IMAGINE GIOVANNI FROM ITALY, MAIBRIT FROM DENMARK, CATALIN FROM ROMANIA AND SUSANNE FROM GERMANY…

… want to set up an EU-wide animal welfare organisation, that can be active not just in ONE country, but across the WHOLE European Union. They believe animal protection cannot be achieved successfully on a purely national scale. Did you know that in the EU today these young Europeans are not allowed to set up such an EU-wide organisation? Sounds strange? We think so, too.

On this website, you will find many more examples like this. Unfortunately, the sobering truth is: The European Union today is a half-finished democracy. Even though the European treaties refer to us as “citizens of the Union”, we are kept apart by national governments who mistrust civic cross-border action beyond their national control. So, despite Schengen and all that talk of free movement of citizens, when it comes to civil society EU member states still operate very hard borders in practice. We believe this needs to change for Europe to truly become a Europe of its citizens. What we request is a transnational European democracy.