"What Europe does for me” is an interactive site launched on Wednesday by the European Parliament to enable citizens to see the contribution made by the European Union (EU) in their respective areas, for their professions or for their favourite pastimes. On the multilingual site, www.what-europe-does-for-me.eu/en/home , citizens can click on their regions on a map and see how Europe is present there. More than 1,400 localities are covered.
In Marche-en-Famenne, for example, the Internet user can see that the EU has co-financed the construction of the Novalis Business Centre, dedicated to the life sciences, that it provides financial support for the ‘La Famenne à vélo’ cycle path or that it funds the Integra Plus association, which supports needy people in various ways.
In a second section, the Internet user can also track the EU’s actions in various areas, such as family, health, leisure, travel, security, consumer choices or social rights. He/she can also monitor the way the EU supports professionals in scores of sectors, such as sports, music and television.
European President Antonio Tajani said Europeans had been asking what the EU has done for them and the new Internet site offers clair answers, without jargon. With the European elections just a few months away, it will be a precious tool for bringing Europe closer to the Europeans, he added.
Close to 1.800 one-page notes are available and can be shared, reused on line or kept as PDF files.
The latest Eurobarometer, published in October, shows that 68% of respondents agreed that their country had benefitted from EU membership. In Belgium, that proportion was higher than average, at 75%.
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The Brussels Times
