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Invitation to EU Commission’s projects for 2015-20

Eugene Eteris, BC, Copenhagen, 26.03.2015.

According to the Council Regulation (EU) No 390/2014 of 14 April 2014 establishing the ‘Europe for Citizens’ program for the period 2015-20, the Commission invites interested parties to take part in projects reflecting citizens views on Europe, as well as WW-II remembrance and debating the Europe’s future.

Main aims of the program are the following:

- To contribute to citizens' understanding of the EU, its history and diversity;

- To foster European citizenship and to improve conditions for civic and democratic participation at EU level;

- To raise awareness of remembrance, common history and values;

- To encourage democratic participation of citizens at EU level, by developing citizens' understanding of the EU policy making-process and, by promoting opportunities for societal and intercultural engagement and volunteering at EU level.

Priorities of the program for 2015

There are two main annual priorities of the program for 2015:

1. European remembrance

In the context of the 70^th anniversary of the end of World War II, priority will be given to projects that focus on:

- World War II and the associated rise of intolerance that enabled crimes against humanity;

- The consequences of World War II for the post-war architecture of Europe: its division and the Cold war on the one hand, and the beginning of the European integration process following the Schuman Declaration in 1950 on the other hand.

2. Democratic engagement and civic participation

In the current debate on the European Union in times of the economic crisis and following the European elections of May 2014, there is a need to deepen further the discussion on the future of Europe on what kind of Europe citizens want, also stimulating new forms of civic participation whilst reinforcing those existing. This debate should be based on lessons learned from history and consider in particular the concrete achievements of the European Union. Such debate should not be limited to citizens already supporting the idea of the European Union, but reach out to citizens who have not been involved so far, or who reject the Union outright or put in question its achievements. The project is dealing with “debating on the future of Europe” ideas.

For further information, see the EU Citizenship portal at:

http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/news-events/news/09122014_wp2015_en.htm

Contact point in Latvia:

Europe for Citizens Contact Point Latvia; Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia;

K. Valdemara street 11a, LV-1364 Riga.

Contact person: Laura Turlaja, [email protected] , [email protected]
Web: www.km.gov.lv