Insights

: 15 January 2013

Consumers' Rights

Good practices concerning mobility from a civic point of view

The reduction of mobility is not an option, but at the same time the transport sector is not sustainable, as reported by the European Commission itself. In this scenario, Active Citizenship Network, with the European project "Mobility, a paradigm of European citizenship" raises a new mobility pattern matching to more effective protection of the rights of travelers, a real involvement of all stakeholders, without which you can not hit the ambitious objectives set at European level. To read more, click here

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Read the Italian version
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Read the Romanian version
Read the Bulgarian version
Read the Slovak version
Read the Serbian version
Read the Lithuanian version
Read the Portuguese version

The project, started in January 2013, it consists in consulting citizens in 8 Member States on the different challenges represented by the Mobility of people for the future of the EU: transport accessibility, environmental sustainability and citizens/passengers' rights.

Rationale

Mobility is a daily concern for most European citizens and is a paradigm of European citizenship, inasmuch as it embraces many of its aspects (common identity thanks to trans-national mobility, European citizens/passengers' rights, etc.). Lastly, the policy on transports and mobility is essential for the development of a sustainable economy.

The project comes from the idea to collect citizens’ opinions on Mobility in the EU as a key theme for the future of European citizens and the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

Citizens are given the opportunity to participate in decision-making and seek possible solutions regarding an issue definitely important for their daily life and the implementation of a sustainable development.

They will be able to formulate recommendations and present them to the EU institutions.

Background

Transnational Mobility is the concrete application of one of the main rights (Free movement of people) guaranteed by the Treaties to EU citizens’ since the beginning of the European construction. It is one of the factors which have contributed to the building of a common European identity.

Over the years, the EU has developed a strong policy in this area, which aims at “fostering clean, safe and efficient travel throughout Europe, underpinning the internal market of goods and the right of citizens to travel freely throughout the EU” (see website of DG for Mobility and Transport).

Mobility is a major challenge for the development of a sustainable economy, which is one of the 3 primary objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% does actually entail the development of a new mobility strategy, promoting transport modalities with a low impact on the environment.

Finally, public transports are a key question for many European citizens, who use them daily to reach their workplace and/or to carry out their other activities. They are thus interested in the development of accessible and efficient public transports, respectful of passengers’ and users’ rights. This is the reason why civic activism is especially developed in this field through informal groups (such as commuters groups) or more structured and permanent organisations (e.g. Public transport users associations, Consumer associations, etc.).

To sum up, the European consultation proposed in the present project focuses on Mobility because it is:

a common concern for most European citizens;
a field in which the EU has a large competence and influence capacity;
a policy which has to evolve to contribute more and more to the development of a sustainable economy;
a paradigm of European citizenship, inasmuch as it embraces many of its aspects (common identity, European citizens’ rights, etc.).

Objectives

The main objectives of the project are thus the following:

informing citizens and raising their awareness on the EU policies and initiatives on Mobility;
contributing to bride the gap between EU citizens and Institutions, providing the European Parliament and the Commission with information on the actual expectations of citizens in this area;
giving the opportunity to 2.560 citizens from 8 countries to concretely participate in the EU policy making, promoting direct dialogue between them and European Institutions;
enhancing citizens' interest in civic participation and their capacity to analyze critical situations, identify solutions and formulate policy recommendations.

Consultations:

The consultations will be structured in two phases: first level consultation of 640 people (citizens, members or volunteers of local associations,...) in 8 countries and second level consultation of at least 2.000 common citizens travelling on public transports, selected in a random way:

during the first phase, the partners will organize four 1-day consultation meetings for 20 people each in every participating country;
during the second phase, every partner organisation will collect the results from the 4 consultations and draft a questionnaire which will be used to interview travellers (on trains, buses, plane, etc.) on the results of the first phase. Four participants in each meeting will be selected and trained to interview people travelling on public transports (20 per each participant which means 320 per country) on the main problems and recommendations which emerged from the first-step consultations. This will enlarge and diversify the consultation target, as well as ensure the dissemination of the project.

The final recommendations will be presented to competent authorities in each country and to the EU institutions in occasion of the final event in Brussels.

To download the "Handbook for consultation meetings", click here.

To download the "Guidelines: how to present civic recommendations", click here.

Partnership:

The project is coordinated by Cittadinanzattiva onlus-Active Citizenship Network and takes advantage of the collaboration of the following Partners: