Joint Citizen Action for a Stronger, Citizen-Friendly Union (JoiEU)

The EU project coordinates citizen debate and action in 11 EU member states, one candidate and one potential candidate countries on a set of issues focused on increased and better informed citizen participation in the democratic life of the EU and aims at strengthening the citizen base of deeper European integration. The project is funded by the European Union through the Europe for Citizens Programme and is implemented by a group of civic organizations.
JoiEU comprises of a series of transnational debates mobilizing citizen participation and the use of innovative communications and advocacy strategies and tools culminating in joint policy initiatives for greater citizen participation in the decision-making process in the EU.

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FUTURE ACTIVE CITIZENS: VOLUNTEERING AS AN EXERCISE OF DEMOCRACY

The main objective of the project "Future Active Citizens: volunteering as an experience of democracy" is to raise the desire of becoming active citizens among young Europeans, informing them about the meaning and concrete practice of volunteering, based on the direct experience of civic and voluntary organisations.
The project will also allow voluntary organizations to develop a better understanding of their own action in a European framework and teachers to experiment a new form of informal learning.

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European Charter of Active Citizenship

The Charter aims to bridge the gap existing in the Community rules about the rights, duties, powers and responsibilities of civic organisations acting in the public policies cycle. The Charter was drawn up on the basis of an analysis of 50 good practices in the relationship between citizens' organisations and institutions gathered in 10 European Union countries and of the comments, feedback and suggestions of scholars, citizens' organisations, and public institutions.

Download the European Charter of Active Citizenship (English version) – (Italian version)

Rationale of the project
The role of citizens and citizens' organizations as actors in public policy making in Europe is growing in the last 30 years.
Nevertheless, neither the Constitution nor the European legal systems of nation-states define exactly their role as participants in the political life as a fundamental right of the citizens themselves.
For this reason Active Citizenship Network together with Active Citizenship Foundation-FONDACA have decided to promote the drafting of a European Charter of Active Citizenship, which sets out the rights and duties of civic organizations that participate in the decision-making processes related to public policies.

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