Our Proposal
"Teach me Europe" (previously entitled "I'm going European”) — European citizenship for all, not just the few
This European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) aims for a Europe of equal opportunity. In theory, young people have the freedom of Europe, but there is a gap between the fine principles of the law and the barriers to access. If one-third of EU citizens have the civic education and skills to take advantage of Europe, the majority miss out. EU declarations on European citizenship education are a “dead letter”. The citizen-led Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) appealed repeatedly for education in European values and critical thinking to meet major challenges: migration, climate change, media literacy and the digital age. The EU ignores this appeal at its peril.
STATUS UPDATE — JUNE 2024: At the beginning of April, we took the decision to temporarily withdraw our ECI, ahead of the signature collection stage, to rework our Proposal in light of invaluable feedback and insight, so as to strengthen it further (see our letter to the ECI team in the Commission). We are currently in the process of rewriting the Proposal text, and share here a first draft of the new working version. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your comments and suggestions. The Conference on 3 July will be a first opportunity to discuss this new approach with the participation of the ECI Forum, which provides advice to organisers of initiatives.