Events

Date: Sep 23-24, 2014 Place: Esplanade of the European Parliament

The EU Civil Society Contact Group (CSCG) organised a first European Citizens’ Summit with 250 participants in June 2013. For the second edition, following the 2014 European Parliament elections, the CSCG will, through its large network of civil society from across the EU, create a space of dialogue and discussion between European citizens in order to reinforce the values and objectives of a more accountable, citizen-oriented, human rights and values based European Union. It will bring together leading civil society thinkers and citizens from across the EU, to exchange views on how to shape a Europe that moves from a logic of markets and profit to a system that put people and the planet back into the centre of politics. It will address the growth obsession of the political mainstream, that is increasingly questioned by the people in Europe, and critically assess the “EU’s 10 year growth strategy” Europe2020, that proved to contribute to the marketization of common goods such as health, education and culture. It will act as a shadow discursive space to the Commissioner hearings, and open a space for dialogue between citizens and the newly elected parliamentarians.

The Citizens Summit will propose interactive and participative workshops and sessions, to discuss our main demands, about a new Europe for and from citizens:

• A structured and transparent Civil Society Dialogue:
• inclusive, fair and respectful, accessible, properly facilitated
• A Participatory Democracy through accessible tool for European Citizens
• Discuss and create legitimacy for an alternative vision

If you are an organisation and want to support the event, you can become a friend of the Citizens Summit! By giving visibility to the event and promoting it, we would make sure that you are visible during the event. Please contact for more information. See also #Citizens2014.

The CSCG brings together eight large rights and value based NGO sectors – culture, environment, education, development, human rights, public health, social and women. Jointly we aim to represent the views and interests of rights and value based civil society organisations across the EU on major issues, which affect us across our sectors of activity. Social Platform is a member.