The most recent Eurobarometer survey, published last month, found that 68% of respondents agreed that their country has benefitted from EU membership. But there have been very few attempts to list the concrete benefits of EU membership to ordinary people across the EU. Ahead of the European elections in May next year, it is hoped that this website will illustrate to what extent the EU makes a difference.
The interactive, multilingual, ‘What Europe Does For Me’ online website, put together by the European Parliamentary Research Service, presents hundreds of easy-to-read, one-page notes giving examples of the positive difference that the EU makes to people’s lives. Users can easily find specific information about what Europe does for their region, their profession or their favourite pastime.
Launching the site in Strasbourg today, European Parliament President Tajani said: “Europeans ask what the EU has done for them and this new European Parliament website provides clear, jargon-free answers. It will be a valuable tool in bringing Europe closer to its citizens”.
Around 1 800 one-page notes are available to read, share or reuse as online pages or as PDF files. They are organised in two main categories on the website. The first section, ‘In my region’, allows users to select the place where they and their family live or work. How is Europe present in our towns, cities and regions? This section of the website covers over 1 400 localities in every part of the European Union.
The second section of the site, ‘In my life’, lets each user select from 400 ‘one-pagers’ to find things that are important to her or to him personally. How does the EU affect, for example, families, health care, hobbies, travel, security, consumer choices and social rights? How does the EU support people in their professional lives in dozens of jobs – from beekeepers to bus drivers to brewers? What has the EU done for people who enjoy leisure activities such as sport, music or watching television? A series of podcasts in a growing number of languages is also available for this section.
The notes provide a snapshot of EU action for citizens – based on interesting examples, with onward links to further information – rather than trying to list everything the EU has ever done.
They will be complemented, in a third section of the site, with longer briefing papers on EU policies ‘in focus’, which outline some of the achievements of the current parliamentary term, and the outlook for the future, with a special focus on public opinion and citizens’ concerns and expectations of EU action.
This website has been put together by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), in conjunction with the Communications and Translations services of the European Parliament.
