English template for contacting MEPs

[Avgustina Vasilieva]

Dear all,

Please find here the English template the EU Institutions Working Group proposes to send to MEPs in the coming weeks. The red parts will have to be filled in according to who we send the letter.

Dear Mr/Mrs X,

We are starting up a European Citizens’ Initiative called Fraternité2020, which aims at making EU exchange programmes (such as Erasmus or the European Voluntary Service) more attractive in order to build hat we like to think of as a ‘united Europe at grass-roots level’. The new approach towards European integration envisioned in Fraternité2020 is in line with the Europe 2030 report submitted by the reflection group in May 2010 to promote an active consensus among citizens and by taking a bottom-up approach towards a united Europe. The initiative is already supported by a number of world-renowned academics and NGOs from all over Europe. You can find more information on us in English, French and German on our homepage: www.F2020.eu

In particular, we are glad to report that we have already found substantial support in Country:

• Number members on the Citizen’s Committee are from Country. You can find our names and where we come from below.
  
• Number NGOs from Country support our vision of a pro-mobility Europe. Their names (and locations) are: list here NGOs.
  
• Also major European student associations - such as AEGEE-Europe or the Erasmus Student Network - which are also active in Country support Fraternité2020!
  
• Number important individual representatives of Country support our vision of a Europe that is closer to its citizens and focuses first and foremost on them when thinking about how to unite our continent. (Shortly list here the names of the citizens from Country that are included on the list here.)

We are currently trying to expand our base of supporting MEPs from all over Europe to further increase our chances of being successful with this initiative. We have therefore implemented a very transparent MEP section on our homepage that shows instantly from which countries and European Party Families our supporting MEPs come. If at any point you should like to join this list, please just let us know (no other obligations involved!): www.fraternite2020.eu/MEPs.html

We believe that the EU needs to re-focus its integration efforts on the level of individual citizens to put the process of European integration on a more sustainable track. Let us also emphasize the positive economic , social and cultural effects our initiative could inspire. Especially, increasing mobility promises to spur economic growth and to bring down unemployment rates across Europe, particularly in the age group 18 to 26 which is especially hard hit by the current economic crisis. If you sympathize with his vision of a truly united and increasingly competitive Europe, we would be very happy to display your name on our list of supporting MEPs!

Of course we remain to your full disposition if you should have any questions before you want to take a final decision regarding this matter. If you would like to meet one of our representatives in Brussels, we would be happy to arrange a personal meeting subject to your availability.

We are looking forward to hear from you!

Kind regards,
Signed by all members of the Citizens’ Committee from Country

Feel free to comment it below in order to create the best letter for the MEPs

Comment by Markus: Once your amendments are included in the letter, I will delete your post to keep the thread clean!

[Agnes]

There's a tiny mistake in the 3st line "in order to build hat we like to think": a 't' is missing;

I suggest writing "transparent MEP section" instead of "very transparent MEP section": cannot really explain why, it sounds more serious if we use transparent only

4th paragraph's last sentence: "If you sympathize with his vision of a truly united": 't' is lost again (but it could be simply "the vision of a truly united Europe" instead of this)