Editorial
While the European Summit is taking place in Brussels these days (21 and 22 June), today is also the official start of the summer season. In this Politeia Special we have tried to combine these two aspects, and this issue on Europe Day is the result. After the serious discussion on the situation of Roma in Europe in the last Politeia Newsletter, it is time for some lighter articles now, just before the hot and more quiet days of July and August will start. In this issue we present to you an overview of activities that have been organised in European countries on Europe Day in 2007. In probably most European countries there were activities on 9 May, and we have collected a dozen of articles and pictures to give you an idea of what happened in different countries throughout Europe.
If you have any questions, remarks or contributions, please send an email to Ms. Suzanne Jansen on: s.jansen@politeia.net. Deadline for the next Politeia Newsletter is 17 September 2007.
Enjoy reading this Politeia Newsletter Special – June 2007!
Suzanne Jansen, Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek (Dutch Centre for Political Participation)
On 9 and 10 May the Synthesis event of the European Citizens Consultations took place in Brussels. While the EU authorities were attending official events to celebrate Europe Day 27 citizens representing all EU countries were working hard to synthesise one report out of 27 national reports on the “European Citizens’ Perspectives on the future of Europe”. In a day and a half all national consultations reports were integrated into one final report and presented by the participating citizens to Margot Wallström (Vice-President of the European Commission), Jean-Luc Dehaene (MEP and former Vice-Chairman of the Convention on the Future of Europe) and Gérard Onesta (Vice-President of the European Parliament) during a press conference in the European Parliament on 10 May 2007.
Every year the open door day of the European institutions in Brussels offers the perfect opportunity for the European Movement Belgium to celebrate Europe Day and to come in contact with thousands of European visitors. The most important goal for the EMB at this day is to inform the many visitors about the European Movement, its ideas and its actions, but also to share ideas and thoughts about the EU with the public.
One of the main events on Europe Day 2007 in the Netherlands was ‘Europe Night’. On the evening of 9 May 750 Dutch citizens bought a ticket to participate in this event in the centre of Amsterdam. The programme consisted of serious elements, like debates, discussions and interviews with and between politicians, journalists and university professors. On the other hand, there was also a lot of entertainment centered around the European theme, for example, French chansons, Dutch poetry, cabaret, the ‘Big Europe Show’, and interviews with European love couples. Even though the well-educated and young visitors (20-30 years old) of the event were not representative for Dutch society, it was a very successful night, where Eurosceptics and Eurolovers put Europe in the spotlight.
EU officials working in international cooperation & development going into the field to meet students from the 4 corners of Europe, that was the premise of the 9 May initiative in schools, organised for the 4th year running in collaboration with the regions and cities of the Union.
Around 50 regions representing 18 countries of the EU participated in the 'Europe Day in Schools', a project initiated by the European Commission. Some 97.000 pupils from 4420 classes welcomed more than 90 staff 'ambassadors' from the European Commission working in external cooperation.
On 9 May, Europe Day, 50 mountain guides have set off carrying 50 European flags to the summits of 50 mountains in the Alps and the highest peaks in Italy. The flag-raising ceremonies have taken place simultaneously at midday on 9 May.
On 9 May 1950 the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman put forward the plan that lead to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). In the ECSC France, Germany, Italy and Benelux cooperated in producing war fare materials aiming for peace and reconciliation. Seven years later the Rome Treaty was signed and today we have an EU with 27 member states.
In 1985 the European countries decided to have an anual celebration of Europe Day on 9 May and to use the European flag as an official logo for the EU. The circle of golden starts symbolises holism, solidarity and harmony among the people of Europe.
Europe Day is not widely celebrated in the UK. In part, this might be because collective public sentiment is in general decline – the cause of some debate among sociologists and commentators – but mainly this must be because of the prevailing British attitude to Europe.
Most British people accept EU membership but are not enthusiastic about it. They reject suggestions that Britain should seek to leave the EU altogether, but the positive benefits of EU membership are not well-known or widespread and the idea that Europe Day should be a cause of celebration would strike most of them as absurd. Hardly anyone would think of 9 May in this regard.
Europe Day, 9 May, has been widely celebrated in Finland since the Finnish accession to the EU in 1995. This year the festivities took place in 17 cities, namely in Espoo, Helsinki, Hämeenlinna, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kirkkonummi, Kokkola, Kuopio, Lahti, Oulu, Pori, Rovaniemi, Savonlinna, Tampere, Tornio, Turku and Vaasa. In addition, the day was celebrated in many schools and workplaces all over the country.
The idea of Europe Day is to remind people yearly of the benefits of European integration, and of our common rich cultural heritage. The main theme of this year’s celebrations was the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and thus of the European Union.
"Europe Day celebrations were special this year, as the European Union is also celebrating its 50th anniversary" mentioned Mr Toivo Klaar, the Head of the European Commission Representation in Estonia. The objective of the public events was to introduce the EU to the citizens in an informative and entertaining manner. One of the main passing themes of the Europe day events was theatre. Professional and amateur theatre groups performed sketches from their plays in turns with different musical and dance performances.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration traditionally organizes the celebration of Europe week, this year for the eighth time in a row. Europe Week 2007 was celebrated from 2 to 12 May. This event was initiated by the Ministry in order to celebrate important dates in the history of European integration: 5 May 1949, the establishment of the Council of Europe, and 9 May 1950, the day the Schuman declaration was signed and which is now celebrated as Europe day. The event is realised in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Croatia, the County Councils for European Integration, a number of NGOs, state administration bodies, primary and secondary schools and leading Croatian companies. During Europe week a number of events are organized in order inform the Croatian public about the European Union and the process of Croatia's accession to the EU.
ATA, a Dutch non-profit foundation active in the Western Balkans, has supported EU Day celebrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, for a number of years, through its “Private Sector Development in the Western Balkans ” project. This year, a big EU Day celebration was held in Belgrade, Serbia, and was organised by the Ministries of Economy and Education and Sports, together with the Serbian Agency for SME Development, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. The event was supported by ATA and SINTEF, a Norwegian organisation.
Editors:
Ivo Hartman (Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, the Netherlands)
Suzanne Jansen (Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, the Netherlands)
Tatjana Meijvogel-Volk (Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, the Netherlands)
Contributors:
Angela Alaimo (Europe Direct – Euromed, Palermo, Sicily)
Suzanne Jansen (IPP, Dutch Centre for Political Participation)
Richard Laming (European Movement UK)
Tatjana Meijvogel-Volk (IPP, Dutch Centre for Political Participation)
Aleksandra Milenkovic Bukumirovic (Academic Training Association, Belgrade, Serbia)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Department for Information about European Integration
Mikael von Rabenau (European Movement Finland)
Rina Valeur Rasmussen (European Movement Denmark)
Lin Vanwayenbergh (European Movement Belgium)
Liis Võhandu (EC Representation in Estonia)
Contributions for the next Politeia Newsletter 46 – September 2007 can be send until 17 September 2007 to:
Politeia Newsletter
Ms. Suzanne Jansen
E-mail: s.jansen@politeia.net
Website: www.politeia.net
Next issue: September 2007