Alliance for a responsible, plural and united world

World citizens assembly
Lille – December 2-10, 2001

Regional group

CENTRAL AND WESTERN EUROPE

The twelve participants came from 9 countries of central and eastern Europe. They had previously taken part in different socio-professional and thematic workshops. Yet, the suggested 17 themes were not satisfying for a real intra-regional debate. Exchanging our points of view on that previous experience as well as on our other experiences, we kept the theme of integration as the most relevant one. That integration is to be achieved at three levels :

1.	The integration of the countries that make up this region
2.	The integration in the enlarged Europe.
3.	The integration in a world citizen democracy

We tackled the theme from the following thought : “We have the problems of rich countries but, to solve them, we have only the means of poor countries. Our work continued like this :

The integration of all the countries of the region according to the following bases :

?	A common policy as regards western investments
?	 A common policy as regards agriculture and food production / consumption
?	 A network of civic movements / organizations (teachers, local authorities, NGO, and so on) and the reinforcement of participation and democratisation
?	 Pressure for the free circulation of persons in our region
?	 Creation of jobs and other opportunities for the young so as to struggle against ‘brain-drain.’
?	 Reinforcement of the independence of the media and public communication freedom
?	 A common policy as regards free trade and regional trade protection.

Suggestions :

1.	Full realization of the regional priorities thanks to a more efficient use of the media
2.	Thanks to the civil society in our region, as well as in the west : to put pressure on Eastern and Western Europe governments so that they sign contracts on :
?	Fiscal policy and equitable investments
?	Employment policy and notably on the respective rights with equal workforce

3.	The creation of inter-sector networks on the rural milieu, sustainable agriculture and food (actors’ role plays such as : producers, consumers, environmentalists, local authorities, distributors, and so on.)
4.	To organise a ‘Regional Assembly of Central and Eastern Europe Citizens’ with the participation of all the relevant actors such as the NGO, the local authorities, and so on, in order to create a network to favour any development of the region.