jef - 9th November action

9th November action

JEF-Action on the 9th of November

European youth celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall and demands more freedom of movement in a united Europe without borders or visas with a pan-European street action on the 9th of November!

Click here for a document on the historical background of the action and a digital presentation! You can find the press release on the action here.

How to do the 9th of November action?

WHAT?
European youth celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall and demands more freedom of movement in a united Europe without borders or visas.

WHERE & WHEN?
On central squares all over Europe! Preferably around 7pm on Monday the 9^th of November (for more info about this historical moment, please check the file about the historical background). But anytime during Monday the 9^th or even on Sunday the 8^th is fine.

PARTICIPATING CITIES

ALBANIA - Tirana

BELGIUM - Bruges, Brussels, Gent, Leuven

BULGARIA - Blagouvrad, Sofia

FRANCE - Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Toulouse

GERMANY - Berlin

ITALY - Florence, Riomaggiore-Manarola-La Spezia

KOSOVO

LATVIA - Riga

SPAIN - Madrid

SWITZERLAND - Nyon

HOW?
Build a wall with empty boxes or with plaster, on a central square, ask people to gather on each side and then take it down to bring all people together.

You can also make a fake Checkpoint Charlie: make barbed wire with normal cords and let guards patrol at the passages. Stage a play with people trying to escape but failing because of the wall. Eventually, they manage to break through.

Write slogans on the wall or make banners and use a lot of EU flags

POSSIBLE SLOGANS:

“EUROPE, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL” (along the lines of Ronald Reagan screaming in Berlin “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”, cf: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_down_this_wall). Alternatively, you can also ask the Commission President or your own head of state to tear down the wall but a common European message would be cooler!
“Ich bin ein EUROPÄER” (also like Mr. Reagan, I wouldn’t mind doing it all over Europe in German as he also spoke in German)

Other proposals:

Long live a united Europe !
Visa = borders / Visa = still dividing Europe
Let’s integrate ()
Never again!
For a united and federal Europe!
Don’t be another brick in the wall!
….?? be creative and create your own slogans!

AFTER THE ACTION?

Send your pictures as soon as possible to the European Secretariat: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it !!

AWARENESS RAISING & SPEAKING POINTS FOR PRESS AND BYSTANDERS

Ideally, additional information should be provided to the general public and to the press to raise awareness about the border and visa problems in Europe and the necessity for further enlargement. This can be done by setting up a stand, handing-out leaflets or flyers, organising a conference and sending press releases to the media.

For EU countries :

European youth celebrates the peace in Europe and the benefits of an ever closer union (certainly in light of the Lisbon Treaty that will be about to enter into force soon)

The fall of the Berlin wall was an event for the whole of Europe and made the reunification of Western and Eastern Europe possible which started with the 2004 and 2007 enlargements but which is still not finalised as many more Europeans from European countries face restrictions to come to the EU or even join the EU. JEF wants EU countries to abolish the visas for all European countries or at least make the visa application process cheaper and fairer because some Europeans have to pay up to 120 Euros (which is a outrageously expensive for some of our neighboring countries) for a visa without having any guarantee that their application will be approved by the embassies as the process is both arbitrary and non-transparent. Eventually, JEF does not want enlargement to depend on religious, cultural or ethnic arguments but asks for enlargement as soon as the European countries who want to join are ready to join when they have fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria and give proof of political commitment and shared principles.

For non EU countries :

In a truly united Europe, we must get rid of borders. Youth mobility must be increased, work permits must be easier to obtain and the visa application process must become less arbitrary and preferably totally abolished for all European countries. Eventually, EU accession is the goal as soon as the Copenhagen criteria have been fulfilled, namely, political (democracy, rule of law, human and minority rights), economic (market economy) and legislative alignment to the acquis communautaire.

Let’s break the mental wall which prevents European countries from joining the EU!

JEF international seminar in Tarxien, Malta | 17-23 October 2010

“The ultimate solution for a better life: (im)migration?” is an international seminar organised by JEF-Europe and JEF-Malta in Tarxien, a small village in the south east of Malta from 17 until 23 October 2010.

When speaking about immigration it is important to make the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants. Despite the obvious difference in their legal status, immigrants in both categories often feel unwelcome and excluded from their host societies, which is closely linked to xenophobic attitudes widespread across Europe and openly manifested especially in recent years, but also the lack of adequate policies and assistance of governmental institutions in host countries.