For further information, contact

Elisabeth Victoria Lasky

ECAS

+32 2 548 04 94

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MEETING ON THE EUROPEAN CIVIL SOCIETY HOUSE AT THE EP ATTRACTS A WIDE AUDIENCE  

Brussels, June 2^nd, 2010 – ECAS held today a meeting about the creation of a European Civil Society House (ECSH) at the European Parliament (Altiero Spinelli Building, Room 5E1, 13.00-14.30). The meeting was chaired by Jean Lambert, MEP (the Greens-European Free Alliance). Stephen Pittam and Di Stubbs (Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust) were among the numerous attendants. After the welcome speech by Jean Lambert, the floor was taken by Tony Venables, ECAS director, who made a general presentation on the present state and the future prospects for the House. The extended briefing note about the ECSH was distributed among the participants. Afterwards, Coralia Catana explained the intention to use the House not only to connect citizens to the EU, but to let citizens connect together, for community building purposes. A questions and remarks section followed.

Key speakers were:

- Philippe Grosjean (Permanent Forum of European Civil Society), offering support in examining the legal and governance aspects of the project and suggesting to take into account the concept of European Economic Interest Grouping to define the ECSH legal status;

- Oliver Henman (NCVO/ENNA), congratulating ECAS for the project and offering his expertise for the project;

- Stefanie Sifft (assistant to Gerald Häfner MEP) asking about the role of the ECSH in the setup of European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECI), to which Mr Venables replied that it will help the citizens on three levels: by analysing an ECI’s compatibility with Community law, by putting people in contact through national contact points and finally by providing support to present the initiative.  

About the European Civil Society House  

The ECSH will be both a physical and virtual facility aiming to work as a hub for CSOs and citizens to strengthen European civil society. The physical house will be located in Brussels, in proximity to the European Institutions. Both the virtual and the physical houses will provide the citizens and the non-profit sector with support, advice and know-how about how to lobby, defend their rights, and make use of the tools for participatory democracy within EU.  

For its creation, a budget line a.p.m. was approved by the EP in June 2009. A survey is being conducted to identify key areas of development and to test European public opinion. So far, the ECSH has received a striking 92.1% support out of more than 500 respondents. Please visit our website for further information.