Formation | 9 November 2016 |
---|---|
Founder | Daniel Röder, Sabine Röder |
Founded at | Frankfurt, Germany |
Type | Civil society campaign |
Legal status | Active |
Purpose | Pro-Europeanism |
Region | Europe |
Methods | Nonviolent direct action |
Fields | Political movement |
Parent organisation | Pulse of Europe e.V. |
Website | pulseofeurope |
Pulse of Europe is a pro-European citizen's initiative, founded in Frankfurt, Germany by the end of 2016. It aims at "encouraging citizens of the European Union to speak out publicly in favour of a pan-European identity". [1] As Europe is facing democratic deficits, the imminent Brexit as well as the growing popularity of right-wing populist and nationalist political parties, the initiative aims at counteracting euroscepticism. Pulse of Europe is organised in city groups, and has been active in over 130 cities in 20 European countries. Pulse of Europe is registered as an association (e. V.) headquartered in Frankfurt, but city groups are largely self-organised.
Pulse of Europe refers to ten basic principles which guide their actions: [1]
The initiative considers itself independent from any political party. [1] With regard to the upcoming parliamentary elections in the Netherlands on 12 March, the presidential elections in France on 23 April, and the parliamentary elections in Germany on 24 September 2017 "until 12 March 2017, the last Sunday before the elections take place in the Netherlands, as many people as possible should gather in public, stand up for Europe and contribute to pro-[E]uropean parties gaining the majority of votes." [1]
The citizen's initiative was founded by the German lawyers Daniel and Sabine Röder. Using their private network of friends and social media, they held a first public meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, by the end of November 2016. Initially attracting about 200 attendants, [2] further demonstrations followed at weekly intervals from January 2017 onwards. The initiative spread from Frankfurt to other German towns [3] and other European cities outside Germany. [4] [5] [6] In preparation of the elections in the Netherlands on 12 March 2017, the demonstrations adopted the campaign and its accompanying slogan "Blijf bij ons" of the pro-European initiative WhyEurope. [7] [8]
On 5 March 2017, public meetings were held in 35 European cities. 28 of these were German, [9] but citizens also met in Amsterdam, the French cities of Paris, [6] Strasbourg, [10] Montpellier, Toulouse, and Lyon, and in the English city of Bath. [1] On 12 March 2017, more than 20,000 people joined demonstrations in more than 40 European cities. [11] Until May 2018 the number of participating cities rose to 118 in 18 European countries, but public attention and attendance declined after the elections in the Netherlands, France, and Germany had taken place. In 2019, Pulse of Europe associated with the German School strike for climate initiative. [12] [13]
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, means criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform, to those who oppose EU membership and see the EU as unreformable. The opposite of Euroscepticism is known as pro-Europeanism, or European Unionism.
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Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).
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Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom is a continuum of belief ranging from the opposition to certain political policies of the European Union to the complete opposition to the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union. It has been a significant element in the politics of the United Kingdom (UK). A Eurobarometer survey of EU citizens in 2009 showed that support for membership of the EU was lowest in the United Kingdom, alongside Latvia and Hungary.
Withdrawal from the European Union is the legal and political process whereby an EU member state ceases to be a member of the Union. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements".
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The European Alliance for Freedom (EAF) was a pan-European political party of right-wing Eurosceptics. It was founded in late 2010, the party was recognised by the European Parliament in 2011. It did not seek registration as a political party with the new Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations in 2016 and was dissolved in the following.
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In March 2017, the Netherlands and Turkey were involved in a diplomatic incident, triggered by Turkish efforts to hold political rallies on Dutch territory and subsequent travel restrictions placed by Dutch authorities on Turkish officials seeking to promote the campaign for a 'yes' vote in the upcoming Turkish constitutional referendum to Turkish citizens living in the Netherlands. Such foreign campaigning is illegal under Turkish law.
WhyEurope is a non-partisan and independent non-profit organization, which was founded in 2016 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. It aims at highlighting the benefit of the European Union for an average citizen in their daily lives by adopting an innovative communication style. Since September 2017, WhyEurope e.V. is an officially registered association based in Tübingen, Germany. It has approximately 30 members from over 10 European states.
Identity and Democracy is a right-wing to far-right political group of the European Parliament, launched on 13 June 2019 for the Ninth European Parliament term. It is composed of nationalist, right-wing populist and eurosceptic national parties from ten European nations. It is the successor to the Europe of Nations and Freedom group formed during the eighth term.
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