Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-24-Speech-2-356"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20061024.36.2-356"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, I congratulate the rapporteur on his excellent work in producing this report on the promotion of active European citizenship.
Many of us who genuinely care about the future of Europe believe that active citizenship will play an important role in the continuation of the European project. The EU is a work in progress; progress from centuries of division to a time of mutual cooperation. That mutual cooperation is for the benefit of all our citizens. Otherwise the EU has no raison d’être.
It is also important to understand that this mutual cooperation is not just between Member States. That is certainly important, but it is not enough. There must also be mutual cooperation between our citizens so that they too are an integral part of the process – not as an audience, but as actors on the stage; not as observers but as participants. We are looking here at participative democracy alongside representative democracy – sometimes an uneasy alliance on both sides, but one we must promote because otherwise we just pay lip service to our citizens, and they deserve much better than that.
I am pleased to see the inclusion of non-formal education programmes in this report. Perhaps we might extend that to the recognition of volunteering activities through the provision of a European volunteering passport. Volunteering plays an important role in active citizenship because many of the activities earmarked in the report, such as town twinning, civil society organisations and amateur sports organisations, involve volunteer participation. Intercultural dialogue must also be supported. All of us have our prejudices, our misconceptions about others, and it is only by engaging with each other that we begin to recognise each other’s humanity; and that is the foundation of mutual cooperation and mutual respect.
My only regret is that the funding provided will not be sufficient to accomplish the huge and important task we have set ourselves. However, I agree with the previous speaker: let us roll up our sleeves and get on with it."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples