Commissioner Viviane Reding
Writing in eolas, European Citizenship Commissioner Viviane Reding encourages Irish citizens to take part in the largest public consultation in the continent’s history and have their say on how the EU should operate in 2020.
Change in the European Union has always been triggered by seismic political events. The fall of the Iron Curtain reinforced the political will to bind Europe’s nations and peoples closer together. Today there are no borders. Instead, we have common rights for European Union citizens to live, travel, study, work, shop or retire anywhere in the EU. We created a common currency and welcomed member states from central and eastern Europe. In times of historic change, Europeans have worked together. They have bet on Europe and come out stronger.
Today is no different. Together, we have taken determined action to combat the crisis. Europe has had hard lessons to learn, but thanks to some strong decisions, our European house stands ready to weather further storms. Now, it is high time to consolidate what we have built and to look creatively, optimistically and realistically at what the future holds.
Twenty years after we first created the European citizenship at the small border town of Maastricht, we must revitalise the European project. And we will do it with the direct help of our citizens. The European Union is there because of and to serve its citizens. And our united continent can only grow stronger and prosper if we are able to listen and meet their needs. People expect concrete results from Europe, not just words. And rightly so.
Since taking up post as the first ever Citizenship Commissioner, I have been working with Commission President Barroso and all my fellow Commission colleagues to deliver concrete actions to make sure that citizens benefit from their EU rights in everyday life. The European Commission improved rights for victims of crime, we made it easier to get healthcare or to register your car in another European country, and we reinforced rights for consumers.
This year, Europeans will make over a billion journeys within the EU, while over 12 million EU citizens already live in an EU country other than their own. Around
40 million buy online from other European countries. And yet many people continue to face obstacles when exercising their rights as European citizens.
We can do better. And we will, with your help. Over the next three months, the European Commission is asking you what you think about your rights and the type of European Union you want to live in. On Europe Day (9 May), we launched the broadest public consultation in the EU’s history to ask citizens for their input into what we in Brussels should be doing for them.
Europe is not Brussels. Europe is where you are, be it Dublin or Dungloe. That is why we want to hear about the problems that you might face when moving around the EU, whether for work, study or holiday, or when you want to vote or stand as a candidate in elections in another EU country, or to shop online. We want to know from you how we can do a better job. And we want to hear your ideas about how the union should look in 2020.
We will put your answers and your ideas into the next EU Citizenship Report that the European Commission will present next year. And you can be part of it. Let us remove remaining obstacles that citizens face when exercising their rights so that everyone benefits from a truly borderless Europe. Next year – 2013 – is the European Year of Citizens. A year devoted to you, your rights and ideas.
Help us have an open debate, in your home town and in your country, with your friends and with local, national or European politicians to shape the Europe of the future. The European Union is a strong united continent of 500 million citizens. It can become even stronger when you make it your Europe.
