Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the ‘big picture’ and miss the details. We often discuss huge issues on Debating Europe, including energy security for 500 million people, protecting the environment across a continent, and finding the way out an economic crisis that has rocked the globe. However, it’s also important not to forget the role that cities and regions play in Europe’s future. This is where decisions taken at the European level will impact the lives of ordinary people.
We’ve had lots of comments discussing the place of cities and regions in European politics. Christos, for example, wants to know how Europe can ensure jobs and growth don’t only happen in the big cities, but also encourage opportunities in the smaller towns and regions.
Meanwhile, Nico says he has tried engaging people with local politics in his village, and he thinks it’s hard enough asking people to discuss and propose solutions for ‘small’ local issues, let alone EU-wide issues. He wants to know what can be done to engage local communities more in EU politics.
Finally, Nuno wants his grandchildren to grow up in an EU that is a confederation of local communities, with all the diversity that implies. Is this an unrealistic vision?
As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) is organising a youth conference with 150 young people from a variety of youth organisations and European political parties to discuss the future of a multi-level Europe. The event has been prepared with the help of a number of universities specialised in European studies, and the opening and closing sessions will be web streamed live. You can read the full programme of the event here, and watch a summary video of the conference below.
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Cities and regions
By de-powering nation states the EU will increase instability in the bloc. You only have to look at:
Scotland
Catalunya
Basque Region
Corsica
Brittany
FYRM
…
for proof.
WHO is pushing the EU into destabilising EU bloc nation states and too directing its imperialist expansionist tendencies??
Watch the clip, this has nothing to do with separatist regions.
@Limbidis Arian
I did – my assertion still holds.
I think the main issue in Europe is division by language. Actually culturally there is not so much difference between European nations in the 21st century but language causes real division. Generally people of the same language groups, i.e Germanic, Romance and Slavic tend to bond better than those of different language groups, overall.
Of course, a single working language in the EU would be ideal. Overall English is the most spoken working language in the EU. Outside of UK and Ireland, Germanic nations typically have the most speakers of this as a second language. Even though English is still fairly well spoken as a second language in some of the Romance nations, there is still some hostility to it. How do you overcome that hurdle? I don’t know, especially as French, Spanish and Portuguese are global languages, understandably there would be some resentment to the English language. Then you have to question again how realistic is the EU dream of a united Europe?
@Al
Some interesting points.
I would argue though that French and Portuguese are more multi-regional languages than world languages though.
English and Spanish are true world languages IMHO.
I would add to your points that favour English as the world language that:
1…English is the most expressive of all languages given its HUGE vocabulary.
2…English is the most multi-cultural language given its liberal and enlightened tendency to borrow/adopt words from numerous other languages.
3…Spanish has a relatively small language ‘impact’ across the world given that Spanish speaking countries tend not to be pioneers in sectors that frequently create new words – industries such as education, technology, engineering etc
In Portugal we don not have regions, like in most of the UE member states. We have only 2 level or government, the central and the local. 78% of public officers work for the central government, the others for the municipalities and the only two autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira. To implement a new growing and employment program, we need, urgently, to improve the new regions and a new map (=fusion) of municipalities, probably only 154 of the actualy 308 countycouncils, or communes in french. That is a good idea, I think. Anothers have probably another ideas. A.R.
@Arnaldo RIBEIRO
Interesting – maybe the governmental structure in Portugal encourages corruption.