Pressmeddelande från Folkpartiet liberalerna i Europaparlamentet 2006-06-08
Malmström:
Malmström´s Oneseat Campaign has half a million signatures after just four weeks
Cecilia Malmström (Swe. lib. party, ALDE), co-founder of the Oneseat.eu campaign, has welcomed the 500 000 signatures the website has attracted after four weeks. Commenting, she said:
"After four weeks of campaigning we have reached 500 000 signatures. This issue about stopping the commuting between Brussels and Strasbourg clearly engages a lot of people but we never imagined that the signatures would come as fast as they have. It is abundantly clear that many people want to support the idea of only one European Parliament, based in Brussels. I want to put an end to the travelling carousel to Strasbourg and stop wasting taxpayers' money. This is something the prime ministers should think about when they meet up next week to evaluate the so called reflection period. It has been too much pause and too little reflection and this is a concrete proposal".
"We have received support from Commissioner Wallström who supports the initiative and thinks the parliament should be able to decide on its own seat."
"The Mayor of Strasbourg, Fabienne Keller, has urged President Chirac to defend "French interests" and to ensure that the EP will have permanent staff in Strasbourg. This is a remarkable statement. For us, this is not an issue of French interests but of the European interest. The symbolic value of Strasbourg for European integration is unquestioned; but the European interest does not lie with keeping the European Parliament a travelling circus."
Cecilia Malmström (Swe. lib. party, ALDE) together with CPR (Campaign for Parliament Reform) launched a citizen's initiative on 10th May 2006 and a website
www.oneseat.eu to put an end to the costly travelling between Strasbourg and Brussels.
Article 47 on participatory democracy in the proposed constitution for the European Union, which the European Commission supports, wants the citizens in the European Union to become more active and to participate in the debate on European issues. Therefore, we are starting a citizens' initiative to collect a million signatures to put an end to this waste of taxpayers' money.
Anders Ekberg
0032 476 767 541