On 5' July 2018, the kick-off meeting of the project APProach will be held in Paris with all project partners. The content, the general objectives, and the next steps to be carried out for the correct implementation of the project will be presented.
We will be hosting many speakers and experiences, including Ms. Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA, Mr. Hermano Sanches Ruvio, Delegate Counselor in charge of European Issues for the city of Paris, and Mr. Thomas Lecourt, project manager at ALDA. Time will also be allowed for sharing of experiences with the Danish Consulate in Paris and the Association of Democracy Defense in Poland.
APProach is designed to improve EU Citizens’ mobility by establishing an online platform aimed at increasing information-sharing between the municipalities and the EU Mobile Citizens (EUMCs).
Despite the remarkable increase in intra-EU mobility resulting from the subsequent signing of the Schengen Agreement, many citizens travelling across the union do not know exactly the rights they enjoy. Hence, although many more students are applying for the Erasmus+ program and many more are looking for better working opportunities and retirement schemes across the Union, problems are still present when citizens move to live to other countries. As showed by the 2016 Comparative study di obstacles to the rights of free movement and residence for EU citizens and their families, “EU citizens face several obstacles when deciding to move with their families to another EU country, amongst these the accessing employment, double taxation of salaries and pensions, poor administrative services, social inclusion difficulties which lead to lack of interest towards local daily life, schooling insertion, additional requirements to register to vote/stand as a candidate in European and municipal elections in another Member State”.
As such, APProach is resolute to undertake further action aimed at redressing obstacles to integration in three specific fields:
Access to Vote;
School Enrollment;
Active Participation in Welcoming Cities’ life.
These three objectives are to be achieved by the creation of an online platform, APProach indeed, where citizens and municipalities, without hierarchy of users, can share information regarding the three identified objectives. The development of the APP will be complemented by the promotion of awareness of free movement’s rights, such as exchange of best practices between municipalities, creation of focus groups, linguistic trainings, disseminating events etc.
The involved parties are the municipalities of: Etterbeek, Belgium; Lisbon, Portugal; Milan, Italy; Nea Smyrni, Greece; Paris, France; Vejle, Denmark. In addition, Cities of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Warsaw (Poland) are also associate partners in this project.
Furthermore, Neighborhood Council, Youth Councils, and Universities will be included as well at least 7,500 EUMCs and 60 Municipalities’ staffers.
The expected results are in the direction of establishing a truly European communication channel between municipalities, citizens, and stakeholders without a hierarchy of users. This will be accompanied by an increased accession for EUMCs in information in voting rights, information in children’s enrollment to schools, and information in local activities. Moreover, APProach aims at having a concrete impact on improvement in communication and sharing of best practices among municipalities, in strengthening European Civil Society and bolstering a European identity as well as training of municipal staff by fulfilling better language requirements (English B1 at least).
On 5' July 2018, the kick-off meeting of the project APProach will be held in Paris with all project partners. The content, the general objectives, and the next steps to be carried out for the correct implementation of the project will be presented.
We will be hosting many speakers and experiences, including Ms. Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA, Mr. Hermano Sanches Ruvio, Delegate Counselor in charge of European Issues for the city of Paris, and Mr. Thomas Lecourt, project manager at ALDA. Time will also be allowed for sharing of experiences with the Danish Consulate in Paris and the Association of Democracy Defense in Poland.
APProach is designed to improve EU Citizens’ mobility by establishing an online platform aimed at increasing information-sharing between the municipalities and the EU Mobile Citizens (EUMCs).
Despite the remarkable increase in intra-EU mobility resulting from the subsequent signing of the Schengen Agreement, many citizens travelling across the union do not know exactly the rights they enjoy. Hence, although many more students are applying for the Erasmus+ program and many more are looking for better working opportunities and retirement schemes across the Union, problems are still present when citizens move to live to other countries. As showed by the 2016 Comparative study di obstacles to the rights of free movement and residence for EU citizens and their families, “EU citizens face several obstacles when deciding to move with their families to another EU country, amongst these the accessing employment, double taxation of salaries and pensions, poor administrative services, social inclusion difficulties which lead to lack of interest towards local daily life, schooling insertion, additional requirements to register to vote/stand as a candidate in European and municipal elections in another Member State”.
As such, APProach is resolute to undertake further action aimed at redressing obstacles to integration in three specific fields:
Access to Vote;
School Enrollment;
Active Participation in Welcoming Cities’ life.
These three objectives are to be achieved by the creation of an online platform, APProach indeed, where citizens and municipalities, without hierarchy of users, can share information regarding the three identified objectives. The development of the APP will be complemented by the promotion of awareness of free movement’s rights, such as exchange of best practices between municipalities, creation of focus groups, linguistic trainings, disseminating events etc.
The involved parties are the municipalities of: Etterbeek, Belgium; Lisbon, Portugal; Milan, Italy; Nea Smyrni, Greece; Paris, France; Vejle, Denmark. In addition, Cities of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Warsaw (Poland) are also associate partners in this project.
Furthermore, Neighborhood Council, Youth Councils, and Universities will be included as well at least 7,500 EUMCs and 60 Municipalities’ staffers.
The expected results are in the direction of establishing a truly European communication channel between municipalities, citizens, and stakeholders without a hierarchy of users. This will be accompanied by an increased accession for EUMCs in information in voting rights, information in children’s enrollment to schools, and information in local activities. Moreover, APProach aims at having a concrete impact on improvement in communication and sharing of best practices among municipalities, in strengthening European Civil Society and bolstering a European identity as well as training of municipal staff by fulfilling better language requirements (English B1 at least).