Europe Day celebration

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Source: CCTV.com | 05-10-2009 14:25

European institutions have opened to the public to celebrate "Europe Day", and raise awareness ahead of the forthcoming European election. Meanwhile, eligible European citizens are preparing to vote in June to elect a new parliament.

In Brussels, European citizens visiting the European Parliament were treated to musical and theatre acts on Saturday. Among them, a "freezing event", where a brass band stopped playing while visitors stood still for ten minutes.

(NATS) Ticktock in freezing event

Previous opinions polls suggest the turnout will be low and that many citizens do not know very much about the parliament. The results were a bit surprising, since the parliament can pass pan-European laws that impact directly on their lives. Some non-mainstream parties, such as the Libertas party and the UK Independence Party say the EU and the parliament do not respect the wishes of Dutch and French voters who rejected the EU's draft constitution in 2005. Many Europeans says the parliament has a long way to go to convince voters it is relevant to their daily lives.

So Europe Day is charged with a special significance this year. And some citizens are convinced the parliament is useful, and they intend to vote.