European Citizens' Forum Istria

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) and the Istria Council invite all citizens of the beautifully located region of Istria to take part in the AER European Citizens’ Forum. During the Forum participants will have the chance to discuss opportunities and challenges faced by the Croatian regions before and after the country joins the Europe’s largest club with regional politicians and decision-makers.

The AER European Citizens’ Forum in Porec will be the opportunity for the citizens of Porec to discuss the challenges faced by Croatian regions before and after joining the EU. The aim of the debate will be to involve citizens in a genuine dialogue about the future of their regions in the European Union. In order to facilitate the discussion various European regions will present their territorial systems and the current state of play with regards to the level of subsidiarity, as well as citizens’ participation in their regions. The models of the Hungarian region Bekes, an EU member since 2004 and of the Swiss region St. Gallen, a non-EU member, will be presented to familiarise participants of the Forum with

various scenarios of active participation of citizens in their regions’ life with regards to the EU.
The audience will be asked to answer the question: Will Croatian regions and their citizens profit from the EU accession? before and after the debate, in order to allow them to change their mind following Speakers’ presentations as well as Question and Answers session.

The Forum will be held in Croatian and in English.