Tag Archives: EU

CECODHAS Housing Europe

The Federation of Public, Cooperative & Social Housing – CECODHAS – has published a document called ‘9 Paths to Better Homes for a Better Europe – Our Manifesto of Demands and Proposals for the European Elections 2014‘ in April2014.

You can follow the manifesto campaign on twitter under the hashtag #HousingEP14.

Their campaign outline starts off saying ‘We, social, public and co-operatives housing providers work together for a Europe which provides access to adequate and affordable housing that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable and creates communities where all are enabled to reach their full potential.

We want to be part of the solution that Europe needs to deliver. Europe has to find a way to do better with less. This is why our solution stands on three pillars that will lead to better public budgets in each Member State as well as for Europe as a whole.’

housingeurope_graphic1_2014

 

 

European Left Party Manifesto 2014

Member Parties of the EL are socialist, communist, red-green and other democratic left parties of the member states and associated states of the European Union (EU) that work together and establish various forms of co-operation at all levels of political activity in Europe, based on the agreements, basic principles and political aims laid down in the EL Manifesto.

The Party of the European Left is celebrating its 10th birthday on 9 May – See more at: http://www.european-left.org/positions/news-archive/el-10th-anniversary#sthash.Muqolrez.dpuf
The Party of the European Left is celebrating its 10th birthday on 9 May – See more at: http://www.european-left.org/positions/news-archive/el-10th-anniversary#sthash.Muqolrez.dpuf
The Party of the European Left is celebrating its 10th birthday on 9 May – See more at: http://www.european-left.org/positions/news-archive/el-10th-anniversary#sthash.Muqolrez.dpuf
The Party of the European Left is celebrating its 10th birthday on 9 May – See more at: http://www.european-left.org/positions/news-archive/el-10th-anniversary#sthash.Muqolrez.dpuf
The Party of the European Left is celebrating its 10th birthday on 9 May – See more at: http://www.european-left.org/positions/news-archive/el-10th-anniversary#sthash.Muqolrez.dpuf

You can find a list of the European Left’s Member Parties here

According to the European Left’s website poll results across Europe show a particularly encouraging rise in the popularity of the Left. According to some estimates, the European Parliamentary Group of the Left (GUE-NGL), is expected to increase its number of MEP’s from 35 to at least 60 in the upcoming Parliamentary elections this May.

Alexis Tsipras’ candidacy for President of the European Commission on behalf of the European Left has energized the Leftist movements across Europe fighting against neoliberalism, austerity and poverty.

Here is the European Left’s 2014 Election Manifesto

vote european left

Age Platform Europe’s Manifesto EP2014

AGE Platform Europe is governed by the General Assembly composed of all AGE’s members, and by its elected representatives meeting in an Executive Committee and a Council of Administration.

The European Parliament is working on a broad range of issues concerning older people, such as pensions, health, transport or ICT, and the committees are working and voting on reports and opinions regularly.

Ahead of the elections of the European Parliament in May 2014, AGE is running a campaign to raise awareness of the need to take effective overarching measures to promote age-friendly environments at EU level and mobilize seniors’ organisations across Europe to get actively involved in those elections at national levels.

To this end, AGE has drafted a Manifesto for the European Parliament elections 2014 which was officially launched at a European Parliament eventhosted by MEP Claude Moraes on 5 November 2013. AGE EP Manifesto proposes a series of actions in the fields of non-discrimination, social protection, health, accessibility, employment, research and the fight against elder abuse with a view to create an Age-Friendly European Union.

AGE has also launched a blog ‘Towards an Age-friendly European Parliament‘ (towardsanagefriendlyep.com) to support the campaign. This blog aims at becoming a hub on AGE campaign, presenting in greater details AGE Manifesto, gathering commitments from candidate MEPs, testimonies from older Europeans, training material on EU citizenship and news from all over Europe about on-going campaigns for the elections. This blog will serve as an interactive and comprehensive tool to discuss and share information on issues of concern for older persons in Europe.

AGE Platform Europe calls on the candidate MEPs to look to creating an Age-Friendly European Union through ensuring that EU policies and initiatives will:

1- Promote equal opportunities and the realisation of human rights for all
2- Guarantee the adequacy, fairness and sustainability of Europe’s social and health protection systems
3- Ensure universal access to goods and services, in particular to the built environment, ICT, mobility and public services
4- Support the right to grow and age in good mental and physical health
5- Create age-friendly labour markets and economy
6- Involve older persons in all policy and research processes that concern them
7- Protect the right for all to live and die in dignity

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) Party

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party describes itself as the party for liberal democrat values in Europe.

Together with our liberal member parties across the European continent we are translating the principle of freedom into politics, economics and all other areas of our societies. The ALDE Party provides an increasingly vital link between citizens and the EU institutions and is continuously growing in size and significance.

Liberal Democrats created their European political family in 1976 in view of the first European elections and in 1993 was established as a true transnational political party.

The ALDE Party consists of 57 member parties from across Europe.

The ALDE Party brings together Members of the European Parliament from among its member parties. Together with the MEPs from the European Democratic Party they form the third largest political force, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group, which is led by Guy Verhofstadt.

Every five years, European Liberal Democrats approve a common political programme for the European elections. Here is their 2014 Manifesto

ALDE Party_2014 Manifesto

The ALDE Party‘s overall values are described like this:

> Democracy, the rule of law, human rights, tolerance and solidarity
The ALDE Party believes in a Europe based on the fundamental Liberal principles of liberty, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, tolerance and solidarity.

> A fair, free and open society
We believe in a fair, free and open society which harnesses the abilities of each and every one of its citizens to participate fully in society, presenting them with the opportunities to fulfill their potential, free from poverty, ignorance, and discrimination.

> A prosperous Europe
To achieve these goals, we are striving to complete the internal market as a truly common economic area without internal frontiers and to reform Europe’s economy to make it more prosperous and competitive, with more jobs and stable prices for consumers, based on the principle of globally inclusive international free trade.

> Sustainable development and peace in the world
We are working to promote sustainable development and to protect our environment. We are campaigning for a safe and just society, ensuring a more peaceful and stable world.

> EU enlargement
As the most consistent and long-standing advocates of an early and wide enlargement of the European Union, we are delighted to have welcomed into the Union our friends from the new Member States. We are firmly resolved to further deepen, reinforce and enlarge the European Union.

> A transparent, democratic and accountable Europe
We campaign for a more transparent, democratic and accountable Europe, taking decisions only on those matters which require European solutions. We are in favour of a systematic application of the subsidiarity principle in order to bring decision-making as close to the citizen as possible.

> A European Constitution
ALDE Party supports a constitutional settlement for Europe. Liberal Democrats all over Europe have always campaigned for a strong constitution as the basis of democracy.

EuroCarers Manifesto EP2014

The role of carers is more crucial than ever due to demographic changes and challenges to formal health and social care services throughout Europe. Eurocarers brings together organisations representing carers and those involved in research and development.

Eurocarers lists these EU facts in their manifesto:

80% of care across the EU is provided by informally spouses, relatives and friends – usually unpaid.
These carers will become even more important as the number of older people is increasing.
The economic value of unpaid informal care – as a percentage of the overall cost of formal long-term care provision – ranges from 50 % to 90 % across the EU.
Caring can be a source of personal satisfaction and emotional gratification….
…but it can also have challenging health, financial, social and employment consequences.
The increasing labour market participation of the main carers, i.e. women and older workers and other demographic developments are leading to decreasing availability of carers.
Carers cannot do their work without proper recognition and support (in policy and practice).

All Member States face the same challenges in terms of long-term care provision.
All Member States need the informal care resource to prevent social security systems collapsing.

Eurocarers’ Manifesto for EP2014 gives guidance to MEP candidates how they can support carers should they be elected to the European Parliament.

Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists

The European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament was created in 2009 to campaign for what it calls ‘urgent reform of the European Union’. They believe it is time to make Europe work again: both economically and for its people. The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) is a conservative, non-federalist political group in the European Parliament. The group currently comprises 57 MEPs, making it the fifth largest group in the Parliament. The British Conservatives – after leaving the European People’s Party – have been a member of this group in the European Parliament.

The ECR’s founding ideals are based on the Prague Declaration, which calls for an EU of openness, transparency, and particularly eurorealism. The eurorealism concept distinguishes the ECR’s agenda from the other political groups.

They say about themselves ‘We believe in a new direction for the EU, which does not destroy the organisation or undermine cooperation. However, we want to steer the EU away from the ideological march towards a European federal super state and towards a more flexible organisation that listens to and respects people in all of its member countries. Instead of clinging to outdated ideals of European integration we believe in equipping the EU with the practical solutions required to rise to today’s challenges. We want to make the EU open for trade, closer to its people, living within its means and delivering value, and respectful of the diversity across Europe. Above all, we want an EU of cooperation and common sense.’

Outside the European Parliament, the broader Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) contains a number of parties, including governing parties of three EU Member States, and Prime Minister David Cameron.

As the AECR is an Alliance and not a joined up Party made up of member parties, it has not published a joint election manifesto. In April 2014 it published what it calls ‘The Reykjavik Declaration’ which states

The Reykjavík Declaration

  • The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) brings together parties committed to individual liberty, national sovereignty, parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, private property, low taxes, sound money, free trade, open competition, and the devolution of power.
  • AECR believes in a Europe of independent nations, working together for mutual gain while each retaining its identity and integrity.
  • AECR is committed to the equality of all European democracies, whatever their size, and regardless of which international associations they join.
  • AECR favours the exercise of power at the lowest practicable level – by the individual where possible, by local or national authorities in preference to supranational bodies.
  • AECR understands that open societies rest upon the dignity and autonomy of the individual, who should be as free as possible from state coercion. The liberty of the individual includes freedom of religion and worship, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of movement and association, freedom of contract and employment, and freedom from oppressive, arbitrary or punitive taxation.
  • AECR recognises the equality of all citizens before the law, regardless of ethnicity, sex or social class. It rejects all forms of extremism, authoritarianism and racism.
  • AECR cherishes the important role of civil associations, families and other bodies that fill the space between the individual and the government.
  • AECR acknowledges the unique democratic legitimacy of the nation-state.
  • AECR is committed to the spread of free commerce and open competition, in Europe and globally.
  • AECR supports the principles of the Prague Declaration of March 2009 and the work of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament and allied groups on the other European assemblies.

Member Parties of this Group include the following:

  •   The Conservative Party
  •   Law and Justice
  •   Polska Jest Najważniejsza
  •   Civic Democratic Party
  •   Libertarian Direct Democratic Party
  •   For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK
  •   Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania
  •   Christian Union
  •  Movimento Conservatori Social Riformatori

European Anti-Poverty Network Manifesto – EAPN

The EAPN’s EP2014 campaign is called Campaign for a Social Europe.  The European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) is the largest European network of national, regional and local networks, involving anti-poverty NGOs and grassroots groups as well as European Organisations, active in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. It was established in 1990.

EAPN hopes to mobilize hundreds of European, national and local organizations.

It calls on European Parliament Candidates to make the fight against poverty, social exclusion and inequalities a priority item on the European agenda. It also asks citizens to come out and vote!

Several MEPs have committed to and signed EAPN’s pledge. Follow the hashtag #electingchampions on twitter to find out who is signing as the election campaign goes on.

Despite the European Target on poverty set by the Europe 2020 Strategy to lift 20 million people out of poverty by 2020, statistics show dreadful increases in poverty rates in different EU countries. Between 2010 and 2011, the number of people at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion in the EU increased by 3.7 million (+0.7%), reaching the number of 121.2 million people in 2011 (24.3 % of the entire population). In 2012, 124.5 million people (24.8 %) at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Since 2010, 6 million more people are living in or at risk of poverty in the EU.

“The widening gap of inequalities and the absence of participation of civil society in decision making processes raise serious questions on the gap between the ones who hold the economic and political powers and the rest of the people. People are not fools but feel out of any control or power. We are at a turning point where democracy and peace are seriously threatened,” said Barbara Helfferich, Director of EAPN.

The key demands of the EAPN campaign are:

√ A Social Pact for a Social Europe
√ An effective EU Strategy to fight poverty, social exclusion, inequalities and discrimination
√ Strengthened democracy and civil-society participation
√ An annual Hearing with People experiencing poverty in the European Parliament

Click the link below to get to the full EP2014 Manifesto or go to EAPN website to learn more about the network and its work.

EAPN EP2014 Manifesto

Européennes : à chacun son truc anti-abstention

On 02/05/2014 Liberation reported about Europeen Sans Frontieres’ new Rock the Euro Vote in an article about different projects trying to overcome citizen’s lack of interest in voting in the European Elections between 22-25 May 2014.

 

Liberation_May2014

 

Here is the English translation of the part about Europeens Sans Frontieres

Quote:

The call for cultural personalities

On April 18 the Europeans Without Borders association posted a video on the sites of Paris , France Télévisions and France24 in which several personalities share their affection for the idea of ​​Europe. Guillaume Gallienne, Dany Boo , cartoonist Plantu, the constitutional Olivier Duhamel, the director of the French Comedy Muriel Mayette, actress Florence Pernel or singer Fefe are all contained in casting.

“The idea is to use the world of culture to be effective with young people, as the political and media class are despised ,” said AFP Philippe Cayla, Chairman of Europeans without Borders and former head of Euronews. “For me, Europe is peace ,” says  Dany Boon in the video. “I wish more young people to tell me “hey , there’s stuff to do in Europe! ‘, exclaims Fefe . “It is up to us citizens to take ourselves in hand, and culture may be able to save us ,” concluded the cartoonist Plantu.

 

What is an ECI?

Letmevote has been involved on EU level with running a European Citizens Initiative from January 2013 to January 2014, with the name letmevote.

The European Citizens Initiative is a new democratic tool in the EU, which is still very much at an early stage in its development. In short, the ECI format gives organisations or groups of citizens the opportunity to bring an issue of pan-european importance into the public eye. The current rules give organisers 1 year to collect 1 million signatures across the EU. If this target is reached, the EU Commission has to consider the suggestions made, thus giving citizens a direct way to influence the Commission’s agenda.

Only a tiny number of ECIs completed so far have reached their target of 1 million signatures – most notably the Right2water campaign, which had great support from significant trade union networks across Europe. In the current format of the ECI, collecting signatures on paper and online is a very complicated, so hardly manageable for true citizens’ initiatives without large-scale organisational backing.

At the moment, the EU is collecting feedback and experience reports from ECIs so far, with a view to review how ECIs are done in 2015. Letmevote and ESF are considering to submit another ECI if the petitioning tool becomes more user-friendly.

Are you interested in ECIs?

Are you an EU citizen or NGO interested in what you can have a say on?

Contact Letmevote if you would like advice or tips on what you need to consider when submitting an ECI. We are happy to share our experience.

If you want to sign existing, current ECIs, you can find a complete list of all causes currently collecting signatures here: http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/initiatives/ongoing

Here you will shortly find a report by Letmevote about our experience with the ECI format at this early stage, including our recommendations for the ECI review 2014/15.

An ECI that Works ReportYou may also find this organisation of interest which has published the report above: Initiative for the
European Citizens’ Initiative

 

Outcomes: Letmevote ECI

The time period for the collections of signatures of the European Citizens Initiative (ECI) run by letmevote ended on the 28 January 2014. The ECI Committee would like to thank all those who signed during the 2013.
Unfortunately the Letmevote ECI did not succeed in collecting 1 million signatures, which would have been necessary to get our cause directly to the European Parliament. However, beyond the ECI will continue to work on the issue of voting rights for EU citizens living abroad in the EU, and are likely to resubmit an ECI when the ECI framework is reviewed by the EU Commission.
There is debate whether the ECI should or can be a policy-setting tool – directly influencing the EU Commission – or an agenda-setting tool – encouraging and leading in public debate on an issue. Letmevote’s strength has been in agenda setting. As a pure citizens initiative without even significant core funding, we concentrated our work on three levels.
letmevote_votetick1
Our first level of engagement with the world around us was by attending and speaking at relevant conferences and events, many of them in Brussels, some in Germany, UK, Luxembourg and France. For a small campaign we achieved to build great support among EU institutions, related agencies, and EU staff on different levels. All involved see the issue of how to make EU citizenship more concrete as something urgent to work on. Our Chair Philippe Cayla has tirelessly travelled and participated in too many events to remember, all of them valuable to build our reputation and broad support among institutions.
letmevote_votetick1
Our second level of engagement with the world has been via social media. Our strength has been on twitter, but we also built a reasonable community around our Facebook page. While we are aware that in many countries twitter is not yet as mainstream medium, it did allow us a new quality of outreach to people outside of the usual institutional routes.

The topic of the Letmevote ECI – voting rights for EU citizens who live outside of their home country but within the EU, as EU citizens within the EU – was never of mainstream interest to mass media outlets. While we got some media coverage in some countries, reaching the 13.6million EU citizens, who live integrated, bu with limited voting rights, across the EU in another member-state than their country of origin, was never an easy task. Twitter allowed us to build a more than interesting network – of organisations, but also of many private, politically interested EU citizens. We built a small but passionate network of volunteers from this group, and many others have kept supporting our work by retweeting our tweets and engaging with us.

We value our social network. Many EU-focused organisations do great work, but few manage to build any campaigning support among actual citizens. We are proud that during the course of the ECI, we have broken through the ‘institutional barrier’ and have developed into an active citizens-based platform to discuss voting rights for EU citizens, and to discuss how citizens can make the EU their own by engaging actively in their communities. Much of this work for Letmevote has been led by our team from LetmevoteUK, with additional work carried out in Luxembourg and Spain, and on a smaller level in Germany and Austria.

We also take it as a sign of our agenda-setting activities that new organisations with a focus on representing some of the interests of EU citizens living elsewhere than their home country have emerged. We are broadly supportive of such work, and will continue to speak at events and cooperate online with different projects who share our interests.

letmevote_votetick1

Our third level of activity has been on direct lobbying for EU citizens’ voting rights on a national level in three countries: France, Spain and Luxembourg. As the EU cannot implement voting rights for EU citizens flat-out, one of our focal points was to work with political parties and politicians on a national level to discuss and promote the concept that all EU citizens who live in a country should be allowed to participate in all elections in this country. Our work in the three countries we have focused on continues past the ECI, and we will report back on progress.

letmevote_votetick1
In 2014 we continue to build our network of supporters who believe in strong voting rights for all EU citizens like we do. In the coming months, we will run voter registration projects in France and in the UK to encourage as many native and resident EU citizens to participate in the European Parliaments Elections in May 2014 as possible.
We keep being driven by our belief that we need a strong sense of citizenship in Europe. At the core of citizenship is voting and thus civic participation in the simplest and yet most effective expression of democracy.
letmevote_votetick1
You can stay in touch via our social media contact points
Twitter:
@letmevote_UK
@letmevoteEU
@letmevote_AT
@letmevote_DE
@letmevoteLU
@LetMeVoteES

Facebook: www.facebook.com/letmevote

 

Artistes, Rock The Eurovote!

In spring, in preparations for the European Elections, Letmevote’s embarked on a new project in France: Rocktheeurovote.

In this article in Liberation, Letmevote’s Philippe Cayla asks French artists and intellectuals to support the project Rocktheeurovote to encourage EU citizens to vote in May 2014.

Original Text:

Artistes, Rock The Eurovote !

Philippe CAYLA

TRIBUNE

L’art est le sel de la vie, et les artistes sont nos bienveillants sauniers. Leur valeur pour la société est reconnue et se traduit par le soutien de l’Etat, financé par l’impôt. Mais de même que la gabelle, impôt sur le sel, avait fini par devenir l’impôt le plus honni de l’Ancien Régime, les artistes se gardent du risque de voir la politique culturelle, qui nous coûte cher, rejetée en ces temps de disette par nos concitoyens contribuables. Les artistes ont un devoir de solidarité avec la communauté, une responsabilité spéciale liée à la forte visibilité que leur donne leur notoriété. Cette notoriété, ils ne devraient jamais oublier que, outre leur talent, c’est aussi grâce au soutien financier de la collectivité qu’ils l’ont obtenue. Ce soutien est menacé par le libéralisme mondialisé, et largement européanisé. Lors des débats sur le mandat à donner à la Commission européenne pour la négociation d’un traité de libre-échange avec les Etats-Unis, bien des Etats européens ont voulu y inclure la culture. Grâce à la France, et aussi au lobbying de quelques artistes européens, la culture a été exclue des négociations. Pour le moment, dit in petto la Commission européenne. Le maintien de la politique culturelle est donc à risque. Le prochain risque, ce sont les élections européennes en mai 2014. Si d’aventure Mme Le Pen et ses alliés d’extrême droite prennent le pouvoir au Parlement européen, ou deviennent incontournables dans les compromis partisans, que restera-t-il des politiques culturelles en Europe dans cinq ans ? Les subventions aux activités artistiques, considérées comme un repaire de gauchistes, sont menacées. Le principal risque est l’abstention. Pour l’écarter, les artistes doivent se mobiliser pour faire voter les Français, notamment les jeunes. Comment ? Prenons pour une fois exemple chez nos amis américains. En 2007, des artistes ont lancé le mouvement Rock The Vote : des artistes du monde de la musique, du cinéma, des séries TV, de la danse ou du théâtre se sont mobilisés pour fabriquer et diffuser sur YouTube des clips courts, efficaces, pédagogiques ou ludiques appelant les jeunes Américains à voter. Résultat : 8 millions d’entre eux, qui n’avaient jamais voté, ont voté pour la première fois en 2008, majoritairement pour Obama.

Pour sauver les politiques culturelles européennes, il faut faire voter les jeunes et les moins jeunes, il faut lutter contre l’abstention. Artistes, Rock The Eurovote : bougez-vous pour que l’Europe change, appelez les Européens à voter en diffusant votre message sur le Web. Et s’il vous manque les mots pour le dire, contactez-nous, nous aurons plaisir à vous aider !

Philippe CAYLA