*[Enwl-eng] Our protest in Brussels
ENWLine
Hi,
It started with a signature. That one signature turned into 157,000. Then a storm of tweets from across the continent. Then donations, videos, protest actions.
All to stop a death sentence for nature. Thousands of us have been putting pressure on European leaders to demand a green and fair farming plan for Europe. One that gives nature a chance.
Because right now, our leaders are in final talks on a big agriculture package that would fund factory farms for years to come. It’s called the Common Agriculture Policy. [1] And over the past few weeks, we've been pulling every trick out of our sleeves to get the one person who can stop this, President von der Leyen, to listen to us.
Thousands of people from our community donated to make sure we could turn up the heat on the campaign. With those donations, we made a video, shared by thousands of us. Together, we contacted the EU Commission President directly. The video was watched over 30,000 times. And everywhere President von der Leyen looked on social media, she saw our message: #WithdrawthisCAP now.
But that's not all! Together with activists from Extinction Rebellion and Birdlife we organised a socially-distanced protest in front of the European Commission in Brussels. With banners, colorful posters and a die-in performance, we protested against the current proposed version of the CAP deal.
Our protest in front of President von der Leyen's office in the commission, photos by Philip Reynaers
It was a great example of where partnership with others is powerful: Extinction Rebellion activists brought energy and creativity, Birdlife brought years of expertise and passion to protect nature, and our community brought the people power – both online and off!
One WeMove Europe supporter, Jean-Marie, travelled 2 hours from Liege and 2 hours back to get to join us for the protest. "I hope this beautiful demo will help to shake things up!" he said.
Our protest went beyond the people on the street that day – it was seen and shared widely on social media. Our community was also mentioned in EURACTIV [2], one of the most widely-read newspapers by our EU leaders.
But there is one person who we haven’t heard from – the one who has the power to withdraw this deal – President von der Leyen. We asked her for a meeting, and all we got was this:
“Regrettably, despite the great importance of the thematics that you propose for such a discussion, the President is unable to give a positive response to your request due to her very busy schedule during this period”.
Isn't this old story frustrating? The industry gets meetings with top decision makers, while doors remain closed for people like us. But we're not backing down. We have ideas on how to get the President’s attention. And we want to hear from you – which do you think could work best?
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- Phone action – hundreds of us call the EU Commission and demand a meeting
- We send back the rejection letter to the EU Commission with personal messages and artwork from our community
- Together we create a video of selfies with messages for EU Commission President von der Leyen
- Socially-distanced sit-in at the Headquarters of the EU Commission in Brussels
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Photo by Antonia Vadalà
As it turns out we will have one more opportunity to stop the deal – and we're now planning next steps with partners. [3] Watch this space!
Thanks for your support,
David (London), Annemarie (Berlin) and the
entire WeMove team
PS: Our work is only possible thanks to many small donations from our community – for that we want to thank you. Help us continue the fight for healthy and fair agriculture. Can you chip in?
References:
[1] CAP super trilogue brings ‘good atmosphere’ but few
decisions:
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/cap-super-trilogue-brings-good-atmosphere-but-few-decisions/;
The common agricultural policy, known as CAP,
pays subsidies to EU farmers. It’s a big deal. It distributes 35% of the EU's
budget.
[2]
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/agrifood-brief-cap-super-trilogue-whats-on-the-menu/
[3]
The European Parliament will vote on this deal in May or early June.
WeMove Europe is a community of people from all walks of life,
who call Europe our home,
no matter where we were born, where we live or who
we love. In the name of a brighter future for people and the planet,
we
come together to sign petitions, send letters and protest on the streets to make
our voices heard.
Our power comes from each other. And it's thanks to
small monthly donations, fivers and tenners, that we can keep going.
Vladimir, please help keep WeMove Europe strong by chipping in.
| DONATE! |
WeMove Europe SCE mbH | Planufer 91 Berlin | www.wemove.eu | Privacy policy |
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