Live internet chat with EU leader

ONE of the European Commission’s top officials will be in a discussion early this evening live on the internet on important issues affecting ordinary EU citizens.

She will debate on YouTube at 17.00 (French time) with bloggers from across the continent, including Briton Mike Smithson of politicalbetting.com

The event - at Debate – is being described as a warm-up for another online debate, on January 16, when any EU citizen could have a chance to take part.
The aim of both is for commission vice president Viviane Reding to hear people’s views about the direction they want the EU to take in years to come.

The second debate will be a Google hangout, during which she will answer questions from EU residents.

The commission says you should post suggested questions and comments on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ using the hashtags #askreding or #eudeb8

European news channel Euronews will be in charge of selecting interesting ones, and you could then have a chance to take part in the debate.

More details are at: Online EU events

Readers in the UK may also be interested in attending an upcoming live debate in English, in London next month. See: London

At Connexion we feel the EU commission plays an important role in the rights of expats in France, on a range of issues such as rules on early-retiree healthcare, Winter Fuel Payments, or the right to vote in British elections – a matter on which votes campaigner Harry Shindler lobbied Ms Reding last year.

We also strongly believe that MPs for expats in the British parliament could help ensure EU rules in favour of expats are fairly applied. A petition calling for them is approaching 3,000 but needs more signatures to trigger a response from the government or a parliamentary debate: MPs petition

Photo: http://ec.europa.eu