Happy Europe Day! Although clearly the numbers of people happy with Europe have dropped sharply recently, so it's not likely that you will see many events celebrating it.
It's Europe Day in the European Year of Citizens, so it's probably appropriate to look at some of the issues surrounding EU Citizenship right now.
The European Citizens' Initiative, the big democratic innovation of the Lisbon Treaty, has come under attack recently for being too bureaucratic and inaccessible, though some ECIs have gained a lot of support - like Right2Water - or are using the ECI to push European Citizenship further with expanded political rights, such as Let Me Vote!
Speaking of citizenship and politics, after a successful campaign within the Party of European Socialists for primaries to select their candidate for Commission President for the 2014 elections, the PES has started the election run with a pretty tepid use of the primaries. Hopefully this initiative won't fade away - it could, after all, be used as an opportunity to bring party members into the debate on EU issues, and could be a good way of boosting party activity come election time.
On the legal front, EU Citizenship hasn't evolved much since the Zambrano case and the retreat of the ECJ afterwards in the McCarthy case and in subsequent other cases. I recommend the article over at European Law Blog on the European Court of Justice's approach to EU Citizenship. It can be a confusing area, with citizenship rights largely bound up in the exercise (and ability to exercise) free movement rights. A full definition of EU citizenship will likely only be decided by long years of court battles, it seems.
With all the social and economic problems confronting us today, and the difficulties in engaging with the EU and promoting change, it's hard to be in a celebratory mood from a citizen's perspective. However, with the ECI and the primaries, it's clear that there is a section of civil society out there that is trying to work for more participation and a more responsive EU. So here's to the people plugging away to make things better: that's where you see citizenship in action.
Showing posts with label Europe Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe Day. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Sunday, 9 May 2010
My Europe Day
My Europe Week has opened up a blog carnival for ideas, thoughts and opinions on Europe, to get a sense of what people hope, want and expect for the future of 500 million people - and counting. Over the last week it's been open to bloggers and non-bloggers alike, and I'd encourage everyone to make a contribution if you can and submit it.
What I'm celebrating
Europe Day should be a celebration, if nothing else! Europe is more to me than the politics that this blog deals with - through language learning (well, attempted language learning!), blogging, traveling and debating, I've met many great people both at home and across the continent, and I've had many brilliant experiences that I otherwise wouldn't have had. Like Julien Frisch, trains and railways symbolise Europe a lot to me. Standing in a train station in Germany, I feel the freedom of being able to travel to practically anywhere on the continent, across several countries and cultures.
It's that feeling of freedom and possibility, along with all the people I've met that makes me so enthusiastic and passionate about Europe, and I'll be celebrating all of this today.
What I want
The flip side of Europe Week is what you want from Europe, and where you think Europe should go.
When politicians speak of Europe, they always seem to talk about the past - and they shouldn't. Speeches on Europe tend to focus on absence, and what isn't: Europe means that there's no war on the continent, etc. While this is obviously something to cherish and celebrate, what I want to see is a more positive vision of Europe, and the leadership to back it up. Lately environmentalism and fighting climate change became Europe's more positive crusade, but there needs to be a vision and a greater level of citizen involvement to make the European project more relevant to people today.
The Europe I want should be about citizen empowerment. Brussels is bureaucratic and distant, but its politics need to be opened up and people need to be drawn in. There's nothing new in saying this; most people in the Euroblogosphere want more interaction and better communication. But empowerment and participation could be part of an engaging vision and renewing narrative for Europe. If the member states are in the EU because they are stronger together than apart, the political parties at a European level need to start communicating and engaging with the public on what "Europe" can do for them. National governments may not be able to tackle these problems alone, but citizens should be empowered to debate the solutions and engage in solving the problems facing Europe today. It's a simple thing to say, but obviously be an arduous task to undertake. But I think it's the only way Europe can become relevant and closer to its citizens.
This requires the Europarties to get their acts together. In the last election, voters rewarded parties to had a relevant message for the European stage - for example, UKIP in the UK and the Greens in France. Explaining challenges, providing solutions, communicating with voters; all these things will pay off in elections, even though the Europarties seem resigned to dependency on national politics providing them with lucky electoral windfalls. So parties need to become more structured in their engagement with the national media and on the internet. Parties should pick MEPs as their spokesperson(s) in a member state, build up relationships with the main broadcasters and newspapers, and be ready to supply talking heads when European issues arise. Having party faces and connections available will help the news media report on European issues: party-point-of-view makes occasional mentions more interesting, detailed and involving, and familiarity with MEPs will open up the EU system to journalists more.
I'm likely to be disappointed in this, but I believe that Europe needs active leaders in Parliament, and Council, and active citizens in NGOs, locally and online to add to the debate and vision so citizenship can be enriched and Europe can move forward. There has recently been indication that electoral reform will be on the European Parliament's agenda. Let's hope that MEPs will be bolder and braver in engaging with the public. 60 years on from the Schuman Declaration, Europe needs a citizen-centred vision that can deliver for citizens and involve them in building a pan-continental future.
Happy Europe Day from The European Citizen blog!
What I'm celebrating
Europe Day should be a celebration, if nothing else! Europe is more to me than the politics that this blog deals with - through language learning (well, attempted language learning!), blogging, traveling and debating, I've met many great people both at home and across the continent, and I've had many brilliant experiences that I otherwise wouldn't have had. Like Julien Frisch, trains and railways symbolise Europe a lot to me. Standing in a train station in Germany, I feel the freedom of being able to travel to practically anywhere on the continent, across several countries and cultures.
It's that feeling of freedom and possibility, along with all the people I've met that makes me so enthusiastic and passionate about Europe, and I'll be celebrating all of this today.
What I want
The flip side of Europe Week is what you want from Europe, and where you think Europe should go.
When politicians speak of Europe, they always seem to talk about the past - and they shouldn't. Speeches on Europe tend to focus on absence, and what isn't: Europe means that there's no war on the continent, etc. While this is obviously something to cherish and celebrate, what I want to see is a more positive vision of Europe, and the leadership to back it up. Lately environmentalism and fighting climate change became Europe's more positive crusade, but there needs to be a vision and a greater level of citizen involvement to make the European project more relevant to people today.
The Europe I want should be about citizen empowerment. Brussels is bureaucratic and distant, but its politics need to be opened up and people need to be drawn in. There's nothing new in saying this; most people in the Euroblogosphere want more interaction and better communication. But empowerment and participation could be part of an engaging vision and renewing narrative for Europe. If the member states are in the EU because they are stronger together than apart, the political parties at a European level need to start communicating and engaging with the public on what "Europe" can do for them. National governments may not be able to tackle these problems alone, but citizens should be empowered to debate the solutions and engage in solving the problems facing Europe today. It's a simple thing to say, but obviously be an arduous task to undertake. But I think it's the only way Europe can become relevant and closer to its citizens.
This requires the Europarties to get their acts together. In the last election, voters rewarded parties to had a relevant message for the European stage - for example, UKIP in the UK and the Greens in France. Explaining challenges, providing solutions, communicating with voters; all these things will pay off in elections, even though the Europarties seem resigned to dependency on national politics providing them with lucky electoral windfalls. So parties need to become more structured in their engagement with the national media and on the internet. Parties should pick MEPs as their spokesperson(s) in a member state, build up relationships with the main broadcasters and newspapers, and be ready to supply talking heads when European issues arise. Having party faces and connections available will help the news media report on European issues: party-point-of-view makes occasional mentions more interesting, detailed and involving, and familiarity with MEPs will open up the EU system to journalists more.
I'm likely to be disappointed in this, but I believe that Europe needs active leaders in Parliament, and Council, and active citizens in NGOs, locally and online to add to the debate and vision so citizenship can be enriched and Europe can move forward. There has recently been indication that electoral reform will be on the European Parliament's agenda. Let's hope that MEPs will be bolder and braver in engaging with the public. 60 years on from the Schuman Declaration, Europe needs a citizen-centred vision that can deliver for citizens and involve them in building a pan-continental future.
Happy Europe Day from The European Citizen blog!
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
My Europe Week
Today, May 5th, is the anniversary of the Treaty of London, which founded the Council of Europe in 1949. Though the Council of Europe isn't an EU institution, it contributed to the spread of human rights and democratic norms across the continent through the European Convention on Human Rights and the court it set up to aid enforcement in Strasbourg.
So May 5th is a Europe Day, but it's not the only one - there's also May 9th, the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, proposing the European Coal and Steel Community (it no longer exists, but it was the starting point for what's now the European Union).
Usually these days largely go by without being commemorated on a large scale. This year, some Bloggingportal.eu editors have set up My Europe Week, to launch a blog carnival. You can write, video or photograph to express what you think about Europe Day, and what you think Europe is - or should be - about. Of course, bloggers can do this on their own sites, but non-Bloggers can get involved too (by submitting entries via this form). It doesn't have to be long, or in a certain format or strict theme (though being about Europe helps!).
Update: As Grahnlaw has reminded me, you can also follow and contribute on Twitter with the hashtags #MyEurope and #EuropeDay.
So May 5th is a Europe Day, but it's not the only one - there's also May 9th, the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, proposing the European Coal and Steel Community (it no longer exists, but it was the starting point for what's now the European Union).
Usually these days largely go by without being commemorated on a large scale. This year, some Bloggingportal.eu editors have set up My Europe Week, to launch a blog carnival. You can write, video or photograph to express what you think about Europe Day, and what you think Europe is - or should be - about. Of course, bloggers can do this on their own sites, but non-Bloggers can get involved too (by submitting entries via this form). It doesn't have to be long, or in a certain format or strict theme (though being about Europe helps!).
Update: As Grahnlaw has reminded me, you can also follow and contribute on Twitter with the hashtags #MyEurope and #EuropeDay.
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Happy Europe Day 2009!
A happy Europe Day to everyone who likes celebrating Europe (and to those who just like celebrating)!
The EU is hosting its open day for each of the institutions in Brussels to mark the day.
Interestingly, PES is the only European party to mention Europe Day at all on its website; they will be using it as an opportunity to campaign for the elections. The other European parties don't mention Europe Day at all (well, the EPP does, but only to point out the Brussels open day).
The Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) last considered the value of Europe Day in 2006.
Will anyone be doing anything for Europe Day this year?
The EU is hosting its open day for each of the institutions in Brussels to mark the day.
Interestingly, PES is the only European party to mention Europe Day at all on its website; they will be using it as an opportunity to campaign for the elections. The other European parties don't mention Europe Day at all (well, the EPP does, but only to point out the Brussels open day).
The Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) last considered the value of Europe Day in 2006.
Will anyone be doing anything for Europe Day this year?
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