A large number
of non-Spanish European citizens have chosen the Balearic Islands as their
home. Many of you are well integrated in to the local society, are professional
autonomous workers or indeed have established your own small family business.
Some of you have married here, have families, and a large number speak and
understand Spanish, and even Catalan. According to the National Institute of
Statistics there were nearly 120,000 non- Spanish European citizens resident in
the Balearic Islands as of the 1st January 2013, although the many
organizations, clubs and consuls who work with this group believe this figure
to be nearer 200,000. EporE encourages E.U. citizens to register at their local
Town Hall, as well as on the Census, thus enabling them to have the right to
vote both in the European Elections and the elections for the local Town Hall,
and by extension the island Council, "Consell". At this moment in
time there are over 16,300 registered to vote in the European Elections.
Complaining in your local pub or supermarket achieves nothing. Register to
vote, and let your voice be heard!
At the
enormous number of meetings EporE has held island-wide, you will not be
surprised to learn that most of the concerns expressed are virtually the same
as your Mallorcan neighbours in your village or district. What you may not be
aware of is that some 80% of all laws passed in Madrid and in the Balearic
Parliament start life in the European Parliament. Our elected representatives
in Brussels have, every day, more responsibility and more direct effect on what
is happening here on our island and in our towns or villages.
In part
because of its 6,500 members and friends, and in part by its single minded
determination , over the last four years "Europeos por Espana" has
successfully lobbied on behalf of European Citizens at local, Regional and National
level, and in Brussels when necessary. Our lobby
activities are hard work, especially in times of austerity when budgets are
tight, and they take time, but we have had some real success over these first
few years. Perhaps because of proximity, our work at Municipal level is more
obvious, and European residents can see the effect of direct contact with the
Town Hall almost immediately. To be truthful, because it is more," hands
on", it is probably the work we enjoy the most. But at EporE we
are also bold enough to collaborate in larger-scale projects which take us from
discussions and meetings at Regional and
National level, to involving Euro MPs of various nationalities. As you already
know, "Europeos por Espana" was one of only two Associations Europe-wide
to be invited by the "Committee of Regions" and the "Commission
of Justice, Human Rights and Citizenship" to participate in, and make a
presentation to, the Conference in Brussels on 28th November 2012 to inaugurate
the project "Year of Citizenship 2013". A great honour, and a timely
recognition of the enormous amount of effort made by our Committee members and
other volunteers over the years since our initial presentation.
(information taken from the November 2013 newsletter "Europeos por Espana")
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