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Join our online meeting on 11th May – Connect Europe – EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

This year, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which brings together personal, civic, political, economic and social rights, turns 20 years old. In a single text, these rights are enjoyed by every citizen in the EU. Citizens’ rights receives its own chapter as the fifth in a set of seven chapters.

As part of the Connect Europe project with 7 civil society organisations, we aim to connect citizens to the EU Charter and celebrate its accomplishments across 20 years. Let’s look at the Charter’s successes, as well as practically examine where the Charter could be modernised to fit a 21st century Europe that is battling populism and anti-EU rhetoric, and more timely, a Charter that protects citizens’ rights in times of international crisis.
*Disclaimer: this online event will be recorded.
Please register to receive the invitation link: www.democracy.community/forms/registration-online-connect-europe

Programme includes Member of European Parliament Daniel Freund, Marie Jünemann from Mehr Demokratie, and a Virtual European Public Sphere discussion!

View the full programme here: www.democracy.community/event/online-connect-europe-strengthening-and-raising-awareness-citizens-rights

Register here: www.democracy.community/forms/registration-online-connect-europe

Today we were supposed to meet in Gdansk with over 100 young people including our ERB Youth Board for the final event of our SIA4Y project. Unfortunately due to the COVID19 situation, we will not have a chance to meet, talk, share best practice and spend quality time together. It was always a pleasure for me to meet you and I have excellent memories of our joint events!

Even though the situation stopped us from disseminating the project results and sharing the best practices in person, we have made sure to be ready with our final publication for the final event date. Please see attached the pdf file which has three parts:

  1. Part aiming youth „Youth for Healthy democracy in the European Union” with methods of healing the EU democracy by increasing transparency, openness and access to information in the European Union.
  2. Priority Transparency Needs from a Youth Perspective
  3. Code of Good practice (that we already know) – Youth Access to Public Information.Towards Better Understanding of Democracy.

Please see the pdf file here:

This is the result of 10 international meetings with almost 400 young people from more than 9 countries! Thank you for your contribution and congratulations on your great work!

Let’s share and learn from it!



You can now download our SIA4Y project Code of Good practice – “Youth access to public information. Towards a better understanding of democracy”.

To download the document click below:

SIA4Y_Code of Good Practice

The right to freedom and access to public information, enabling young people to search for and receive public documents, serves as a vital tool in the fight against corruption, facilitates full participation in public life, increases governing efficiency, encourages investment and helps enforce fundamental human rights. The openness of public authorities’ actions is an indicator of a democratic state. It is the fundamental guarantee of citizens’ trust in the state and its law, without which the harmonious functioning of society is not possible. Information on the activities of public bodies may be relevant for both the individual and the general public. Access to it is one of the essential tools enabling citizens to exercise control over those in power.

That is why it is so vital to ensure the broadest possible access to public information. At the institution level,
it means creating conditions for sharing information, and at the citizen level, the ability to exercise this right (I know how and for what). Only those young people who are informed about their rights and obligations can independently make decisions and pursue their goals as full citizens.

Visit our project website: www.civicyouth.eu

Last week we were in Lisbon, Portugal,  to meet with our 6 partner organizations from our “Connect Europe” Europe for Citizens project discussing:
– How to raise awareness on #EURights
– How to challenge authorities in implementing the Charter on fundamental rights
– The way forward from the existing charter to include new important rights.

​This project aims to connect citizens and civil society representatives with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The European values are threatened with increased populism and nationalism around Europe. ​We want to raise awareness about the EU charter and discuss our fundamental rights as citizens of the EU. 

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

The Charter of Fundamental Right of the European Union is a legally binding document that contains a list of human rights recognised by the EU. The rights of every individual in the EU were established at different times, in different ways and in different forms. For this reason, the EU decided to include them all in a single document, which has been updated in the light of changes in society, social progress and scientific and technological developments.  The Charter of Fundamental Rights brings together all the personal, civic, political, economic and social rights enjoyed by people within the EU in a single text.

It covers:

  • all the rights found in the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU
  • the rights and freedoms enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights
  • other rights and principles resulting from the common constitutional traditions of EU countries and other international instruments.

The charter has become legally binding on the EU with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in December 2009.

During the next meeting in Helsinki, we will talk about the EU Rights, especially about the dignity and later, in Gdańsk, Poland to discuss the solidarity in Europejskie Centrum Solidarności I European Solidarity Centre!

See our website to know more about the project:
https://www.eurights.org/

Nyt Europa
Democracy International
Plataforma Portuguesa para os Direitos das Mulheres
Netwerk Democratie
European Civic Forum
#AEKS

The content of this website is the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union, the Managing Authority or the Joint Secretariat of the South Baltic Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020. The project UMBRELLA is partly financed from the Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020 through the European Regional Development Fund.