Campagne rondom het Europese burgerschap aankomende maand van start in Slovenie (en)
After visiting Romania, Germany and Bulgaria in 2008, the Commission's campaign on European citizenship is now moving to Slovenia. Under the slogan "European citizenship: not just words, but also concrete rights!", the campaign, which takes the form of a roadshow, will tour 10 Slovenian towns from 1 to 11 April 2009. It will give people information about their rights as citizens of the European Union as defined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
"The European elections are an excellent opportunity to recall and take note of our rights as citizens of the EU," said Jacques Barrot i, Vice-President of the European Commission. "We need to build up European citizens' awareness of their rights so as to enable them to assert those rights in any EU Member State and beyond. With this campaign we aim to enhance the protection and promotion of EU citizens' rights and respect for those rights."
EU citizens' rights include the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in local and European elections in their Member State of residence; the right to good administration by the European institutions and the right to lodge complaints about maladministration by those institutions; the right of access to the documents of EU institutions; the right to petition the European Parliament; the right to protection by the embassy or consulate of any EU Member State if they have a problem in a place where their country is not represented; and, last but not least, the right to move and reside freely within the European Union.
The roadshow will be launched today by a press conference at the Commission Representative Office in Ljubljana and will tour 10 towns and cities (list annexed). It is expected to reach a total of some 7 000 citizens of all ages. To attract and inform a maximum number of visitors, EU-labelled travelling tents will be put up in open-air public places and will offer interactive quizzes and informal information sessions. Visitors can test their knowledge of their rights as EU citizens and will be offered brochures, posters, mini-booklets and other promotional material.
The campaign went first, in September 2008, to Romania, where it attracted 55 000 citizens in 40 towns. The second and third roadshows visited Germany in October 2008 and Bulgaria in November 2008 and were similarly successful. Slovakia will be the next destination in 2009.
List of towns visited:
-
-01 April Ljubljana
-
-02 April Nova Gorica
-
-03 April Postojna
-
-04 April Koper
-
-05 April Novo mesto
-
-07 April Celje
-
-08 April Murska Sobota
-
-09 April Maribor
-
-10 April Slovenj Gradec
-
-11 April Kranj
For more information, go to: