ECAS has approved a manifesto for the European elections. Tony Venables, ECAS Director said today, 27 January 2009: “EU debates after the negative referenda results in France, the Netherlands and more recently Ireland have led to scattered reactions and experiments – for example with a Plan D. What we have done in this manifesto is to bring together a whole raft of ideas and proposals which we think are necessary to bridge the gap between the EU and citizens.”

ECAS invites citizens, NGOs, candidates and political parties to take a look at these and take them into account in raising their voice during the election campaigns.

Our ten points are not just rhetoric, most are backed by research and experience as an advice service for NGOs. The common theme is "European citizenship".

The ten points for a citizen-oriented Union are:

2. Make European citizenship more inclusive by closing the gap between EU citizens and third country migrants
3. Make democratic control over the European Union more European, less national
4. Give every European citizen a chance to benefit from European Union exchange programmes
5. Give citizens rights to be informed by the EU and genuine freedom of information
6. Support active European citizenship by a framework agreement between the EU and civil society
7. Add citizens’ initiatives and participatory democracy practices to EU policy making
8. Add a citizens’ clause to the Treaties so that expectations lead to results
9. Make European citizenship work better through proper enforcement including better access to the European Court of Justice
10. Make the Charter of fundamental rights legally binding