The European Union is the masterpiece of our century. It has united the peoples, secured peace, opened up markets and protected us as consumers. Now, what is left is to make the citizen a major player in its evolution.
Bruno Sánchez-Andrade
The EU is founded on a set of fundamental values and projects that brought the people together after WWII. Seven decades later our collaboration is broadened and I believe, with a united Europe, we will have a better future!
Maria Gabriela Zoana MEP S&D Group and Vice-chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Europe was built on ruins of war as a symbol of peace, solidarity, friendship and tolerance and as a victory over nationalism, extremism, racism and xenophobia. Today’s Europe is stronger because we all stand together and only together we can overcome today’s global challenges. But we can only do it, if we listen to European citizens and if we discuss our common future with them. And what better way to do it if not as 9th of May through Europe day.
Tanja Fajon MEP and Vice-Chair of the S&D Group
Europe is the first initiative in mankind’s history aiming at a cooperation between states in order to stop war and to bring prosperity to their citizens. Despite the difficulties, let’s keep in mind this proverb which applies very well to the Union: Alone you can go faster, but together you can go further.
Dominique Riquet MEP of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Europe is your home. Make it your own.
Sirpa Pietikäinen MEP of the Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats)
A commom memory and a common celebration for all the people of Europe are cohesive elements for our shared project, and they help us to bet for another seventy years of peace.
Florent Marcellesi MEP of EQUO (Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance)
To place value on the Union as a protective shield against fanaticism, extremism and exclusionary and toxic nationalisms can save us from new conflicts and setbacks in terms of human, social and political rights.
Maite Pagazaurtundúa MEP of UPYD (Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe)
A common European holiday commemorating the birth of the European Union and celebrating 70 years of peace in Europe is long overdue. More than its symbolic character, it would bring European citizens closer together and forge a stronger European identity. Every nation celebrates its founding myth, why not the EU?
Michael Detjen MEP of SPD (S&D Group)
We need Europe Day as a day that claims the real protagonists in the European construction process: its citizens. In the face of the current threats to the EU, we must take initiatives which strengthen our European identity.
Javi López MEP of PSOE (S&D Group) and Full member of the Presidency of the PES.
Ivan Jakovčić MEP of ALDE and croatian 2nd Minister of European Integration
As European citizens we have lots of reasons to be proud of our common project, the European Union. The Europe Day as a public holiday will remind us of it every year.
Mariam Camarero Jean Monnet Ad Personam and Applied Economics Professor at Jaume I University
The EU has a solid daily legitimacy, but it has not been able to build a sense of belonging, neither a democratic legitimacy that supports a solid sense of belonging.
César Molinas Mathematician and economist. Consultant and financier.
Europe is the promise of a better life based on the coexistence of different peoples. To be European is to stand up for what is right in every corner of the world.
Beatriz Becerra MEP ALDE Group and Vice-chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights
On May 9 we celebrate the road towards a better Europe of free and equal citizens.
Enrique Calvet MEP (ALDE Group) and president of ULIS
Celebrating Europe Day in the future will help us to be more European, but also to build a stronger Europe.
Ramón Jáuregui MEP of PSOE (S&D) and President of the Delegation at the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly
Symbols are important because they socialize, mobilise and create identities. Europe must foster its symbols to strengthen its union.
Jesús de Andrés Regional director of UNED (National Distance Education University)
To have a common European public holiday is valuable.
The European Union needs to give visibility to its union.
Susana del Río PhD in Political Science and author of three books about the EU
As Jean Monnet wrote, ‘… only the people can change and enrich things in the institutions and transmit them to future generations’. Let’s stand together, as Europeans we can change them for the better.
Simona Guerra Associate Professor in Politics, University of Leicester, UK
Europe is the natural space for our generation.
It is fundamental to make this visible.
Jonás Fernández MEP of PSOE (Group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats)
The union of Europe does urgently need shared symbols and emotions, apart from treaties and regulations that many Europeans see as an imposed and distant bureaucracy. A common public holiday, a Europe Day that bring us together, is a good idea in that direction.
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán Professor at UPV-EHU (University of the Basque Country) and editor of www.elasterisco.es.
Europe Day would help to unite all European citizens to celebrate and remember the strength and need of the EU as an instrument for facing together the global challenges of the 21st century.
Laura Ballarín No Nos Resignamos / Vice-President of the CCME
The European Union needs to strengthen our common identity. Symbols and celebrations, like this public holiday, would be useful to remember all that we share.
Álvaro Anchuelo Professor Applied Economics at Alcalá de Henares University
I believe in a strong Europe, with greater influence in political decision-making and better known by its citizens. I therefore think this initiative and its achievement would be a good way to contribute to the knowledge of Europe.
Clara Aguilera MEP with the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)
If Europe wants to be closer to its citizens, it should strive to be more than just an union of economic interests. People are the soul of the European project, and solidarity is the instrument for unity. More Europe is needed, a social and fair Europe, which is less conditioned by the financial powers.
Gorka Landaburu Journalist and editor of the magazine Cambio16
European identity is not what sets us apart from the rest, but our willingness to live together, to improve and to work for a project that is from all of us. Europe is a source of inspiration beyond its borders. We have to look to the past with pride, and to the future with hope.
Pablo Pérez Corporate and communication strategy, digital diplomacy and social networks.
Initiatives such as “Europe Day” can do much more for the spirit of the European citizenship than other a lot more expensive programs. In order to unite the people, progress is needed towards the field of culture and education.
Cecilio Tamarit Professor and Head of the Centre for European Dcumentation at the University of Valencia
We celebrate what we are and what we believe in. We celebrated what happened to be what we are and who we are now, and what we are to remain.
Manuel Montobbio Spanish diplomat and writer
From a socially responsible journalism, Cambio16 faces the alerts that nowadays trigger the alarms of a society that is overwhelmed by the daily human rights violations and, to the same extent, it wonders if there will be a tomorrow, when global warming and climate change are announcing a terrible planetary holocaust.
Jorge Neri
Europe is ethical, otherwise there will not be Europe.
David Ortega Vice-Rector of University Extension at the URJC (Madrid)
Europe is a symbol of values, of peace and of unity in its diversity. Let us feel proud of this project unique in the world and build together a more sustainable, more social and more united Europe!
Francesc Gambús MEP of Group of the European People's Party
Europeans must stand united and the best way to show how committed we are to our unity would be to implement a common European day to recognise our European ideas and values.
José Inácio Faria MEP of Partido da Terra (Group of the European People's Party)
Today Europe lacks symbols and emotion. A EU-wide bank holiday on Europe day would allow the project to equip itself with both elements. It would be an opportunity to explain the Union better in positive terms.
Rafael Guillermo López Member of the EURACTIV communication team and founder of La Mirada Europea