FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ECAS demands a European Citizenship Charter

ECAS fully supports the objectives of making 2013 the “European Year of Citizens”  and in the attached opinion proposes 4 strands of activities:

(i) An action plan to remove barriers to free movement and other European citizenship rights

(ii) An outreach programme for civil society involvement in the year

(iii)Bringing civil society together to create a European citizenship Charter or declaration in partnership with the Institutions

(iv) Involving national parliaments and governments in the European Year of citizenship.

The core of the opinion is that there should be a European citizenship Charter or declaration. Union citizenship even 20 years later after its introduction in the Maastricht Treaty still means so many different things for different people that it ends up as an EU abstraction.

A Charter should bring together the aspects of rights, access and belonging which will build this first transnational modern citizenship.

One year before the European elections in 2014, the year will be an opportunity to encourage European citizens’ initiatives on which ECAS has launched a new one stop shop website and a major conference which is being organised with Democracy International on 20 March 2012.