Mr President, as you know, numerous opinion polls have revealed how remote Europe is from its people and how much remains to be done to bridge that gap. Community initiatives designed to promote European citizenship do exist, but of course they are still inadequate. The decision to establish a five-year programme of subsidies to promote active European citizenship is a good thing. Promoting the idea of European citizenship so that the people assume responsibility for Europe and equip themselves with the means of exercising that responsibility is certainly the aim of this proposal, which should strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the Union and enhance its transparency. To that end, however, we must also simplify procedures with a view to ensuring that the largest possible number of associations can benefit from this new instrument. Moreover, it is observable that a hierarchical structure is developing among these organisations, a structure for which, I regret to say, there is not always any justification. Objective criteria should be defined by the European Commission for funding the operation and activities of the various NGOs, particularly those that are directly involved on the ground in practising the solidarity to which we are pledged. Let us not forget that it is thanks to them that social cohesion is maintained in the socially deprived areas of Europe where exclusion and discrimination are rife. How can we convince young people that Europe is a reality, how can we give them confidence in Europe, if Europe takes no practical action to combat discrimination? People in the field have been heard to say that the Commission maintains special relationships with particular associations. If this assertion were true, such a situation would be unacceptable. On the other hand, while the social dimension is accentuated, for which we thank our rapporteur, we cannot choose to disregard the political dimension, which is indispensable if the present democratic deficit is to be reduced. So what citizenship are we discussing? The report specifies that citizenship of the European Union complements and broadens national citizenship through the recognition of common rights. It derives from the need felt by the members of this Community to share their common democratic values in the process of constructing the Union. How long can we go on talking about a European construction process that excludes those 15 to 18 million residents of Europe who are nationals of third countries? By virtue of their active participation in European integration, they are no less European citizens than anyone else, and their associations and NGOs are also actively engaged in the effort to promote Europe. We undoubtedly want a Europe of the people, a truly democratic Europe where solidarity prevails. To that end, we must renew and enhance this European citizenship. Now that we have free movement of capital, goods and persons, it goes without saying that the people of Europe must be able to assume their responsibilities and enjoy their rights in whatever European country they have chosen to live. Europe cannot accept a tiered system of citizenship in which some of its inhabitants are more equal than others. Everyone who shares this one European territory must be able to enjoy equal rights in his or her country of normal residence. To this end, the European citizenship we create must no longer be based on nationality but on residence. Too often in Europe, nationality and citizenship are indissolubly linked. In this respect, we can benefit from the interesting experience of the acceding countries, which distinguish between the concepts of citizenship and nationality. We want our old Europe to draw inspiration from this injection of fresh impetus in order to create a new definition of European citizenship, based on residence.

Political group: Verts-ALE