Univeristy of Kent's Europe Day, May 9th 2013
- 8 May 2013 12:53228591As part of the European Year of the Citizen...
http://ey2013-alliance.eu/events/univeristy-of-kents-europe-day/
Also...
There is a screening of the movie: Amour
http://ey2013-alliance.eu/events/amour/
I am off this afternoon to a meeting of the European Alternatives, and I shall report on this later.
http://www.euroalter.com/ppp/events/13799/Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 8 May 2013 13:062285962013 will be the European Year of Citizens: citizenship and the future of Europe at the centre of the debate
"After twenty years from the introduction of European citizenship, the European Year of Citizens has a dual purpose: to show what has been achieved and to respond to the future expectations of citizens.
The decision by the European Parliament and the Council on the proposal by the European Commission was published in the Official Journal today. Events throughout the European Year will explain how people can directly benefit from their EU rights and which policies and programmes exist. The European Year will also stimulate an EU-wide debate with citizens about what the European Union should look like in the future and which reforms are needed to improve their every-day lives.
The European Year of Citizens coincides with the 20th anniversary of the introduction of EU Citizenship, when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993. 2013 will also be the year when the Commission adopts its next EU Citizenship Report (see the 2010 report: IP/10/1390), which will present further targeted EU initiatives to remove the remaining obstacles that hinder citizens from fully enjoying their rights. One year before the European elections 2014, it is also the right moment for a broad debate about the future.
To prepare the ground for the European Year, the Commission held a broad public consultation between 9 May and 9 September 2012 asking citizens what problems they have encountered in exercising their rights as EU citizens (see IP/12/461). The contributions, which are currently being analysed, will feed into the Citizenship Report to be published on 9 May 2013.
As part of the Year, politicians have started holding debates with citizens directly about the future of Europe. Such debates will be held all across the Union over the course of 2013. Everyone will be free to join the debates: http://ec.europa.eu/european-debate/interactive_map/estonia/index_en.htm. The first debates already took place in Spain, Austria and Germany and many more are still to come.
The European Year of Citizens will be officially launched by a debate with citizens in Dublin on 10 January 2013, coinciding with the start of the Irish presidency of the Council..."
http://www.welcomeurope.com/news-europe/2013-will-european-year-of-citizens-citizenship-future-of-europe-center-of-debate-15603+15503.htmlIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 10 May 2013 00:23228801Well...leaving to one side the trials and tribulations of travelling on public transport in the Metropolis, I did indeed after an hour or so arrive at Victoria en route to Smith Square...
It may be of interest to you that while walking through the warren that is Westminster I did notice many empty retail spaces and closed-up shops bearing notices of 'repossession'.
And so to Europe House, 32 Smith Square SW1.
The meeting was quite well attended, not chock-a-block, but people from all over Europe were there in useful numbers.
The room as laid out with eight tables, each assigned for the discussion of one particular topic:
1/Your rights - who is the best protector of them?
-What are the rights that the EU grants to it's citizens and what are the responsibilities attached to these rights?
-How could citizens know better about them?
-What are the obstacles to the full enjoyment of these rights and how could they be overcome?
2/The EU, it's citizens, it's denizens:discussing migrants' rights in the European Union.
-Faced with the risk of identitarian closure that a possible withdrawal of the UK from the EU could provoke, how can migrants be prevented from becoming the scapegoats in this crisis?
-What should be the basic rights guaranteed for migrants everywhere in Europe?
-To what extent can Europe, with it's commitment to 'unity in diversity' and it's variable geographies, offer an alternative model for integration in the community?
-How can the securitarian discourse be de-constructed in relation to the migration issue?
-How does the institutional framework of the migration and asylum policy, linked to security issues rather than human rights, affect people's perception of the matter?
3/What do we want from Europe?
-Is a single market enough?
-Can a new shared vision for the European project emerge from the current economic, social and political crisis?
4/A more Democratic EU
-What are some creative and ambitious reforms to EU institutions that could help make it more Democratic? What is the current balance between the legislative, executive and judiciary powers? Can this balance be improved?
-What could be done to ensure more transparency of decision-making processes? Should there be a stronger relationship between the EU and national parliaments?
-Should the EU include more 'direct democracy' approaches to decision making?
-Additionally, what can the EU do to protect democracy in member states and prevent 'backsliding' on democratic commitments?
5/Elections and accountability
-How could democratic governance at the EU level be improved?
-Could the voting system be changed to ensure better representation of EU citizens?
-Finally, as the principle behind representative democracy is that elected representatives are held accountable by their electorate, what are the mechanisms in place to hold MEPs accountable?
How can they be approved?
6/More bottom-up citizens' participation in EU decision-making processes
-Could and should we design innovations to engage the disengaged rather than the 'usual suspects'? What new tools could we imagine?
-What initiatives taken at the local level could be scaled up at EU level, perhaps to shape a new model for EU decision-making structures?
-What needs to be done to make sure innovative approaches are successful and can be sustained over time?
7/European Citizens' Initiative
-How much of a boost really is this new instrument for democracy and citizens' participation?
-Is the new instrument concretely available as a tool for grass-roots groups or mainly for large well-funded organisations only?
-How can European citizens themselves participate in the decision-making process also in order to overcome these problems experienced by pioneer ECIs organisers?
8/Mobilising and uniting the civil society
-How can we mobilize the civil society and increase democratic participation?
-How can we unite the many civil society and pan-European organizations to work towards common projects and campaigns?
-We are rightfully lobbying the EU to introduce further opportunities for democratic participation, however when they are implemented how can we motivate the citizens outside of the "Brussels bubble" to participate in them?
As the discussions were arranged before and after refreshments we all had a maximum of two topic-discussions to participate in. I participated in the discussions on tables 4 & 5.
This process as a whole began in Dublin and moves on to Venice next.Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 10 May 2013 09:48228815sounds like a flannel job to me tom, trying to make us think we really do have a voice.
- 10 May 2013 09:51228816For flannel job read total waste of time and money Howard
- 10 May 2013 09:59228818trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think trying to make us think
It's a filthy job...but somebody's got to do it.Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 10 May 2013 10:35228823Yeah well do your thinking at your own expense please, not other people's.
A room full of backslapping, taxpayer funded toadies. - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
10 May 2013 10:38228825frogies david frogies.if you please.
- 10 May 2013 10:44228826A Gold Star award goes to Mr. Brian Dixon, for his precise matching of the level of commentary.
My mother was right when she said, "Money talks and I'm speechless."
Oops! No, not "right", simply 'correct'.Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.