As you all know, there will be European elections in June 2004. Some of you are strong proponents of European integration and believe that the European Parliament could play a crucial role in overcoming the so-called ‘democratic defecit’ of the European Union. Others would love nothing more than to blow that very same European Union to pieces. Some of you will actively try to help get a Green Party of your country or region into the European Parliament with as many seats as possible. Others won’t take the trouble, or won’t even be able to do so, since their countries are not a member of the European Union yet. But we are all thoroughly aware that the European unification process has an enormous impact on all of us, whether we like it or not. And we all want to make Europe a greener, more social and more peaceful place to live in.
What are we planning to do? There will be a meeting in Rome from 19- 22 February in which we will discuss the role of the young within the European Greens. Moreover we will have an action against the horrible ideas of the Roman Catholic Church on contraceptics and AIDS. But shhhhhh… We wouldn’t want the Pope to know beforehand, now would we? On the General Assembly in March we will launch a new web site, www.commonfuture.org, which has been developed especially for the European elections to tell the world in as many languages as possible what we Young Greens think about the current European policies on the environment and on globalisation. It will be possible to download leaflets from this web site that might be used during the election campaign. And there will be great “Common Future” posters and loads of extra features.
We have developed all these materials because we are convinced that we can have a bigger impact if we join forces on those themes we all agree upon. Thus we can show that green ideals are still very much alive in Europe, that a green vote for the European Parliament is no lost vote, and that the Greens are not just active in certain countries, but that they are popping up all over the place.
On behalf of the European Election Campaign prep team