In the face of the financial and economic crisis, German civil society organisations – from the German Confederation of Trade Unions or the Confederation of German Employer Associations to the German Savings Banks Association – stand up for European integration. During its annual General Assembly, representatives of EM Germany’s member organisations adopted the “Berlin Declaration of the Civil Society” emphasising the luck and the benefits of being united in the European Union. In their joint statement, the organisations confessed themselves to the responsibility the civil society bears for the European integration while at the same time demanding more European solidarity, e.g. investment programs for Greece contributing to a transition of the Greek economy. “I am proud of this signal!“ Dieter Spöri, president of EM Germany, commented on the joint statement. “Facing the heterogeneous composition of EM Germany with its 218 member organisations this joint declaration is a little sensation.” Following the General Assembly, Spöri handed the declaration to Werner Hoyer, secretary of state for European affairs at the Federal Foreign Office.

As a reaction to the Danish plan to re-introduce border controls on its own national borders, EM Germany’s General Assembly also adopted a motion against any weakening or undermining of the Schengen Agreement. “The freedom of travelling within the European Union is one of the most extraordinary achievements, which must not be endangered”, the document states.

Full English version of the Berlin Declaration of the Civil Society, please click here