“Europe for Citizens” meeting in Riga to plan the development opportunities of the programme

On 8-9 April the representatives of EU Member States participating in the programme "Europe for Citizens" meet in Riga to discuss the measures to be taken to improve the information flow and to strengthen the cooperation among project partners in order to facilitate the future implementation of the programme.

For two days 30 delegates from the European Commission, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission, the representatives of EU Member States and different organisations implementing the programme "Europe for Citizens" in EU Member States will meet in Riga. During the meeting representatives of the European Commission and representatives of its subordinate institutions will provide information on future development of the programme and will respond to crucial questions relating to progress of the programme and will engage into discussions on necessary improvements of the programme.

The representatives of the Contact Points of the programme "Europe for Citizens  meet twice a year and each meeting is organised by the presiding country of the Council of the EU. Current developments and challenges of the programme are commonly among the main discussion topics of the meetings, searching for suitable solutions to improve the future quality of the programme.

Programme "Europe for Citizens" is developed to bring Europe closer to its citizens, to strengthen the European dimension in remembrance of meaningful historical events and to increase society’s participation opportunities in the EU processes, providing more open debate on EU issues at local, regional and national level. The programme provides the opportunities to civil society organisations, their members and wider society to participate in the democratic life of the European Union.

The programmecalls for debate, reflection and cooperation to strengthen the historical memory, EU integration and history as well as public awareness on EU policy-making processes and potential involvement in them. Also, the programme promotes solidarity, societal engagement, intercultural education and volunteering opportunities at EU level.

The programme also draws attention to EU objective to promote peace, to strengthen EU values and well-being of EU people and to encourage democratic and civic participation of citizens at EU level.

The meeting in Riga is organised by the Contact Point in Latvia of EU programme "Europe for Citizens  of EU Cultural Contact Point of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia in collaboration with the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission, which is the central administrative body of the programme.