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Gov2u launches CitizenHouse.eu: The One-Stop-Shop to claim your rights in the EU
Claim your rights to the EU
Citizenhouse.eu is your one stop shop to claim your rights in the EU. Designed for European citizens and civil society organizations, this website helps you understand the five ways in which you can enforce your rights under EU law. It provides the information in a way that is accessible to all, with insider tips and honest advice on each on the mechanisms.
Modelled on the “Maison des Associations” or NGO house, this scheme is based on a modern definition of civil society because it includes a citizen dimension.
Among all the prestigious institutional buildings, agencies, and interest groups round the EU, citizens should have their own space, both physical and virtual.
The house will not only connect citizens to the European Union, but will let them connect together for community building purposes.
5 key areas
The virtual house is a comprehensive resource on the five different instruments for citizens and Civil Society Organizations to interact with European institutions:
- Complaints to the European Commission
- Access to administrative documents
- Petitions to the European Parliament
- Requests to the European Ombudsman
- the new European Citizen Initiative (ECI), where over a million people from across the Union can demand EU legislation.
Every instrument is presented with a short description, plus case studies, issues, archives and external links.
4 ways of interaction
The Citizen House provides EU citizens with 4 ways to interact with their Institutions:
A FAQ section covering all the procedures and the European rights with examples and good practice cases
A Discussion forum – to ask questions and interact with the rest of the community and discuss European concerns or possible campaigns so that they come together across borders before necessarily rushing individually to the EU. You can post and tag your requests, as well as comment and answer on those of other members of the community. Answers are rated by the community, making the most exhaustive ones appear on the top of the page. Users can also flag incorrect or inappropriate answers and report them to the webmaster.
A helpdesk to provide you with the necessary back-up on various cases from legal experts who will be accessible via chat, email, Skype, fax and telephone. It predominantly provides answers to concrete questions regarding content, but also covers more technical questions.
Moreover, the virtual house enables you to start or join a petition or an initiative online, or address directly your complaint or your request to the European institutions.
For now, forms and examples of letters to the institutions can be downloaded.
The initiative
Citizenhouse.eu is part of a bigger project, aimed at creating a virtual and physical European Civil Society House (ECSH), in order to bridge the gap between citizens and the EU Institutions in the interests of both.
The European Parliament (EP) is supporting this initiative and has voted a new budget line for the creation of the ECSH. A lot of Civil society organizations (CSOs) so far from all member states approve of the project and want to be kept informed. This means that there is a need for such a structure.
We’ll keep you posted on further developments!