Brussels, 06/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of the first consultation of European citizens, due to take place in Brussels on 7-8 October, the Commission announced on Friday that it was allocating €4.5 million for pan-European projects by non-profit civil society organisations, with the aim of encouraging and promoting dialogue and debate among citizens on EU issues.
The six projects selected, following a call for proposals, are: “Tomorrow's Europe” proposed by the Notre Europe Foundation, Paris (http: //notre-europe.eu/) ; “Speak up Europe” proposed by the European Movement International, Brussels; “European Citizens' Consultations” proposed by the King Baudouin Foundation , Brussels (http://www.european-citizens-consultations.eu ); “Our message to Europe” proposed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft, Berlin (http: //http://www.deutsche-gesellschaft-ev.de/ ); “Radio Web Europe” proposed by CENASCA, Rome(http: //http://www.cenasca.cisl.it/entra.htm ); and “Our Europe-Our Debate-Our Contributions” proposed by the European House, Budapest (http://www.europeanhouse.hu/e/ ).
As part of its “Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate”, the Commission suggested building debates around three main themes: Europe's economic and social development, how citizens view Europe and the Union's tasks and Europe's borders and its role in the world. Plan D is the Commission's response to pause for reflection on the future of Europe, decided on by the European Council in June 2005 following the French and Dutch rejections of the Constitutional Treaty (see EUROPE 9267). The Commission will take initial stock of the exercise at the end of October. (mb)