Bucharest, World Trade Center
The Romanian Academic Society organizes, on March 24-25, the first session of European consultations for and with the participation of the Romanian citizens.
The event will take place in Bucharest at World Trade Center (New York conference room). The project called “European Citizens Consultation: Making your voice heard” is part of the national citizens consultations that take place simultaneously in many other EU member states.
A number of 45 citizens, randomly selected from all over Romania, will participate in this debate. They will examine issues of both European and national interest, such as:
– Energy & Environment: The environmental and economic impact of Europe’s energy use
– Family & Social Welfare: The social and economic conditions for Europe’s families
– EU’s Global Role & Immigration: The EU’s role in the world and the management of immigration
They are taking part in the biggest ever pan-European consultation exercise designed to ensure that the public’s voice is heard by governments and policy-makers in the current debate over the European Union’s future direction following the No votes to the EU’s Constitutional Treaty in France and the Netherlands in 2005.
The Romanian event will take place in the same time with similar events in other European countries such as Great Britain, Malta, Sweeden and Italy.
The first phase of this project took place last fall, in October, when 200 citizens from all over the European 25 member states established the Agenda Setting with the three topics for the second stage of the project – The National Citizens’ Consultation that takes place during February and March. The last part of the project will take place in May in Brussels where the results from all 27 member states Citizens’ Consultation will become subject of evaluation. The results of the National Citizens’ Consultations will form a “European Citizens’ Perspective on the Future of Europe”, to be presented to representatives of European and national politicians.
Participants to this unique and politically independent dialogue and participation process will be able to exchange their opinions, develop shared visions for the future of Europe and make recommendations to political decision makers.
The European Citizens’ Consultations are led by a consortium of independent foundations and non-governmental organisations. The Belgian King Baudoin Foundation has the project lead, working together with the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS), the European Policy Centre (EPC) and the Network of European Foundations (NEF). The project is being financed by Compagnia di San Paolo, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and the Robert Bosch Stiftung. The network of European partners and funders includes organisations from all EU Member States.
The organizer of the National Conference in Romania is the Romanian Academic Society, in partnership with TVR and WTC and it is being funded by King Baudouin Foundation Belgium.