents, may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation or they may set out proposals on which the government wishes to obtain public views and opinion.
White papers published by the European Commission are documents containing proposals for European Union action in a specific area. They sometimes follow a green paper released to launch a public consultation process.
As examples see the following:
More recently, the term white paper has also come to refer to documents that argue non-governmental positions as well. For example, many white papers today espouse the benefits of particular technologies and products. These types of white papers are almost always marketing communications documents and are designed to promote a specific company's solutions or products as it relates to the issue or topic examined. As a marketing tool, it is important to note that these papers will always highlight information favorable to the company authoring or sponsoring the paper while minimizing any negative aspects related to the company's involvement with the issue, product or technology. Today the commercial white paper is the most common type of white paper. Such white papers are used to collect leads, establish thought leadership or close sales - this is quite different from the original use of white papers.
Refer to the following external links as examples.
Because of their persuasive nature, white papers should be carefully crafted to avoid the perception of salesmanship. This can be easily accomplished by inserting key educational content that is relevant to the intended readers. White papers should begin by focusing on the needs of readers, rather than the specific solution suggested by the paper's sponsor. The book ''Writing White Papers'' explains, "leading with problems or needs early in your white paper is a very powerful method to gain the interest of your readers." Typical content for a white paper might include: