Looking for co-organisers to launch a new ECI promoting European citizenship and fighting for migrants’ dignity

What if Europe ensured a dignified reception of migrants, whatever their status as soon as they enter the territory of its Member States? It is up to us, European citizens, to demand the respect of fundamental rights (food, health, housing, education, and work) and for greater solidarity between Member States!

Proposing such a European citizens’ initiative is the result of collective work, carried out by various associations, students, pupils and academic actors, within the framework of innovative participative process initiated by the City of Rennes through its Citizens' Factory.

It all started when the City of Rennes called on people to use the European Citizens’ Initiative to defend a cause that matters to them.

Last autumn, the people of Rennes had been invited to build an ECI as a new challenge to talk about Europe and help the citizens make their voice heard in Europe. When we know that most of citizens don't even know the process of the ECI and are not easily mobilised around European subjects, the process required mobilization, knowledge, legal expertise and was therefore developed in partnership with associations, universities and the people of Rennes who are passionate about and committed to European citizenship.

Call for ideas...and collective design

The City then called on citizens to submit ECI ideas on the Citizens' Factory platform and organised 6 thematic workshops (sustainable food, culture, digital, social, citizenship, climate) during which these ideas were studied, discussed, reworked and collectively prototyped in order to make them legally admissible by the European Commission.

Video

Copyright: Rennes Ville et Metropole/Studio Crumble

The ECI proposal “Ensuring a dignified reception of migrants in Europe” is the result of an incredible collective work bringing together many associative and academic actors: City of Rennes and Rennes Métropole, Agoralab, International House of Rennes, Maison de quartier de Villejean (Neighbourhood centre), Collège Rosa Parks/Mediaparks (pupils and their teacher Ronan Cherel), Europe Rennes 35, MATA, students and teachers of the master 2 of European Union law and doctoral students of the Institut de l'ouest Law and Europe (IODE, UMR CNRS) of the university of Rennes 1, students and teachers (Pr A. Hervé, Chair Jean Monnet) of Science Po Rennes, students in info-com, geography of Rennes 2, asociations UTUD, DIDA and EYK, the collective of support for undocumented migrants, the League of Human Rights, volunteers and activists of associations of Villejean, of international solidarity associations and local associations, members of the collective of undocumented migrants of Rennes. They all worked together on the basis of the work of pupils from Rosa Parks School.

Discover in video

Copyright: Diego Leance

Focus on the “migrants” thematic workshop:

1. This workshop was prepared in class with the 3rd grade pupils of the Rosa Parks secondary school: Europe Rennes 35 and political science students explored with the pupils the notions of Dignity, Responsibility, Rights and Solidarity
2. 3 preparatory meetings of the International Popular University which were held in the neighbourhood centre gathered inhabitants to learn about European institutions and ECI.

Tuesday 30 November 2021, at the International House of Rennes…

After listening to the stories of four associations fighting for migrants' rights, the pupils of the 3rd grade (supervised by their teacher Ronan Cherel and geography students from the University of Rennes 2) produced remarkable texts on the problem posed by the reception of migrants and the solutions they advocated.

Meanwhile, the adults learned about European law on asylum and the levers on which to act to improve this reception thanks to a very "communicative" popularisation of the subject, carried out by female students.

The schoolchildren then presented their pleas in front of an attentive audience of adults who then worked on the formulation of the ECI. Most of the participants were inhabitants of the Villejean district, and were quite young. There were also volunteers from associations, professionals, representatives of institutions, and interested people who came on a personal basis. A real tour de force...!

12 ECI proposals put to the vote

The other thematic workshops took different forms, in different places: universities, cultural centers and online. All these events brought together in Rennes more than 300 people from all walks of life, academics, citizens, associations, institutions, and experts, to reflect, train, discuss, debate, and thus collectively make 12 proposals for citizen initiatives.

Caption: People gathered to attend thematic workshops and make 12 proposals for citizens' initiatives 

Source: City of Rennes 

Over two months, in spring 2022, the people of Rennes were invited to choose, from among the 12 proposals, the one that would be carried out collectively by the City and the participants in the project and that would enter the official EU procedure. The vote was supported by a major poster campaign across the city, and with ballot boxes in community centres where lots of kids could vote.

Caption: 12 ECI Proposals and the voting process 

Source: City of Rennes 

A winning proposal “Ensuring a dignified reception of migrants in Europe” was widely supported receiving by far the most votes.

Time to set up the group of organisers

On the occasion of Europe Day in May 2022, Labo Europe organised a festive moment of celebration of the winning ECI and launched the call for participation to the Group of organisers and more widely to the campaign.

See the report of the event (FR) here or in video here.

Join us!

Join the group of organisers to allow the ECI to be registered by the European Commission and/or help us later in campaigning for 1 million signatures.

Let’s promote a dignified reception of migrants in Europe!

To join the initiative fill out this form:

https://framaforms.org/join-the-support-committee-of-the-european-citizens-initiative-from-rennes-france-brittany

Contacts:

Service Europe and International City of Rennes/ Rennes Metropole / Labo Europe

laboeurope@ville-rennes.fr

international.europe@rennesmetropole.fr