Mission 2008

Conference on the Future of the Lisbon Treaty in the Polish Sejm
Warsaw, 27 June 2008.
 
Download programme [PDF file].

In its declaration, issued in Brussels on 4 June, the Action Committee for European Democracy (ACED) concluded:

“We have to learn the lessons of the period of reflection: communicating better with the citizens, informing them fully about the initiatives and the work of the European Union and involving them in a real and permanent dialogue has to become the first of our missions.”

This claim remains imperative. Hence, the ACED aims at contributing to the ongoing ratification processes of the Lisbon Treaty and add its voice to the debate how the objectives of the Treaty will be realised. The chief goal is to render the purpose, contents and gains of the Reform Treaty comprehensive to the Union’s citizens. More generally, the public debate and interest in the workings of the EU, its policies, democratic functioning and benefits for Europeans and beyond Europe depend on how the Treaty’s innovations will be filled with life. The prime task remains to move a step forward in what in 2001 the Declaration of Laeken pointed as the prime challenge for the Union: tightening the links between EU institutions and the Union’s citizens.

The members of the Aced will to this end organise public events and will also seek access to various media platforms and other possible means to give their contributions to the widest possible awareness and understanding of the prospects and challenges of the European project.