Europees burgerschap onderwerp bijeenkomst maatschappelijk middenveld in Hongarije (en)

The European Civil meeting, an international civil society conference is organised between 5th-7th June in Budapest. With regard to the priorities of the Hungarian EU presidency and to the Europen Year of Volunteering, the focus theme of the conference is active European citizenship. The expected 400 participants, including 150 guests from the EU and the Western Balkans discuss the present situation and the future of active citizenship in Europe.

The conference is organised by the Századvég Political School with the support of the European Council. It takes place in the form of plenary and parallel sections of workshops and discussion panels, with simultaneous Hungarian/English and also sign language interpretation, in venues with disabled accessibility. The event is part of a series of European civil society conferences known as the European Civic Days (ECD), started in France in 2008 and followed up by a meeting in Spain in 2010. Jean-Marc Roirant, President of the European Civil Forum, who brought ECD to life is also attending the conference.

Hungarian President Schmitt Pál opens the conference in the Parliament on June 6, followed by the welcome speech of other dignities including Mr Staffan Nilsson, President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Ms Eniko Gyori, Minister of State for EU Affairs and Dr Katalin Szili, former Speaker of the House.

There are four topics discussed at paralel sections: ’Active European citizenship and civic participation’, ’EU citizenship education and active youth’, ’The role of CSOs in the Western Balkan enlargement’ and ’Active European citizenship and volunteering’. Following the discussions, the participants will make professional recommendations on the specific topics for the institutions of the European Union and national governments. On the last day in the SYMA Hall, the participants discuss and accept common statements based on the workshop conclusions.

An important accompanying event of the European Civil Meeting is the Civil Expo exhibition on 7 June in the SYMA Hall, where nearly 30 NGOs from Hungary and abroad present themselves with stalls, photo exhibitions and roundtable discussions. The ECM is one of the major programmes of the closing month of the Hungarian EU presidency.

Emese Faragó

European Youth Press

The European Youth Press programme is initiated and financed by the European Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Parliament. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission and the European Parliament are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.