The Citizens Manifesto: our demands for Europe

European Alternatives: Civil society demands pledges by MEPs after 3 years of consultations in Europe

Concrete political proposals for change at EU, elaborated by European citizens through the Citizens Pact, a bottom-up participatory process, will be presented to MEPs on 3 and 4 December in Brussels. After 3 years of a total of over 60 consultations with the citizenry across Europe and wide-spread presence on the street and online, the first draft of the Citizens Manifesto will be presented at the European Parliament so at to advocate for a new political and legislative agenda, covering, inter alia, civil rights, work and welfare to media freedom, migration and detention, finance.

03 December, 18.30 – 20.00 (European Parliament, 60, rue Wiertz, building Altiero Spinelli room 5G1):

Key activists in the Citizens Pact process, including world famous artist Tania Bruguera are demanding a set of concrete civil claims to be taken up by the MEPs, particularly in light of the upcoming elections for the European Parliament. On the MEPs side, confirmed speakers include:

• Gerald Häfner (Greens / European Free Alliance), Committees on Legal Affairs and on Constitutional Affairs
• Andrew Duff (ALDE), member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs;
• Rui Tavares (Greens / European Free Alliance), vice-chair of the Special Committee on Organised Crime, Corruption and Money Laundering and member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE);
• Sergio Gaetano Cofferati(Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament), vice-chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

04 December 2013, 18.00-20.00 (Espace Marx, Rue Rouppe, 4; 1000 Bruxelles)

A discussion, an aperitif: “We, the people of Europe….”

European Caravans shall be kicked off to spread the message of the Manifesto throughout Europe. Citizens, local activists and representatives of civil society organizations are launching Europe-wide journey of the European Caravans. They are travelling the continent and meeting with those who feel voiceless in the European debate, reaching out to Europeans where they are and amplifying their voices at the European level. We will be joined by activist, filmmaker and philosopher Bleri Lleshi who will speak about how we can amplify the effect of local political struggles and resistance movements. This will introduce a discussion on the role a citizens’ manifesto can play in stimulating transnational bottom-up movements for equality and democracy. Speakers and participants include, among others:

• Bleri Lleshi, philosopher, activist and documentary filmmaker
• Lorenzo Marsili, Alessandro Valera, Elena Dalibot, Daphne Büllesbach, Rosen Dimov, European Alternatives (Rome, Paris, Berlin, Sofia)
• Dobrica Veselinovic, Ministarstvo Prostora / Ministry of Space, Belgrade

Further information, programme and registration on the Citizens Pact website or at e.dalibot@euroalter.com