"To establish a proactive European citizenship to improve the citizens’ participation in the building of the EU": this is the goal of the new plan that the 27 member states will be launching on Thursday 10th May, with two concurring events, one in Brussels and one in Rhodes. The Belgian capital and the Greek city will be satellite-linked; "by satellite-linking two different but parallel events explains the Commissioner for Culture, Ján Figel’ , we mean to symbolise the citizens’ joining forces to create the Europe of tomorrow". Figel’ goes on: "Over 500 participants from all the EU countries will gather and look for the most effective ways to improve civic participation", as part of the integration process. In Brussels, the focus will be on the EU’s ability to inform the citizens about the life of the institutions and the common policies. In Rhodes, the discussion will be about how to put in place twinning schemes and exchanges all over the continent. The "Europe for citizens" scheme, which can rely on an endowment of 215 million euros for the period 2007/2013, co-funds projects in four areas: twinning of European cities; across-the-border plans promoted by associations; events of great prominence for the public; preservation of the sites and archives that commemorate the victims of the twentieth-century dictatorships.
