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So what is happening now is that the discussion goes from on air to online, from tv to strictly
internet! If you are watching this now, you are probably watching on a PC or laptop, or
a Smartphone or some other such device... We are just going to wait a couple of minutes
for TV viewers to catch up with us on line ; and for the backstage crew as well to move
the cables and the cameras to get Vice President Reding's studio ready for the Hangout.
Now once we are ready to go, here is the plan: we will be joined by citizens, who you may
be able to see below me on the screen. They have been preparing their questions for Vice
President Reding. They will be putting those questions directly to her. We will be joined
in total by 10 citizens. While we are waiting for the Hangout to start
proper, why do not I tell you about some of the issues that we will be covering?
And in no particular order, here are some of the issues: there is gender equality, for
example, women in business. There is discrimination in Europe, the freedom of movement and the
freedom of expression in Europe, the role of Europe in the lives of Europeans. One of
the big issues over the last 6 months certainly has been data protection and online privacy,
we will be covering that this evening. We have a question on Ukraine; and for all those
electronic cigarettes enthusiasts out there: we have heard you on twitter! It would be
very difficult not to hear you! You have been very vociferous on twitter but well done!
You are organized and we will be looking at very controversial legislation surrounding
electronic cigarettes! I will be punctuating the participants' questions
with questions we have been receiving on the social networks. You can still send these
questions in fact: use the hashtag #askreding or there is another hashtag #eudeb8. So use
those hashtags, you send your questions and we will try and ask as many of those questions
as we can. I can't promise you that we will be able to ask all of those questions... we
simply do not have the time! But we will do what we can to ask as many as we can in the
time available, which should be about an hour. I think you should see 8 of the citizens down
here. There are 10 in total -- there will be 2 joining later on. That is purely for
technical reasons. It is just that we can only have 10 windows on the screen at any
one time. But we wanted to invite as many people as possible to join this.
So I am being told in my ear piece that we are ready to go! I think the best way to do
this is perhaps to introduce or allow the participants to introduce themselves!
Let's start with Daniella. Daniella, are you there?
Yes, hi! Just briefly, describe yourself in two words
or phrases even... I'm in Tel Aviv; I am Israeli and American.
In my day job, I oversee marketing in a start-up here in Israel that does behavioural data.
But I am not here to talk about data protection, I'm interested in gender equality and women
on corporate boards specifically. I have an MBA from INSEAD in France; I graduated 10
years ago. I see my friends, female friends, who went to school with me who are all very
accomplished professionals, struggling with the glass ceiling, with discrimination, with
outdated perceptions - while most of the men we studied with are doing better in their
careers: they seem to fit in where we don't. I have a blog, I blog very actively and I
tweet about women in business and I follow your work on this and on the issue of quotas
on corporate boards and I'm here to talk and ask you questions about that.
Ok, so you will be talking about gender equality. So now we are going to Eszter. Eszter, can
you hear me? Yes, I do. Good evening to everyone. My name
is Eszter, Eszter Soos. I am from Hungary. I am a political scientist. I am 29 years
old. I work on French politics, that is my main point of interest. My questions will
address French EU policies. I am a convinced European Federalist, so I hope we will be
able to discuss a few good points tonight. Thank you very much Eszter. Paul?
Hi everyone: My name is Paul Budurca; I'm a Romanian citizen and currently living and
working in Ireland, and I cannot wait to ask my questions to the Vice President tonight.
Thank you. Thank you Paul. Next stop is Hugh. Do we have
Hugh? I can't hear Hugh and I am not sure I can see Hugh? Is that Hugh?
Let's move on, we've got...Yves... Yes, I am here. I am Yves Leroux, I am the
oldest guy of the group apparently! I am French as you may hear. I am working on IT security
and IT privacy. That is why my questions will be more on IT issues, on data protection and
the impact on cloud computing. Up next, we have Maria...
Hello, I am a Bulgarian journalist and also a criminology researcher. I share a lot of
common interests with all the other participants: I am interested in gender equality, I am interested
in data protection, and I am interested in freedom of movement in the European Union
at the moment. I will be following and asking questions on all those subjects and I will
be very interested of what comes out from the talks.
Thank you Maria. Next, we have Jakub? Yes, hello, I am Jakub, I'm Czech originally,
but I live in France right now. I study political sciences. My main domain is also French politics,
like one of my colleagues. But I am really interested in politics in a global sense.
I am looking forward to the European elections this year and the result. I will be asking
questions about citizenship and what people think about Europe.
Thank you very much, Jakub. I think we should be able to see Timur down there? Timur?
Yes, good evening Mrs Reding, ladies, gentlemen. I am very pleased to take part in the Hangout.
I am 16, I live in the South East of Ukraine. This year I will finish high school. At the
moment, I am worried about the economic and political future of my country. My questions
are about that. Ok. The only question mark remains over Hugh
there...I don't know if we have Hugh or if we can hear him? Ok we don't have Hugh at
the moment but it doesn't matter we can get started anyway!
Vice President Reding, would you like to say hello to our participants?
Hello everybody! I am waiting for your questions! Let's get cracking then and let's start with
Daniella! Hi! My question is about gender equality and
specifically women on corporate boards and what you are doing about it. Because in 2012,
you seemed to be really active and in fact I thought you were dominating the discourse
on the issues globally. But in 2013, I did not see as much activity from you on this
topic. So it feels to me that in Europe there is stagnation on this. I know from my own
experiences that INSEAD is part of a global group for board ready women, it feels like
just another group on Linked-in, it does not seem to be more effective than what women
can do for themselves. So my question is: Do you have any new initiatives to help women
break the glass ceiling, something that we can look forward to in 2014, that is going
to be different and that can help women, both in corporate boards and just in the pipeline
going up the corporate ladder? I absolutely agree with what Daniella has
said. In fact, 60% of University graduates are women; and then we lose them in our corporate
world: they do not reach the top, although they are very well prepared to do so.
We tried it first with voluntary schemes. But they did not work. And then I put on the
table a European law for women on boards, in order to get companies to bring more women
on their boards. (May I continue? It seems we were interrupted.) This law is on the table.
The European Parliament has voted for this law with an overwhelming majority. Now we
are discussing it with governments in the ministerial meetings in order to get the governments
to endorse this law as well. In the meantime, we are not only working on
the law, we are also working on the reality. And there I must say that miracles have happened!
Since the moment that we put the law on the table, companies have been looking for talented
women. And since the moment we put the law on the table, women themselves have been organising.
There are more and more women organisations which help women to make it to the top; and
which present women with very strong CVs, so they have a chance in the corporate world.
Daniella was speaking about the initiative on board ready women, where her university
INSEAD played a very important role. I can tell you that this started on the initiative
of business schools from France and from Great Britain; it has become a global initiative,
with thousands and thousands of business schools worldwide being together with an interactive
website, where headhunters and companies can see the CVs of thousands of women, women who
are board ready. So you see that the fact that Europe took
things in hand has launched a movement, which is going worldwide. I also see it with the
women who are promoted everywhere to top positions. That is what we need, women and men together;
let us not waste talent anymore! Can I ask a follow up questions? It's about
the European Central Bank's Executive Board that is part of the Governing Council. It's
all male: there are 6 men there. The terms are very long, I think the next replacement
is due in 4 years! It feels to me that the European Union is not walking its own talk.
Can we expect one of the 6 men there to step down, or do we have to wait for someone to
retire? I looked up the Board before the Hangout on the internet: there is a photo of the entire
management of the ECB, there are about 20 men, there are all white. It looks as if it
could have been taken in the 19th century in black and white. What do you think of this
and what can be done about it? You are absolutely right: the banking world
is a grey world; it is a world without colour! That is why I am very happy to tell you that
things are moving: the first woman has been nominated at top level, Danièle Nouy for
example, a French woman, has been appointed head of the European Central Supervisory Board.
Also in the board of the central bank, a German woman has been nominated in order to replace
the outgoing German male member. So I do believe that also in Central banks
the message has been heard - the first women are coming up and I wish them all the success
to show that women know to do as good business in central bank as men do.
Thank you. Thank you Daniella for the questions. A related
question, well it's not gender equality it is more women's right. It comes from someone
on Twitter, Europarisian -- we can guess that this is a French person - she would like to
ask Vice-President what the EPP thinks of what she calls a step back for women's rights
in Spain? She is using the hashtag arbotion?
I know there is a very strong debate about the legislation in Spain and there has also
been a debate today in the European Parliament on this question. You must know that the questions
on abortion, or related questions, are completely out of the competence of the European Union;
there are national decisions which have to be decided by national governments and national
parliaments. Let's move on to our second Hangout participant,
that is Eszter. You had a few clashes with the French government
concerning the situation of Roma people in France and I would like to expand this debate
to a European level. As far as I know, all the Member States were obliged to create national
strategies, for the integration of Roma people. These strategies are ready and the Commission
evaluated those 2 years ago. With the current situation, what are the political reactions
to this evaluation? What are the barriers to carry out of these strategies? How do you
see this situation in Europe mostly related to this debate of free movement and human
rights on European level? I think everybody is aware that the problem
of the Roma population is a very solid and a serious one. There are between 10 and 12
million European citizens and many of them live in poverty. They are trying to get out
of their country of origin because they have no future there. And try to go to other countries.
If the integration is not made in these countries; if the children don't go to school; if the
housing problems of these migrants are not solved... then the problem cannot be solved
also for the next generations... That is why the European Commission took this
question in hand. We brought all governments to have their own national Roma integrations'
strategies. Now it is up to these governments to make these strategies work in practice;
and to start integrating Roma populations, to get them out of poverty, to get children
into school so that the next generation can live a normal life.
We are going to have this year a Roma Summit. With the governments, with the Roma representatives,
with National parliaments, with European Parliamentarians, in order to take stock of what has been decided.
For the first time, the Commission put on the table a law in order to have common actions
in all Member States to get this integration done, and there was a unanimous decision,
in the European Council of the ministers, to accept these proposals of the Commission.
But as you rightly said from a proposal, from a law, from a pledge to reality, there is
a very long way to go... We all know we cannot solve the Roma situation in some weeks, in
some months. But we will need dedication, not only from the Member States but also from
the Roma communities... to be willing to integrate and to be willing to have a normal way of
living in the societies, where they have chosen to go.
If I may have a quick follow up question...do you think that Eastern and Western European
countries or all European countries new Member States should coordinate to settle for separate
strategies because the problems are different in the countries where people migrate to and
from? How do you see these blocks in the EU? There are Roma people of all nationalities
in Europe. But what we are normally speaking about is the Roma people in the poor countries
and in the poor areas who are coming out of their countries because they have no future
in their countries. There, we have a double strategy: we try to
help in Romania and in Bulgaria. We help governments in order to invest; we put money at their
disposal. So that the investment in housing and in jobs can take place, that schools can
be built; that special training and education for Roma children can be set up.
This is about fighting poverty so that people do not need to leave their country. But if
they leave their country, they have of course to be integrated in their new societies. And
integration is always a two-side street: it requires the will of the hosting societies
to make this integration happen; and the will of the migrants to adapt to the new societies
they go to. It is a difficult one. Sometimes the one does not want it; sometimes it is
the other that does not want it... if both of them do not want, we cannot solve the problems.
Before we go back to Twitter, we're going to go to Ireland and Paul...
Hello Vice President Reding...I would like to know why the EU tolerates the politicians
and the media from England to downgrade Romanian citizens which lead to the restriction of
the labour market? Thank you very much. We do not accept discrimination of any European
citizens. We are 507 million citizens with the same rights and the same obligations that
is what this is all about. There was this week a huge debate in the EP
about the right of free movement of European citizens. I was so relieved to see that the
overwhelming majority cross parties and nations were all agreeing.
Free movement is one of the most precious goods; one of the most important rights of
the European citizens. It is not up for negotiations. Let's be very clear, it's a basic right of
the European citizens. And European citizens have their rights but
they also have their obligations: there is free movement to work, free movement if you
want to study, free movement if you want to go on holidays etc... There is certainly no
free movement to illegally take advantage of social systems. And there, the Member States
can take their measures so that this doesn't happen -- I see many Member States that do
that, push out those who are cheating. Because cheating is not a right of the European citizens,
the governments are allowed to stop that. But to stop free movement is against all European
rules, the European Commission will not permit that and the European Parliament neither.
Paul, have you got anything to say in response to Vice President Reding's answer?
I agree with what Vice President Reding said about unanimity but the last 6 months were
very hard, there was high pressure from UK politicians and media, downgrading Romanian
citizens in all the way possible. I know I do not agree with people who cheat; I would
not like to see people cheating with the Hungarian or the Romanian system... but everyone who
go there to travel, to work or visit UK are Roma people ...
Back to Twitter with a question related on what mechanism could be established to prevent
manipulation and populism by politicians in the current free movement debate? Is there
any mechanism that the EU could bring in or that just plays into the hands of the populism?
The European Commission seeks that European law is applied in real terms, but of course
we cannot prevent politicians to say whatever they think. I just call on politicians to
be more responsible, to go back to facts and figures and not to discriminate... because
discrimination is prohibited by the law actually. And politicians should be the first ones not
to go against the law. But as an answer to what Paul has underlined,
you must also know and that is very important - and all the analysis that we have show that
this is true not only for GB but also for Germany or for other members' states: that
those citizens chose to go to another Member State go there to work. The majority of citizens
who migrate do that in order to get a job and to work. They contribute to the taxation,
to the social security. They do contribute in average much more than national citizens
where there are no problems. So let's stop discriminating and let's solve the problems
where they are and not create problems where there are no problems!
Let us move on because time is a factor here and I believe we have Hugh who is back. Hugh, can you hear
me? Hello! Good evening Ms Reding! I am a British
living in Brussels, I've been here for 10 years and I was living in France 17 years
before that. So I am fairly continental. I worked at the Commission and a couple of years
at the Parliament as well and now I am freelance. The question that I wanted to ask was that
in the debates in Stockholm you responded to an audience member who was enquiring whether
he was good for value by saying that 80% of Swedish laws were in fact not Swedish but
European, according to the transcript...is this true across all the EU or do the Swedes
get special treatments? Nobody gets special treatment, all citizens
are equal and all members states as well...I do not know if that's 80 or 75% ... the truth
is that most laws which are applied, executed and implemented at national level are based
on European laws and directives which then need to be translated to national laws. The
biggest part of the legislation -- which takes part in any of the 28 states - is decided
by the EP, in co-decision with the Council of European Ministers. That is why it is so
important that people are aware of the power which they entrust to the European Parliamentarians,
who in a majority vote can decide upon the laws which afterwards are applied or not applied
in the European Members States. We do have to move on quickly...I would like
to go back to Twitter, because there are so many people sending us so many questions on
Twitter, I do apologize if the themes seem a little bit hectic, but there are so many
different themes as well. We've got a question here from Alice Stolmeyer, and she asks: will
the Commission take adequate, and by that she means science-based, climate action to
stay on the safe side of 2°C warming? You know that it was the European Union which
worldwide was the first one to start not only saying that there was a real problem with
global warming, but started also to make the appropriate laws in order to combat the global
warming. Those laws are now up for review and this is a discussion which has started
in a very strong way; a discussion between the European Commission on one hand, the European
Parliament and the Council of the European Ministers on the other hand.
I personally hope that the pledge, which we have given at a world level, will be followed
by adequate legislation, so that Europe can take the lead that others will follow and
I hope we can give the right message also to the United Nations' meetings on global
warming -- and warning also that things can go wrong - so that not only Europe is moving
but also other continents are following. We're going to move on to some bigger themes
and it's something that was touched on in the interview with Isabel earlier and that's
data protection. To put that question, we will go to Yves?
Yes, thank you. I just wanted to ask you, you were speaking about the fact that you
think that the package what we call the package, which is a Regulation plus the Directive - will
go before the end of the year. But in order to do so, you have two hurdles: the first
one is that fact that you go, as you explained, to the European Parliament and must be adopted
before the 17 April if I am correct, which is the last session of the Parliament. And
at the same time, we need to have a position from the Council. Because after that, we go
to the trilogue system. But, the issue is, I think, that some countries seem to be putting
a lot of questions, some, apparently, do not want to have a Regulation and we need a Regulation
for data protection. If not, we will have, as you explained with the Swedish question,
we will have different initiative one more time, and different implementation that we
had with the Directive and it was a nightmare for the people. What do you think? Do you
think we will have the two for the trilogue in time?
I absolutely agree with Yves on what he said. And the reason why I have presented the new
European legislation was because, in a world without borders, and the Internet, the IT
is a borderless world, you cannot have a fragmentation of 28 different and sometimes contradicting
rules. That is why I put on the table, one rule for
one continent - to be applied everywhere, to give legal certainty to the companies and
to the citizens. EU citizens have the right, according to the European Treaty, that their
privacy is preserved, that their personal data is protected.
Now, as Yves very rightly said, the European Parliament has already done its work, because
it has presented a position of the Committees who are responsible for data protection and
it has promised that it will vote in plenary before the 17 of April. That is a pledge which
I take very seriously and which also the Governments should also take very seriously. That is why,
next week, there will be a meeting of the 28 Ministers -- together with the Rapporteurs
of the European Parliament and the President of the Committees of the European Parliament
- in order to see how this plan, to get the data protection rules adopted, can be done,
partly before the election and then the trilogue is starting already before but continuing
with the new Parliament. Thank you for your answer. I have another
question related mainly to the same topic: as you explained, cloud computing needs a
global system and, as you said, some countries start to get some initiative, what they call
'national localised cloud'. I think that if we continue like that, we will go to a balkanization
of the cloud: everybody has its own one made in that country, secured in that country;
and does not want to go outside. What do you think you would to do to avoid what I may
call balkanization? The Commission has presented a European cloud
computing strategy in order to avoid, what you have said, a balkanization and in order
to offer a real opportunity to European companies in order to go ahead with creating a European
cloud -- and not a Balkanized cloud. Now of course what has happened, with the NSA spying
and also with all the [...sound problems, connection lost...]
We seem to have lost the sound Can someone tell me what is going on with the sound, there.
I can't hear anything and I don't know if anyone can hear me.
I can hear you, but I cannot hear Vice President Reding.
We lost the connection with Vice President Reding.
I will take this opportunity to tell that if you want to ask a question on Twitter,
I think, we've got [sound problems..connection lost} and then the figure 8. Yves, could you
explain what you mean by the Balkanization of the Internet?
The issues we have seen are present in many countries now, you see some declaration that,
for example, you see the panel made secure in Germany. In France there are two companies,
which make all the publicity on your data, saying all your data stay inside France. The
same happens in many countries, because people say, we don't want to put it in the other
ones. I remember somebody in Schengen, who said it must stay in Schengen, because we
cannot rely on other countries. So the issue is, if aI have cloud that stays in one country,
it is very difficult to do it worldwide. What would you like the Commission to do about
it? They try to, with the Regulation, to have
a common data protection, everywhere in Europe and to be sure we don't have a difference.
We must have the same thing for the cloud; they have a project they would like to push
for which is called the European Cloud, but we have to be sure that the national Governments
do not push in a different way. We are going to move on even if you don't
have VP Reding, we will keep discussing privacy protection. We can now hear Vice President
Reding. Let's go on and Maria you have a question concerning privacy protection...
I do! It is actually a question sparked by the debate on privacy protection and by how
vocal Vice-President Reding has been on the subject and my question is: Yes, we are all
outraged; we all want to address the situation. But the person who made it available for us,
Edward Snowden, as well as anybody in his shoes, I suppose, is now facing global uncertainty
and persecution. So it is not very encouraging for other potential whistleblowers that would
want to do expose gross institutional wrongdoing. I wanted to ask what would happen to a European
Union citizen who wants and decides to expose something on that scale, such abuse of power.
What is the EU policy on whistleblowing? May I answer to this even if you do not see
me, but I have heard your question? The policy on whistle blowers is an absolutely national
policy, which is not foreseen by the European Treaties. And the European Commission can
only do what is in the Treaties. So this issue goes far beyond the individual, Snowden. It
is a question of basic law and unfortunately the European Union does not have a competence
in that respect. But I would also like to say a word on the
European cloud, where Yves is absolutely right: we have made a European cloud computing strategy.
We tried to make it as attractive as possible for European development in that area. We
are creating the necessary legal framework for this development. But of course mistrust
that the data are not secured in a global cloud leads to the fact that people are afraid
to give out their data. That is the worst thing that could happen at the European level;
we need a secure environment, and people handing out their data, being sure that it is treated
well -- as it should, according to the law. That is one of the reasons why we have the
Regulation on data protection rules on the table now.
If I can have a follow up question. So, what would happen to a person if he, for instance,
whistleblows on the European Commission and there is no European procedure to address
such issues? And, to tack on a little question, I think we are all very glad that the European
Parliament supports freedom of movement, it would be strange if it didn't, but the fact
is, we are, as a Bulgarian, we are facing obstruction in Western Europe to find a job,
people have their anxieties. How do they uphold their rights? Who do we call if we feel our
rights are not being actually upheld by prospective employers?
Fortunately we do have a democracy in Europe. People who have complaints to do, people who
are whistle blowing -- for example against the European Institutions -- they can address
themselves to the European Ombudsman who then analyses what has been said and which take
the measures which are necessary to be taken; We also do have the European Petitions Committee
in the European Parliament which takes also in the complaints of the people. So, at the
European level, this is handled very well indeed, as it should be much more also at
a national level. Now answering the question on the free movement,
I can understand that young people try to find their best place in the world for them
to work and if they do not find a job for them in the neighbourhood or if they are not
well paid in their neighbourhood, they will try to go out. It is their personal freedom
which has to be respected if they want to go out, although the Europe of the future,
for me, should be one where young people do not need to go out and can find a job well
paid in their neighbourhood. That is why the solidarity mechanism of the EU -- with the
regional programmes, with social programmes -- in order to help those areas of Europe
which are not so developed, where there is poverty, to develop quickly, is of outmost
importance. We have to invest into bringing the poor areas up, so that in those areas
jobs are created and that the people can take the decision to stay at home if they want
to. We are running short of time and I would like
all the participants to ask their questions while we still have a connection. If we could
move on to Jakub? Yes, hello, thank you very much. My question
is about citizenship;. I come from the Czech Republic where many people think Brussels
is very far away. Even for me, the European Union is an organisation which integrates
28 countries, and even more nationalities and cultures, it is certainly an official
organisation, but it's not yet a real country or federation. So, the question may be a little
bit naïve or simple, but I would like to know, in your opinion, Mrs Vice-President,
why should citizens of the EU Member States also consider themselves as European Citizens?
What do Europeans have naturally in common, what is the key element for us to have the
same citizenships except living in one geographic region?
In the way Jakub has defined now European citizenships, it does not exist: because we
have our rules. I was born in south of Luxembourg, which is
still an industrial area, I do really have those strong roots, and I am a Luxembourger
and I am a European -- the three are not contradicting each other, they go together very clearly.
It is in this way we have to see the European citizenship. We were all born in a village,
a town, an area; we are members of a country... and we have -- according to the Treaties - the
same rights we share with citizens of all Europe with the 507 million citizens. These
are the rights for instance to free movement, rights to non-discrimination. So our EU is
not only built on the question of economy, it is also very strongly built on values and
that for me is the most precious. Thank you very much and a quick follow up
question: as I was referring to the situation in my country, Czech Republic, maybe it can
be the same thing in the new member countries, don't you think that maybe the European elections
of this year, could be an opportunity to explain to people once more what citizenship is and
for them to participate? I really do hope that the European elections
of this year will be used in all member states in order to speak about European affairs;
and not about national government or national minister. But that people know we are voting
now for a European Parliamentarian who is going to sit in the European Parliament, deciding
on laws which will affect the lives of 507 million citizens. It is very important that
this message goes out. I would also like to say to Jakub that it
is also very important that people understand that, yes, we want to build a European federation.
But a federation does not mean that you give up your national roots, or that you lose your
language. No, you keep the member states, but you speak with one voice on questions
which are very important: we have given the example today of data protection, we cannot
speak with 28 voices conflicting on data protection. We have on these important questions -- like
on the banking union also -- we have to have one European policy and most of all -- and
I would like to say that to the young generation who is sitting around the internet now --we
have to have a strong voice on the world scene also. Every nation alone in Europe is very
small when you look at the globalised world. But together we can defend our values, we
can defend our rights and we can have a say on world stage.
Thank you very much. We have three more participants, one from
Ukraine, one from Catalonia in Spain. And we are going to talk about the electronic
cigarettes, don't worry we won't forget them. A question on twitter on the related issue,
it comes from Chris and it is: what are your concrete ideas for engaging citizens in the
political process beyond speeches and one of debates, what are your concrete ideas on
a daily basis? On a daily basis, it is the trusted politicians
in the neighborhood who should take over. I cannot explain to all citizens, in all member
states, in all regions in Europe, what Europe is doing! That has to be taken over by the
national, by the regional politicians, who are also European politicians because their
actions are sharing the responsibility on our territory. I have tried also by developing
the idea of the citizens' dialogues of the town hall meetings to have a direct contact
with the citizens, so that they can ask their questions directly. I have tried to do these
dialogues together with people elected, regional and national politicians in order to show
also that it can be a duo, and it should be a duo! The European commissioners on one side
and the national ministers on the other side who share the responsibility for our common
European space; and who have maybe different ways of approaching it but in the end, they
need to work together, in order to have a common endeavor. That is what should be explained
and done also in the European election campaign. Thank you, we are now going on to Timor, from
Ukraine, a country that is not in the EU but where many people would like it to be a member
of the Union. Thank you. It is very important for me to
know your opinion about the situation in Ukraine, where politicians still use physical strength
against reporters, protesters, non-governmental functioners or law enforcement officials implicated
in the beating of people are still unpunish. What do you think about that?
Let me first say how much I admire the Ukrainian citizens who have not given up; who are in
the streets with the Ukrainian flag, with the European flag. They are actually asking
for freedom, they are asking for their rights, they are asking for justice! Their voices
are very loud, their voices are heard! We know the EU is for them a dream and we will
do our outmost that their dream does not stay a dream but that it becomes a reality for
all those Ukrainian people who strive for freedom and for justice!
Thank you very much, it is very important for me. I have another question: Ukrainian
young people are very reactive at the situation with the EU and is the EU ready to introduce
a free regime to young Ukrainians in the nearest future?
You are absolutely right to ask this question! Because all young people would like not to
be discriminated and to move around freely! So you do understand as a Ukrainian what immense
freedom our European youth is exercising; because they can even go without a passport
from one country to another. We are in a visa liberalization dialogue with Ukrainians now.
We hope that we would manage to set up relationships, which are in equilibrium and which can give
the freedom to those young people who strive for free movement -- free movement which is
one of the most cherished freedoms of the European citizens.
Thank you very much. To Xavier in Catalonia.
Thank you very much for inviting me to this talk.
I don't know should I present myself very quickly like the others?
You can very briefly present yourself before you ask the question.
I'm from a small village in Catalonia, which I invite you to visit. I'm 25 years old, I've
been blogging and tweeting about the independence of my country the latest years and I'm looking
for a job. My question is about my country. As you may
already know, we have plan of voting and to do a referendum so that the people of my country
can say if they want to be independent. The Spanish government says we can't do it, that
it is not legal -- even though we know it is. We simply tried to vote. My question for
VP Reding: although some people say it is an internal affair, shouldn't the European
citizenship be a guarantee of our rights? Is not the right to vote a basic right, so
that Europe should guarantee the right for the Catalans to vote? Thank you.
I know the answer I will give now is a very complicated one and not very straight forward
what you expect from me. The right to vote, in the European Treaties, has been established
for all the citizens. In Europe during the European elections, you can also vote if you
are not sitting in your country during the elections and if you have moved to another
country. You have also, being a resident for some time in that country, the right to vote
at the local and regional elections. But there is no right to vote which has been fixed for
national elections nor for national affairs. A referendum is an internal Spanish affair,
which is not a European one so it has to be handled by Spanish rules and cannot be handled
by European rules. We don't have a lot of time Xavier, so if
you don't mind I'm gonna pass on to Martijn, who has just joined us. I know that if you
do not ask a question on electronic cigarettes, then I would probably fear for my own safety
. Martijn, you are representing the community for electronic cigarette users, the floor
is yours. I'm a freelance developer from the Netherlands;
I've been smoking for about 20 years. I discovered the e-cigarettes. I really like to smoke them,
the problem is that all cigarettes will be outlawed,the only legal ones will be these.
My question is, why weren't consumers consulted when new laws were written on e-cigarettes?
I wish him well to smoke his cigarettes. If it concerns the EU, there is no ban on e-cigarettes.
Again, this is a problem which has been left to the member states; they can decide on how
to handle this e-cigarette question. We are not going to put a ban on it. The members
states can decide to classify the e cigarette as a medicinal product or not, there is a
lot of smoke over the truth! I have read the laws -- we are a big community
who read the laws - many second and third generation e-cigarettes will be outlawed.
In the trialogue, many new restrictions were added and big cigarettes will be forbidden.
Martin knows more than me, the only thing I know is the EU will not ban the e-cigarette.
There never was really a plan to ban the e cigarette. I think that what makes many people
angry is that it becomes more difficult, because of proposed European legislations, to access
this safe alternative to tobacco products? I think people get things mixed up because
there is a discussion going on between the Council and Parliament; it is about providing
e-cigarettes below a certain nicotine threshold to be regulated as simple consumer goods;
and to leave it up to Member States to, on adequate grounds, to classify them as medicines
-- that means as pharmaceutical products. So it is certainly not the European Union
which is going to make this classification and it is certainly not the European Union
which is going to ban these goods. We will have to wait and see, and I don't
think we will have to wait very long whether to see if those answers have satisfied the
e-cigarette community. Before we do finish, I would like to ask you a question Vice President
Reding. That is tonight we have heard from a dozen or so citizens; and you have been
holding the citizens' dialogue now for over a year, you've heard their stories... what
matters the most to them? And how can Europe satisfy their needs and expectations?
The experience that I have gained in the citizens' dialogue was a very astonishing one: because
I was expecting citizens' to do 'don't do this, don't do that', and in the end, people
are not interested in who is doing what, they are simply interested that somebody is solving
their problem! I must tell you that a lot of citizens are looking for the European government,
for the European Commission, to find solutions to their common problems. They would like
us to have more powers actually than the Treaties give us.
The whole debate in the future I think will be on who is taking what decisions and at
what level and we have seen it with the e-cigarettes that it is sometimes very difficult. (the
connection is lost) I believe we've lost the connection once again.
I don't know if it is just the connection of Vice-President Reding or if it is everybody's
connection. We have lost the sound, I think.
Well, I think now, with these technical problems, it is a good time to wind down this online
discussion as we have been at it for over an hour. We have heard from people all across
the Europe and even beyond. I think that all it remains for me to do is to thank Vice-President
Reding for launching this initiative and listening to the citizens and I must also thank the
participants of the hang-out who have asked their questions and heard their answers.
Thank you for everybody concerned, sorry if we didn't get to ask your question but there
hopefully be a next time! Thank you! Good night and take care!
Thank you