http://www.youtube.com/questionsforeurope

Launched the first week of May in partnership with Euronews, the YouTube channel « Questions for Europe » (www.youtube.com/questionsforeurope) has met great success on the web sphere!

Using modern technology to bring EU citizens closer to Europe…

Seeking to increase the interest and participation of EU citizens in the EP elections, “Questions for Europe” encouraged voters to share their questions about Europe via YouTube videos and made a point to have them answered by politicians, experts and journalists.

In only few days, about 80 questions were uploaded from citizens across Europe (Poland, France, Spain, UK, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Estonia, Germany, Denmark, etc.) covering a wide range of topics: climate change, social security, enlargement, education, mobility, EU-Middle East relations, immigration, human trafficking, accessibility rights for disabled people, Lisbon Treaty, Housing, EP legitimacy, Roma rights…

More than 25 experts were mobilized to answer the citizens’ concerns and the Q&A were broadcast on Euronews all through the day for the last weeks (and until June, 12th). They are still available in 8 languages (FR, EN, DE, IT, ES, PT, RU and Arabic) on Euronews’ website (http://www.euronews.net/europa/qfe/).

Starring the European political parties…

To emphasize the role of the European political parties and make them more visible, four questions were chosen among the videos to be asked to the representatives of the main European political parties, thus underlining the potential differences among EU political forces and enable citizens to make up their mind before the elections.

The questions selected addressed important issues such as the EU democratic deficit, Turkey adhesion, the economical crisis and EU energy independence.

Overall, 8 representatives of European parties agreed to answer them: Poul-Nyrup Rasmussen (PES), Graham Watson (ALDE), Philippe Lamberts (European Greens), Anne Delvaux (EPP), Annemie Neyts (ELDR), Michaël Timmermans (Newropeans), Günther Dauwen (EFA).

A web success!

On the 8th of June, the “Questions for Europe” channel recorded more than 60.000 views and the three versions (FR, EN, DE) registered more than 400 subscriptions, an undeniable success leading us to consider setting up permanent initiatives based on this model.