The 2009 European elections, held simultaneously in 27 countries for the first time in history, marked an overall turnout of roughly 43% of the 375 million eligible voters.
These elections results clearly show that there is still a long way to go to increase the electoral participation of citizens at European level. This challenge has to be taken up not only by the political groups but also by NGOs and civil society organisations, in a whole process of bringing citizens closer to the European Institutions.

 

CEDAG campaign: Bridging the gap!

Ahead of the European elections, CEDAG together with its national members, wrote a manifesto entitled “ Manifesto for the organised civil society”. Moreover, it called on its members to develop national election manifestos and to build awareness campaigns and initiatives for the European elections to be addressed to the candidates in different European countries.

See some CEDAG members national initiatives for the European elections:

- “La Participation aux élections parlementaires européennes”, Working paper by Diane Grossot, Think Tank Pour la Solidarité.
This working paper seeks to put the last European elections in a broader context so as not to draw hasty conclusions but to analyse possible reforms to revitalize the electoral turnout.

- Call to the citizens of Europe on the occasion of European elections in June 2009, Initiative of Christians for Europe (IXE).
Created in June 2002 and named in March 2006 as the ‘Initiative of Christians for Europe’ or, in abbreviated form, IXE, this is a group gathering several organizations in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy (ACLI), Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Spain, and Ukraine. Ahead of the European elections, IXE issued a Manifesto calling European citizens to awaken their personal responsibility for building a more united and stronger Europe able to face global challenges.

-“FOR US, WITH US, WITH CSOs” Manifesto of Hungarian civil society organisations on the occasion of the 2009 European elections
Initiated by European House (http://www.europeanhouse.hu) and signed by 13 other Hungarian NGOs active in the field of European partnerships, this manifesto was made public and handed over to the representatives of political parties on 26 May 2009 during a press conference attended by about 50 participants and followed by a street action in downtown Budapest promoting the idea of active citizenship and urging citizens to take part in the EP elections held on 7 June, 2009 in Hungary.

- Study Plan EU for Study Circles for the Center Party of Sweden together with a Study Plan for Study Circles for the Liberal Party of Sweden and a Study material for Study Circles etc for Youth groups (in swedish)
were produced by SV, Studieförbundet Vuxenskolan for political member organisations – and others. (Liberal Party, Centre Party and for Youth groups).

Picture taken in occasion of the presentation of the manifesto on the streets of Budapest downtown, Budapest 26-05-09

 

Pictures taken Press conference on the civil society manifesto on the occasion of the 2009 European elections, Gerbeaud Cafeteria, Budapest, 26 May, 2009

  

 

 

Your contribution is important! Help us in communicating our expectations to the European Institutions by answering to the following questionnaire. 

(this questionnaire is addressed to CEDAG members only)

 

Expectations

In light of the low turnout in the recent European elections, an increasing number of citizens feel disengaged from European politics. As a consequence, despite the increasingly important role of the European Parliament within the Union, evidence shows that the majority of people remain unaware of its functions and of the main policy issues at stake.

As natural intermediate bodies between the society and the political sphere, CEDAG together with other civil society organisations hold the responsibility to bridge the communication gap between the citizens and the EU, overcoming the still existing democratic deficit .
Therefore, participatory democracy needs to be strengthened as it is the necessary complement of representative democracy. In this respect, CEDAG expects the European Parliament to push for the adoption of a framework of rules of conduct on civil dialogue in a “European Civil Society Charter”, dealing with relationships between the associations and the European institutions, based on mutual trust.

Furthermore, CEDAG advocates for the upturning of the process leading to a creation of European statutes for associations, foundations and mutual societies, in order for the non-profit sector to gain more visibility and support. The adoption of the report on social economy by the European parliament on the 19th February 2009 marked a big step forward ; however, we would like to make new progress also within the Parliament’s intergroup on Social Economy , for a greater recognition of the social economy sector.

As one of the signatory organisations of the Spring Alliance Manifesto, CEDAG wants to ensure that the new Commission and the newly elected Parliament put people at the centre of their policy-making. Therefore, we call on the European Parliament and the other European Institutions :

- To place more attention on the social agenda, fostering social inclusion and equal access to services, therefore taking on board some of the main citizens’ concerns.

- To promote the social economy sector since it plays an essential role in the European economy, by combining profitability with solidarity, creating high-quality jobs, strengthening social, economic and regional cohesion, promoting active citizenship, solidarity and a type of economy with democratic values which puts people first . The European parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers should take fully into account this sector whilst developing their policies, allowing it to operate on a level playing field with other types of societies and organisations in the single market.

- To adopt a multidimensional approach in the decision-making process at EU level, meant to take into account the impact of every EU policy on social cohesion, on environmental and social dimensions and on social economy.

- With reference to the definition of a post-Lisbon strategy, CEDAG expects the European Parliament to push for actions which could make Europe a leading area in terms of social rights and sustainable development. In particular, CEDAG calls for promoting social innovation as the key element for a sustainable developed society linked to the definition of policies aimed at promoting the quality of jobs, at investing in life-long training thus providing people with better skills and at ensuring equal access to services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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