An important one day conference for students of European studies
Tuesday 26th February 2002, from 9.30-5.30, at the Centre for the Study of Democracy,University of Westminster, 100 Park Village East, London NW1.
What will it feel like to be a citizen of Europe? The propositions currently being considered and debated by the council of ministers, the European Parliament and the new constitutional convention will in due course result in many changes to ordinary people’s relation to the EU. So will the enlargement process, as 10 applicant countries in east and central Europe and the Mediterranean are expected to join in 2004.
Our conference aims to help you to discover what it means to be a citizen in Europe. In the morning session, different workshops will examine the wide variety of different rights and duties which citizens in the different member states of the EU possess. Concise information packs will be provided.
Each workshop will investigate a particular part of this body of rights and duties, including juridical rights, civic duties, educational and linguistic rights, duties of civil defence, conscription in certain countries, social insurance rights, employment and entrepreneurial rights, collective representation rights and duties. This will help you consider whether there should be a common benchmark shared amongst them, providing a standard of rights and duties accruing to citizens by virtue of their countries being members of the EU. In the afternoon session, each group will summarise their findings to a plenary session.
Workshops in the afternoon session will discuss the practical implications of being a citizen of Europe. You will look at case studies providing illustrations of the problems and policy choices which EU central institutions and member governments will confront in formulating and administering a common standard of citizens’ rights and duties. The concluding plenary session will build on the case studies to ask, What do the citizens of Europe require in a European constitution? We anticipate a lively discussion, in which there will be no firm or absolute answers, but much food for thought and further research!
There are three speakers: Hugo Young, Guardian columnist and author; Bill Rammell MP, chair of Labour Movement for Europe; and Shirley Williams, Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords.
Cost of the conference: £7.00 (tea, coffee, lunch and conference information packs on citizens’ rights and duties.) Cheques payable to: Citizens for Europe
To book your place, contact, Ms. Tracey Cresswell, the Administrator at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, 100 Park Village East, London NW1 3SR.
tel.: 0207-911-5000 ext.7200. e-mail: [email protected]
This conference is organised by Citizens for Europe with financial assistance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. For more information about the conference, contact Citizens for Europe, 6 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF. e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Web: www.citizensforeurope.org
More information