On Wednesday, 12th February, a team of 12 YEPP delegates met with Commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, Vivianne Reding. This is the 5th time in recent months that YEPP is working closely together with a member of the European Commission.
The team presented the ‘Citizens First’ campaign to the Commissioner, which began last year in the context of the European Year of the Citizens. The campaign, led by 10 rapporteurs, focuses on finding measures for a simpler, more understandable and citizen-driven European Union. The 10 rapporteurs, in teams of two, presented some of their initial proposals to the Commissioner, getting valuable feedback, recommendations and advice for their final piece of policy which will be presented in the ‘Citizens First’ YEPP Council in Cyprus this coming April.
The Commissioner had the opportunity to briefly elaborate on the work of her cabinet, the progress and outcomes of the Citizens Dialogue events and her vision and hope for the future of our Union. The meeting reaffirmed the excellent collaboration of the Commissioner and YEPP and paved the way for further cooperation on even more issues, such as the ‘Low Tax Hero’ campaign.
The ‘Citizens First’ rapporteurs:
Economic Union: Jan Thomas Kettner, JU, Germany and Csaba Farago, Fidelitas, Hungary
Union of Citizens: Patrick Molloy, YFG, Ireland and Tuomas Stöckel, KNL, Finland
Democratic deficit: Pierre-Henri Dumont, Jeunes UMP, France and Jim Lefebre, Junge ÖVP, Austria
Reducing bureaucracy: Margherita Saltini, GL, Italy and Arba Kokalari, MUF, Sweden
Simplifying EU processes: Ante Škugor, MHDZ, Croatia and Maria Olszańska, SMD, Poland
