Considering that the ongoing global crisis has led to massive unemployment, particularly in Europe, and has left many people in despair, groups of citizens from 15 European Union countries have launched an initiative to request the EU to examine the feasibility of an Unconditional Basic Income.
The idea behind an Unconditional Basic Income is to allow for a better distribution of work opportunities, thus supporting decent living conditions for everyone. Such an Unconditional Basic Income must be universal, individual and high enough to be a radical tool for fighting inequalities and poverty.
The Basic Income would also be a way to simplify many welfare benefit rules and procedures, and would not replace the welfare state but would transform it from a weak compensatory one into an emancipatory welfare state.
The broad collaboration of European groups and citizens from 15 countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom) that has been preparing this campaign shows that the long-standing idea of a Basic Income is gaining momentum.
After registration of the European Citizens’ Initiative by the EU-Commission early this year, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have also joined the coordinating group of the campaign.
In addition to those of the coordinating group (“European Citizens’ Committee”) we have already obtained signatures from all 27 countries of the EU (see Figure: “Statistic for the first month of online signatures”).
The organizers of the initiative invite everybody to sign their support on the joint website https://basicincome2013.eu
It is also possible to support the campaign by filling in forms. In other words, you do not need to have internet access. We must maximize the number of signatures by 14 January 2014, to be given for evaluation to the national authorities in all 27 Member States.
Our next European coordination meeting will take place on 27 May 2013 (with a public event on the evening before) in Köln. One item to be considered will be the proposal for an International Week of Unconditional Basic Income, to be held from September 16 to 22, 2013.
So we hope we will obtain the required 1 million signatures, while reaching a minimum threshold in at least 7 Member States, which is a necessary condition to reach the first step of the European Citizens’ Initiative. Once that has been achieved, there must be a public hearing in the EU-Parliament, offered by the EU-Commission, and then the EU-Commission will decide what will be done further.
Please sign the European Citizens Initiative and inform other persons by your media (e-mail, Newsletter, Website, facebook, twitter, print media, etc.) asking for support!
The European Citizens Initiative Will Be Achieved By It’s Citizens As It Is In Our Interest Across The EEC.
I support initiatives for a citizen’s basic income in all economies.
It helps create a more equitable system.
France has declared that any taxation above 66% is illegal. Denial of citizen dividend (a form of basic income) is 100% taxation of income from a country’s common wealth. The French people have a legal basis to ask for a citizen dividend.