Docente: Cécile Bénoliel – European University Institute, Department of Law
Lingua: Inglese – Francese
There are reasons for Italians to ask if the EU is actually desirable, especially after the 2008 crisis.
I would like to sum up some of the ways in which it is still possible for young citizens to feel empowered by and in the EU.
I would use the Italian European Citizen Prize as a starting point to show how EU law can support various claims teenagers may be interested in. Libera, SOS Scuola and Citizens of Lampedusa Island are receiving this price in December 2014. I would like to discuss briefly the legal and financial support provided by EU law for these initiatives. This means that I would shortly explain the current state of the related fundamental rights in the EU and how such rights 1/are promoted by the Social OMC 2/can be defended before Court.
But the point is not to do some kind of EU propaganda: a few examples of EU policies that might contradict the above-mentioned initiatives should also be briefly evoked.
Finally, as an answer to these contradictions, I would underline the existing possibilities for EU citizens to express their points of view through the means of NGOs or citizens’ initiatives.
