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The Future
of Europe: Spiritual Values and Citizenship (7)
TO FIND OUT MORE…
Contents:
•
Using
QCEA!
•
Members
of the European Parliament
•
European
Commission
•
Council
of the European Union
•
USING THE INTERNET
•
Other Papers in this Series
Using
QCEA!
The
Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) publishes a monthly newsletter,
Around Europe, containing
information and analysis on current developments at the European level,
as well as updates on our work and projects. Subscribe by contacting
us at the address below, or go to the website (http://qcea.quaker.org)
to read back copies, find out more about what we do as well as for
links to other institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
and Quaker organisations (and for more details of this project, the
Convention process and the contributions of Quakers). Other NGOs also
provide information on specific issues and advise on campaigning and
lobbying techniques. Find out if organisations that you are a member
of have a European office, or if they are members of European umbrella
organisations. To
find out about and contact the European institutions, the easiest
method (if you have access) is to use the internet. See
overleaf for more details and website addresses. However, if
you do not have access to the internet you can write, fax, telephone,
or use national European information offices (these tend to be in
major cities). Some contact addresses are listed below:
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Members
of the European Parliament
Contact
with MEPs is probably the best way to communicate directly with the
EU. After all, MEPs are directly elected to represent their constituents
and moreover have a legal obligation to reply. Each EU Member State
has a different procedure for electing MEPs; the European Parliament
website (http://www.europarl.eu.int),
or the information offices for each country can tell you more.
Once
you know the name of the MEP you want to contact you can write to
them at this address:
European Parliament
rue Wiertz 60
B-1047 Bruxelles
Telephone
the switchboard to find the phone number of your MEP: +32
(0)2 284 21 11
MEPs
email addresses all follow the same pattern:
initial of first name followed by last name@europarl.eu.int
eg if your MEP is called Jane Smith her email address
would be jsmith@europarl.eu.int
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European
Commission
The European
Commission can be contacted by telephone. This works best if you know
the name of the person you want to speak to, or the relevant department
or unit. European
Commission switchboard: +32 2 299 11 11
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Council
of the European Union
Many decisions
are taken by the Council of the EU, which is made up of representatives
of the national government of each Member State. The Council is probably
the least open institution of the EU; meetings are not open to the
public, and documents are not available. However, this is where some
of the most important decisions are taken. Therefore it is worth lobbying
your government to urge them to act responsibly at the European level.
If an issue with a European dimension arises, write to national MPs
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USING
THE INTERNET
The European
Union websites can be extremely useful but can also be incredibly
frustrating! The information you want is probably there somewhere,
but it takes a little time to find your way around. Some useful starting
points: Institutions
and Information
- Europa
- http://europa.eu.int
The central website for the EU. From here you can access the websites
of the European Commission, Parliament and Council, as well as
find documents such as the Treaties, Charter of Fundamental Rights,
Presidency Conclusions etc.
The
Convention and the Future of Europe
- The
Convention on the Future of Europe - http://european-convention.eu.int/
The Convention set up by the Laeken Declaration has the task of
coming up with answers to how the Europe of the future should
look. Meetings and documents are open to the public through the
Convention website. If you do not have web access you can write
to the secretariat of the Convention at:
Secretariat of the European Convention
Rue de la Loi 175
B-1048 Brussels
Write to the members of the Convention representing your government
or parliament to put forward your opinions and to find out how
to get involved in national debates.
- Forum
- http://europa.eu.int/futurum/forum_convention
The civil society Forum of the Convention. The website includes
contributions to the Convention from organisations in civil society
(including the QCEA initial contribution!)
- The
Future of Europe debate - http://europa.eu.int/futurum
Official documents such as the Laeken Declaration, plus contributions
from institutions, politicians, NGOs, academics etc. Also has
an on-line discussion forum.
- Governance
- http://europa.eu.int/comm/governance
Includes the White Paper on Governance, reports of working groups
which contributed to the White Paper and reactions/contributions.
Participation
- Your
Voice in Europe - http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice
The EU wants you to “play an active role in the European
Union's policy-making process” and apparently “wants
to listen to your ideas, face up to your criticism and learn from
your experience.”
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Other
Papers in this Series
(1)
The Future of Europe Debate HTML
PDF (39kb)
(2)
The European Union: Institutions and Structures HTML
PDF (60kb)
(3)
Aims and Values of the EUs HTML
PDF (36kb)
(4)
Discussion: What are ‘Spiritual Values’? HTML
PDF (34kb)
(5)
Discussion: The European Union and Civil Society HTML
PDF (45kb)
(6)
Discussion:
The European Union in World Politics HTML
PDF (46kb)
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