Representatives of the public came face to face with citizens from other EU countries in an exchange of opinions, expressed in declarations. On some themes, such as agriculture, pension reform and balancing the labour market throughout the EU, agreement was reached. Other themes, such as energy, political immunity or workers rights, proved to be exclusively Czech issues.
“The weekend conference finally showed that what really worries people most is inequality of work opportunities, redundancy, unclear division of EU money and the uncertainty of financial security in old age,” says PhDr. Dana Rabiňáková, director of the public benefit company Partners Czech, the organising body for the Czech element in the whole project. She adds, “The participants debated issues fairly and were able to be open to persuasion by their colleagues’ opinions. The level of discussion was higher than expected.”
The outputs will become part of a European overview of national recommendations from the 27 EU countries – 15 final recommendations will then form the basis for the European Citizens’ Summit to be held on 10th – 11th May 2009 in Brussels with the participation of many members of the European Parliament and key EU institutions.
The most heated discussion was, undoubtedly, on the subject of EU agricultural politics. The chosen sample of the Czech population, which included every socio-economic group, objected to both the level of subsidies – up to 38% of the whole EU budget – and the inequality of support. The participating citizens also made a very sensitive evaluation of pension reform. Within the context of current debate on the possibilities of flat-rate savings in private pension funds the participants agreed on a “government guarantee of assets designated for pension provision”. The politicians present at the conference were very positive in their acceptance of recommendations regarding compulsory lifelong training for teachers, from the lowest level, and students above the age of 15, in the form of funded exchange programmes, language and IT courses. The participants also emphasised the importance of support for technical schools. Discussion with politicians brought out the need for more education on relationships to financial capability.
Besides other themes, the conference participants and political representatives discussed EU energy politics. According to citizens there should be more support for nuclear energy with emphasis on improving its operational safety. At the same time it is important to engage in the development of new and alternative technology.
Source: Smart Communication, s. r. o.