Assemblea statutaria della Sezione MFE di Roma

via per uscirne non sembra il liberalismo estremo, che certa stampa anglosassone raccomanda per esempio ai giovani francesi, oppressi dai corporatismi degli apparati burocratici ed economici nazionali.

In realtà, il Manifesto mostrava una grande preveggenza. Sconsigliava già allora i sindacati dalle pratiche parassitarie che poi avrebbero innescato reazioni eccessive in senso contrario. Metteva in guardia dagli squilibri nelle retribuzioni fra le diverse categorie di lavoratori (propongo che agli insegnanti italiani si offra la possibilità di lavorare per un anno come commessi della Camera, con relativo stipendio). Invocava una politica della scuola orientata a dare a tutti le eguali opportunità di partenza, non le selezioni brutali che si applicano sugli studenti di certe università, con il risultato di creare moltissimi spostati e nemici della società. Non escludeva le nazionalizzazioni, pur mettendo l'accento sull'iniziativa privata. Soprattutto affermava l'idea che già allora l'economia aveva abbastanza risorse per dare da mangiare e da dormire a tutti, senza che nessuno dovesse piegarsi al servilismo e all'abiezione per il posto di lavoro.

La soluzione sta probabilmente nel senso indicato dal Manifesto: è sempre l'uomo a esser padrone del suo destino. E' il suo spirito critico, non l'aquiescenza alle leggi superiori dell'economia, la cosa migliore del nostro tempo e che non dovremmo perdere. Da cui la necessità, già chiara in quelli di Ventotene, che ci fossero donne e uomini comuni, non di gnomi insediati nelle stanze dei bottoni, intenzionati a riacquistare con l'intelligenza e il senso di responsabilità il controllo del proprio futuro.

Una nuova carta della cittadinanza europea è indispensabile per rimettere le idee in ordine, partendo da criteri di equità per tutti, non cercando di redistribuire le briciole dopo che i forti hanno trattenuto per sé i cosiddetti diritti acquisiti, che sono la codificazione dell'ingiustizia. Diritti di tutti, salario minimo garantnomico. E' evidente che ogni paese e ogni gruppo di paesi affini si manifestano in funzione delle proprie caratteristiche e delle proprie basi di partenza, ma è altrettanto evidente che gli esempi anche lontani devono essere analizzati: non per adottarli passivamente, che non è mai possibile, ma per comprenderne i caratteri e le implicazioni.
Un tempo erano gli europei ad avere una visione mondiale degli affari economici o politici e strategici. Indubbiamente l'hanno perduta o almeno ridotta: l'eurocentrismo, un tempo giustificato dai fatti, ora non ha più ragion d'essere. Ma i tassi dello sviluppo economico, che si misurano di anno in anno, sono più veloci dei tassi dello sviluppo culturale, che si misurano a secoli.

Alessandro Corneli. Collaboratore del Sole 24 Ore. Autore, nel 1988, del volume L'era del Pacifico (Edizioni il Sole 24 Ore).

[back to the Grand-Place Europe home page] confronti degli altri due. La caratteristica del polo americano è la libertà d'iniziativa economica in mani interamente private.
La riduzione delle responsabilità politico-strategiche degli Usa, dopo la fine della guerra fredda, stanno liberando in quel paese grandi energie, che si manifestano nel primato tecnologico e nel basso livello di disoccupazione. La caratteristica del polo asiatico è stata a lungo determinata dal binomio dirigismo statale export-oriented con protezionismo e basso costo del lavoro. Questo modello non è più valido, almeno per il gruppo dei paesi di testa. Il dirigismo si sta rapidamente riducendo, la liberalizzazione delle importazioni avanza, i salari sono cresciuti, e molto in alcuni paesi (Giappone, Corea del Sud, Taiwan). Solo i paesi ancora meno sviluppati offrono salari competitivi, accolgono le delocalizzazioni industriali dei più avanzati, gli investimenti, e si preparano a entrare nel circuito della globalizzazione. La caratteristica del polo europeo, oltre alla maggiore dipendenza dall'estero per quanto riguarda le materie prime e le fonti energetiche rispetto agli altri due poli, è quella di avere realizzato una straordinaria ripresa economica dopo la seconda guerra mondiale ma allo stesso tempo di avere imbrigliato l'attività produttiva in una rete di protezioni sociali che è diventata controproducente rispetto allo sviluppo e all'occupazione. Modificare questo impianto non è facile, sia per le abitudini quotidiane e psicologiche consolidate, sia per la stratificazione degli interessi.
Ciò ha impedito di porre tempestivamente attenzione allo sviluppo dei paesi asiatici, assumendo un atteggiamento "chiuso" perché concentrato eccessivamente sui problema dell'integrazione economica e monetaria. L'allargamento progressivo della "piccola Europa", anzitutto ai paesi ex comunisti e quindi a quelli dell'area del Mediterraneo-Medio oriente, è però uno stimolo importante per superare questo ritardo culturale che si è tradotto in un rallentamento eco nel 1989 a Canberra, Australia, con sede centrale a Singapore. A partire dal 1991 gli Stati Uniti hanno concentrato su di essa i loro sforzi per liberalizzare gli scambi nel segno della globalizzazione. Recentemente sono emerse anche le esigenze di trovare forme di cooperazione in campo monetario per evitare crisi di tipo messicano ma anche per dare a tutti i protagonisti economici un quadro di certezze maggiori onde evitare politiche concorrenziali fondate su manovre di cambio. Tutta l'economia asiatica, comunque, ruota intorno al binomio dollaro-yen. Recentemente la Thailandia ha dovuto abbandonare, dopo un quindicennio, il cambio fisso con il dollaro.
La caratteristica della flessibilità delle forme organizzative multilaterali asiatiche è forse il contributo più significativo che i paesi dell'Asia-Pacifico hanno dato alla rete globale degli scambi. Questa flessibilità deriva in buona parte dalla volontà di mettere in primo piano gli aspetti economici e di non inoltrarsi in questioni politiche, interne ai singoli Stati membri. Così è stata resa possibile la cooperazione tra regimi molto diversi: socialisti più o meno sviluppati, autoritari o personalistici, anche se scanditi periodicamente da consultazioni elettorali. In diversi paesi si assiste comunque a una spinta democratica: Taiwan e Corea del Sud rappresentano i due casi esemplari in cui a un lungo periodo di sviluppo economico è seguita una democratizzazione politica interna. Certo, in Asia le ideologie non hanno un valore assoluto: se contano all'interno di un paese, non intralciano i rapporti con paesi orientati su altre ideologie. D'altra parte le ideologie potrebbero essere pericolose in paesi multietnici e multireligiosi. Se c'è una ideologia, questa è il nazionalismo, ma contenuto dalla priorità per lo sviluppo, il commercio internazionale e la cooperazione. Se si considerano come grandi poli economici l'Europa (occidentale), gli Stati Uniti e l'Asia orientale, nell'ultimo quindicennio il primo ha perso colpi neili Stati Uniti hanno accordi militari bilaterali con il Giappone, la Corea del Sud; con l'Australia e la Nuova Zelanda partecipano all'Anzus. La Nuova Zelanda vieta però nel suo perimetro l'accesso a unità americane che trasportino armi nucleari o ne siano dotate. L'URSS aveva firmato un accordo di alleanza con il Vietnam unificato, di fatto saltata quando nel 1979 la Cina attaccò il Vietnam e Mosca non si mosse.
Rispetto all'area euro-atlantica, quindi, l'area Asia-Pacifico si è dimostrata particolarmente refrattaria ad accordi politico-militari multilaterali. Anche se potrebbe risultarle utile, per prevenire o tenere sotto controllo crisi future, un parallelo dell'OCSE (Organizzazione per la sicurezza e la cooperazione in Europa), non si scorgono all'orizzonte possibilità di realizzarlo. E questo è un tema di grande importanza poiché esistono precise situazioni conflittuali, legate soprattutto alla sovranità su alcuni arcipelaghi rivendicata da due o più Stati rivieraschi: tra Corea e Giappone; tra Giappone e Taiwan; tra Cina, Taiwan, Indonesia, Filippine, Brunei e Vietnam. Senza contare la questione dei rapporti tra Cina e Taiwan. Tra le forme organizzative più efficaci si devono ricordare la Adb (Asian development bank), di cui il Giappone ha sottoscritto oltre un quarto del capitale e detiene oltre il 21 per cento del potere di voto; la sede centrale è a Manila. La ricordata Asean ha la sede centrale a Bangkok, in Thailandia. La Spc (South Pacific Commission), con sede a Nouméa, in Nuova Caledonia, istituita nel 1947 ma turbata dalle polemiche sugli esperimenti nucleari francesi; dal 1996 si è ritirato il Regno Unito, riducendo a 21 i1 numero dei membri. Il South Pacific forum, istituito nel 1971, con sede a Wellington, Nuova Zelanda.
Lo Spec (South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation), istituito nel 1973 e trasformato nel 1988 in South Pacific Forum Secretariat, con sede a Suva, nelle Fiji. Ma tra tutte, oltre all 'Asean, l'organizzazione emergente è l'Apec, istituita Assemblea statutaria della Sezione MFE di Roma

MFE - Roma
Assemblea statutaria della Sezione MFE di Roma "Altiero Spinelli"

Roma, 7 novembre '97
ore 18.30 Sala riunioni del CIFE, Salita de' Crescenzi, 26 (pressi Pantheon)

invito

Cari amici,

Ti invitiamo pertanto a partecipare alla riunione di venerdì 7 novembre alle ore 18,30, presso la Sala riunioni del CIFE, Salita de' Crescenzi, 26, con il seguente programma:

1. ) ore 18.30 Assemblea statutaria della sezione MFE di Roma
Ordine del giorno:

2. ) ore 20.00

Cari saluti Contributo alle tesi congressuali del Movimento Federalista Europeo

Movimento Federalista Europeo
Gioventù Federalista Europea Roma
in collaborazione
con Commissione Europea Rappresentanza in Italia

invitano a
DISCUTENDO DI AMSTERDAM
un dibattito su
I PRO E I CONTRO DI UN TRATTATO PER L'EUROPA DEL 2000
in occasione della firma
giovedì, 2 ottobre 1997, ore 18.30
Roma , via Poli 29 - Rappresentanza in Italia della Commissione europea

intervengono e rispondono
Esperti, Funzionari della Commissione e tanti giovani
Ai partecipanti saranno distribuiti opuscoli e brevi studi sul nuovo Trattato di Amsterdam. Verrà inoltre trasmessa la cerimonia della firma
Segreteria organizzativa
MFE - GFE , via E. Stampini 12 - 00167 Roma
tel. 06/ 39734691 fax 06/ 39734694
E-mail: gfe@eurit.it - www.eurit.it/gfe/

[back to the Grand-Place Europe home page] "……"226‘‘e5&doc.html;1:XXe5&emlogo.gif;1<¡¡e5(emlogo1.gif;1:HHe5(index.html;1D‚FF‚e5,"lisbona-fr.html;1>ýAAýe50lisbona.html;1>ÍÍe52pres-en.html;1>RRe54pres-fr.html;1mun pour la révision du Traité de Maastricht dans le cadre d'un Forum permanent de la société civile. Le Mouvement Européen a également constitué un réseau d'orateurs qui agit dans le cadre de l'initiative de la Commission européenne "Team Europe".
Les activités du Mouvement Européen comprennent enfin l'organisation de congrès et de conférences au niveau international, national ou local; la réalisation de sondages auprès des citoyens et des associations; la publication de documents sur des thèmes spécifiques de l'actualité européenne; la coordination des initiatives d'information et de formation de l'opinion publique sur les politiques de l'Union. Les activités prioritaires du Mouvement Européen sont réalisées en étroite collaboration avec a Commission européenne et le Parlement européen dans le cadre du programme d'information du citoyen européen et notamment des campagnes "Construire l'Europe ensamble" et "Euro".

Des plus amples reinseignements peuvent être obtenus au:
Mouvement Européen
Place du Luxembourg, 1
B - 1050 Bruxelles
Tel.: (32-2) 5124444
Fax: (32-2) 5126673
european.movement@skynet.be [back to the Grand-Place Europe home page] gradually achieve the historic objective of uniting the whole continent - is taking place even though the measures that are indispensable for ensuring the effectiveness and democratic nature of development in European integration have not been taken.
5. The European Movement nonetheless notes certain positive aspects of the draft Treaty, which thus represents one more step towards European construction. The very partial nature of the reform decided by the Intergovernmental Conference requires energetic implementation of the new Treaty, with mutual trust between institutions and true solidarity between Member States.
6. The European Movement notes that the conclusions of the Amsterdam European Council regarding economic and monetary Union allow several barriers to the introduction of single currency to be lifted, which is an essential element for European construction, thus keeping to the timetable for introduction of the Euro.
Minimum requirements for Union reform
7. In 1995, the European Movement had called on States supporting the integration process to commit themselves to minimum requirements for reform of the Union. These requirements may be summarised in six points :

generalization of codecision between the European Parliament and the Union Council concerning the exercise of legislative and budgetary power, approval of international agreements and amendments to the Treaty;
decision-making efficiency through generalization of majority vote in the Union Council;
Strengthening of the executive function, notably with regard to the role of the European Commission;
the attribution to the Union of the means to guarantee - above all through a greater role of the Court of Justice in the whole sphere of Union competence - the fundamental rights likely to increase the European citizens' feeling of belonging;
substantial strengthening of the Union's international action and cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs - concerning both EM- Documents Présentation

Lisbon, 12 July 1997
DECLARATION OF THE FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN MOVEMENT
1. The Federal Council of the European Movement, which met in Lisbon on 11 and 12 July 1997 under the chairmanship of Mr Mario Soares, perused the results of the European Council meeting in Amsterdam on 16 and 17 June 1997, and, above all, the Presidency's Conclusions and the draft Treaty concluding the Intergovernmental Conference.
2. Examination of the draft Treaty reveals that :
it does not meet the minimum requirements set out by the European Movement as of April 1995;
the mandate assigned to the Intergovernmental Conference by the Maastricht Treaty was only partially fulfilled;
the objectives defined by the European Council at its meetings in Madrid in December 1995 and Turin in March 1996 - mainly on bringing the Union closer to its citizens, strengthening its international action and carrying out institutional reforms required for Union enlargement - were not achieved.

3. The European Movement stresses with concern that - without any overall vision for Europe's future and the lack of a public debate - the Union is doomed to making its way in a vast political and conceptual void. Support of the European cause by a public that is increasingly more disorientated will inevitably grow weaker.
4. In this context, the opening of the Union to the European countries that have requested membership - in order toles institutions de l'Union européenne.
22. Le Mouvement Européen encourage le Forum permanent de la Société civile - constitué à son initiative en septembre 1995 - à poursuivre son action de débat sur la "charte des citoyennes et des citoyens de l'Union", en vue de l'ouverture d'un processus constitutionnel permettant la participation des peuples d'Europe. Les conclusions de ce débat pourraient constituer un élément important du Congrès de l'Europe en 1998.
23. Aux abords de l'an 2000, l'Union affronte les défis les plus décisifs de son histoire. L'Agenda défini par le Conseil européen de Madrid en décembre 1995 comportait en effet les rendez-vous suivants: l'adaptation du Traité; le passage à la monnaie unique; les nouvelles perspectives financières et la révision des politiques communes; l'établissement d'une nouvelle architecture de sécurité; la préparation des négociations d'élargissement; la poursuite du dialogue avec les voisins de l'Union.
Les choix effectués à ces occasions détermineront durablement l'évolution de l'Union et donc le devenir commun, à terme, de près de trente Etats et de cinq cent millions de personnes. Il est conforme à la vocation et à la mission du Mouvement Européen - mémoire et inspirateur de la construction de l'Europe unie - d'éclairer les choix qui devront être ceux des citoyens européens envers eux-mêmes et envers le monde, dont la globalisation exige que les pouvoirs de fait soient soumis aux pouvoirs démocratiques.

back to the Grand-Place Europe home page] éel de décision et en consultation avec les parlements nationaux, et les citoyens doivent être associés à travers une large discussion publique engageant la société civile européenne.
17. Le Mouvement Européen recommande que, dans la perspective de cette nouvelle phase de réforme et en tant que mesure concrète de démocratisation et de légitimation accrues de l'Union, les partis politiques européens désignent leurs candidats à la présidence de la Commission européenne en temps utile avant les élections européennes en juin 1999.
18. Le Mouvement Européen décide qu'il y a lieu, plus que jamais, de poursuivre - avec le concours de la société civile - la réflexion en vue de déterminer les objectifs et les structures de l'Union à l'aube du XXIe siècle, conformément à la finalité fédérale des traités institutifs de l'Union européenne.
19. Il appartient au Mouvement Européen de prendre l'initiative, comme en 1948 à La Haye, et de proposer au Parlement Européen et aux parlements nationaux une réponse aux défis qui assaillent l'Europe en cette fin de siècle. Il ne s'agit sans doute plus, comme alors, de reconstruire l'Europe détruite par la guerre mais de définir les conditions de la paix et de la prospérité du Continent qui se réunifie autour des mêmes valeurs démocratiques et des droits de l'Homme.
20. (...)Le Congrès de l'Europe, réuni à La Haye les 9 et 10 mai 1998 sous le thème "construisons l'Europe du XXIe siècle", sera appelé à examiner et à adopter ces orientations qui seront adressées au Parlement Européen, aux parlements nationaux ainsi qu'à la Commission européenne et aux gouvernements des pays membres de l'Union et des pays candidats à l'adhésion.
21. Le Mouvement Européen invite le Conseil de l'Europe, le Collège d'Europe de Bruges, le Centre Européen de la Culture de Genève - dont la constitution fut conçue à La Haye - ainsi que l'Union Européenne des Fédéralistes et la Jeunesse Fédéraliste Européenne à participer activement à la préparation du Congrès de l'Europe de 1998, ensemble avec ues nationales et des mesures communautaires en matière de délocalisation et que des financements adéquats soient effectivement mis en oeuvre en s'appuyant notamment sur le développement d'une politique fiscale européenne.
Au-delà d'Amsterdam: construisons l'Union du XXIe siècle
13. Le Mouvement Européen réaffirme sa conviction que la procédure actuelle de révision du Traité ne permet pas des avancées substantielles de la construction de l'Union à Quinze. La perspective de l'accroissement du nombre des membres - qui pourrait atteindre vingt et un Etats lors de la première vague d'adhésions - ne déclenchera pas spontanément un réflexe salutaire de la part des gouvernements nationaux hostiles ou réservés à l'égard du renforcement institutionnel de l'Union.
14. Le Mouvement Européen approuve le Parlement Européen lorsqu'il demande que tout élargissement soit précédé d'une nouvelle réforme du Traité: celle-ci sera cependant vouée à l'échec si elle est menée au niveau intergouvernemental. La Conférence intergouvernementale de 1996 a montré une fois de plus les limites de cette procédure de révision.
15. Dans cet esprit, le Mouvement Européen recommande au Parlement Européen et aux parlements nationaux de subordonner son avis conforme pour le premier et leurs votes de ratification pour les autres à la décision du Conseil européen de procéder à une nouvelle réforme de l'Union en 1999 ainsi qu'à l'engagement des gouvernements nationaux de ne signer aucun traité d'adhésion tant que cette réforme n'aura pas été conduite à son terme. Le Mouvement Européen estime que les questions liées à la réforme de l'Union doivent être soustraites au mandat de négociation avec les pays candidats.
16. Le Mouvement Européen considère que, dans le cadre d'une nouvelle méthode de révision du Traité, la Commission européenne doit être chargée de préparer les orientations de la réforme, le Parlement Européen participe au processus de réforme, avec un pouvoir rPÜ€ô¶±ÀYE HÔ&ÊpëÅð¥H¬ÿÂà˜¶ÆÀ¤Z\Ì0ŠÉ À ×VU°`Ë½5sKð`Ž kÐÈ#:0*pcxàÀdà1eÐ/ e¶G¬SƒjÔ!pGtƒ'1PTÐ^Q€• ƒ9@3·#r7z Àé°õÐóÐ¿ Ô•í %ª³ çÍŒÛˆ®U¬ðÒ¹@\±ÐŸ;¢À ›ÀŒ|PØ3ï}p &mšy§ÎÐå0ú;ÎPÏ°ûÅÁÜàÎáuúÎÀ¤ÏÐÎÙü¥ÇÀÄÖ0Þ¥[_¦ÙÅÄU£,ð^6ZE“ÿFp $a/ƒÃ8œ´°G´p ÑX Ñx |”aÞÛYÛym¹pmE¼Äâ@Kzö›˜ÃðÅ|APaªìjžÅ² ° “õM³Iº>PGÀ8+à[P…Œ7c xÀaðÏj S0GÞ7¸Ü00ã9^ÀŠ0’š lP1€[@6 6a+`páð¨íØP§ð§ÐŒt¸·“ kËUäí +´¶©@ì5ÛÈ ¢0 ×˜m> ?Àý³¶@™žÉ!,›³rÙ´9#h-9qÚÄËFŽ›¸uÏ¤5+§-ÿœ3qäž9ÓöÌ[³bèÀe;Fí˜6kÇ”Kæìd1M|ôT¨ âaüÆHŠ$>°ˆ%Ë–¬X¶fËË–X¸NÉ6K-\°‚MEV«\ÁÄ)¦lØ0iµ‚C6Ë˜8/è”tÆÒ°\Â˜KfV2[§bKEj–¥R™,D€Yrd‘ÃhK•+J6[©²¨dg&ñ0™D'Uª$IBråÙ“ATp0‚Ç’qÄÈQ'=&xYƒH‹‘‘iƒ8PbÅe·zõ¥¡+?ÚòQd ™F”(Y2ß§Ò>~LYÊ3‹¥=}ôä¡ÄÇ<þ<ÿzŽ„Ê&&–`„‘%—g¸)ÇœgÖ ÇvÂYfoÆqf™e¼ Ç›rÂ9¦Ë9f™µ!1ÄdÌAç˜d˜Ii˜b: ¦i»EE*Á’È¢Š%£JáE0Naº™â™TtÅ·Ù$ • ÿ„&‘‰E8B Âà\QQWÀÁdeYQf-`R™2ú&½™LdC (ª2•a(@b¸àÅ:ÚñŽu4ƒ¸.XQŠV¸b’¹ …Ø «l"¬ˆÅ&RaŠIn‚®ÈÄwèÐ.R–b["0DŒbtÈ:G7ØQp˜ÃAÖZÆ8Öa¢uŒ#ãÉ:„‰(Éx‰Ô‘gdÌz˜5†ÑŒdL" H‚Ô ˆ¾‘g.0Bbà†K4Â…¢….„8‹K‚§Ð ÙªÔ´©ŒT*ÆTšöeèÓh|/²Â5blÆ80ÿ°Á',9©¥pâ%–`G¾&T•Ó„&‘‰F¨ Aø&`FÈx´xÃ}ôp†9àÁ/@láL*T`€$PŒÆŸŠ@3€ ´.©ùTTZTh@à@6w´CºÈ„'6Ãp –°3nAdÜ"ÊH"_„Á‹YT©¹À+-z14=”A‹ ×v8‹ZÐU®¸…4(F‘h®CrÆ3ŽÑŒahÃcêP`C˜AYf¬,y7ÍYo<ãæH‡9´a¢Ò¦ïÙ˜ÃRÀEôáAHR HÀp€GÀ§T¨Â59ñÂ±`Å^°ÿ„3È³¡dã,¤qÂ°p¹`FYúÒµ¢C±ØZ,ÂŒl´Éx×t¨Mìa§hK©øDB•Â(ÃÒ½Õpxƒ"àp<Œ€ËÒ@P1€£y0@ ¨ÊÂmšÚG\˜©@@…9PGŒ"¡°Ãš€„ /^1À ãeà@‡3ÀyÈƒþÐ?às0ƒhñZøa)Fs…1æã4b¤ã å˜F3ö—Uh!Rd8Ò±?a®cÌçûÐ5öWŽv,CÇül5ÑL¢rPCd(ÜÀ‚<¸@glA qÐ‚XÿÄbMÙ®WŒ‹M81¥Ü€‘^ŒiÒÃ¨Ò0 D¾Ô‚Â ÆžlbÔ"ž°˜_‚"¶0´Å-Xq‰SXÂ›àC¢PÇ74ARL[JEÚÀàÀ’$„*E@•€@HÁ\„•N1q–A*d*PaçH Q€Ã Z‚tDRf‚>R&Üñh$à©¡F€axÜ° ðvhÒE1è‹b£»lG8ºáoøòBí;ŠiŽv`ü–G7Ü1Žs¬£åpÇÙ1ŽŠ—c)‡6Ìá¡rL$bøà0„ˆZÅ‚ÐàÝ#˜]o¿¬ÒS`Mè·Ò,"à. JP]$´ióK2ÖZ‘å0s8´‘ŽÏ’Ãc3C2ýtpûó#Çû¸af4ƒLÌå``3²aŒT DÊƒô%µ ¥ÿ8…)ráŠºJÒÄŸ…>¸„Mø„ºÒ®)¬XX«ºf`V˜ _àWÀ!®éJ::ù^(…²“œW…‹¢„LØQX0b3£8¾ë;ÉP(ƒ9ˆH€˜#¨€ `€ ø€1ƒƒ1Àƒ03xØ„h!ì#ÜC€ð¼•R€•ê¶*@–cáÈÈHÐ³20ØnS©aƒØ‰€Í› 8ˆƒ2p 0«ZÀZ†¦)RÈRP†]J‡s`wX>ò³²ó9¿u˜¬u‡X‡ð3™ç«Ä÷!…¨˜ç™h‚˜ehÿ†fp†*H38‚hºà™$˜…R`…Yøƒ …X†X ]†»†[À´T3šXRµYc¨«Q†¢QZ`aÈ¥ !]ŠV†¯¸’aèX(AK….”¯D©£ àµŒƒ0€ƒ'è:ˆƒ(à„AHƒO1ÉS.Èƒ3p<ø€`ƒ3¸½Ê BÑó(çè¶Ç8*Ð„W0ˆà Pà€ SçP(Èê6(€Ô 7À€ ¸S€c…0(«2LhØ€¬ŠÃÑ(£›ÍÛ£@â2ð3³ú€?è1µ=[ 9nPŸ4&k w`ÿž„¾‰;‡H‡=0ƒM¸…Hˆq`u¬ó±>u(‚EHDˆ1øJ 78 Õ°ˆ-ƒ Ïd§Àˆ„Jc[ `h¡¹Š¡†{¨¢é‹\PÆ¢Á¦¹K/©aÐ ¡‰'^øƒ¾(>€x°tì(yMÒ,ŒÑ4·g]‚%HÈo†²ñ.X€„,eƒ10ƒ1Àƒø€Fx‚5XƒC(‚=*8M£èØ•¢€qªxƒ8È‚ž!Ã(³I“ü63ÒBî¬0 À, who are not (yet) members of our group. Selling and location prices of the flats have risen a lot, and for this reason some people have had to think again seriously about whether they will take part in the project. We are striving to save the values and social ideals on which our model is founded from being sacrificed in the name of mathematics and financial gain. Despite these problems our group has remained united and is growing. We've learnt a lot during these last few years of working together and faith in the group gives us the security that we'll make it.
Education for Women at the People's University of Rüsselsheim

Iris Bergmiller

The European Union dedicated 1996 to "Training and Learning during the Whole of Life".
Official communications carried the news that nowadays the progression "training/learning - job - pension" no longer corresponds to the reality of contemporary society and its needs.
But this concept has never been valid for women. And because of this the European Year could also have been entitled "Learning from Women".
The majority of women have been and still are always open to the idea of continuing to learn and train. Up until the seventies the contents of educational curricula for women were almost exclusively geared to teaching women to become the ideal partner, able to give their children the education to enable them to achieve a good social position, and to pass on society's core values. At the time those attending courses at the People's University were able to follow individual programmes depending on their existing educational background. Training was often a compensation, a means to increase one's self-esteem, or an opportunity for women to learn and to do something for themselves.
From the start of the new feminist movement women themselves have asked themselves the question "What and how do women want to learn and acquire learning".
Now women are able to attend various educational and training programmes which are suitable for different life situations. Women want to express their point of view in society. They are abandoning the patriarchal thought patterns in which women were needed to conserve a society's culture but never had the importance of this role recognised.
Women learn from women. Skills based on women's experience are optimised, developed and shared in exchanges between women. All this helps women to recognise themselves in the way they think, feel and act, to understand that they can have faith in their convictions and develop an awareness of themselves.

These essential principles are at the heart of the programming of women's training at the People's University of Rüsselsheim.

"The Older Woman as a Repository of Skills
Older women pass on their skills to younger people

Women are the holders of skills that are passed on from one generation to the next, skills that are essential to the well-being and development of human society. They know how the world works, how men and women live, behave and enter into relationships with others.

Domestic work and family management are based on skills, abilities and knowledge that are similar to professional skills, abilities and knowledge. Without this expertise neither a family nor a productive society would be able to last or if they did, only with great difficulty.

Women have also made their entrance into the world of work, a world mostly determined by the rules dictated by men, with men's rhythms, abilities and priorities. Women have developed a new viewpoint in their dealings with this masculine world, which is also reflected in what this world contains and how work is organised. Slowly but surely this new viewpoint is spreading through society and is being listened to more and more.
Owing to current social mechanisms women's skills circulate in a limited fashion because women do not have faith in themselves nor even in their past experience. They do not feel at ease in public life where their knowledge is not acknowledged.
It is at this point that the work on women's education in the People's Universities in Germany begins.
The following projects have already been put into action:

Young women and older women spend a week's holiday together and work on their bodies or on their daily lives.
Study holidays: Older people and young people meet up
The seminar concentrates on reflections on National Socialism. Daughters ask what their mothers' role was in this inhuman ideology, and what their involvement with and resistance to it was. Witnesses of their times, older women are those who pass on their skills (in co-operation with the Women's Centre, the Civil Archives and the Office of Industry and Social Assistance).
Study holidays: Women remember
A group of educators work together with women of different ages and the retired co-ordinator of a local health office. The practical skills based on many years experience and modern knowledge constitute the proposed course curriculum.
Courses for a qualification in the social assistance sector for emigrant women
Teachers are chosen by the People's University, who ensure that the women are of different ages. Women who are going back to work, women who have had to leave their jobs before time, and retired women, as well as young women who are entering the work market for the first time - all of these learn together. The educators themselves participate in appropriate training courses.
This is also the context of a current project in collaboration with various European partners: the Province of Perugia for Italy, Lynn Ross of "Arran Textiles" for Scotland and other partners yet to be agreed.
The aim of the project is to train older women to pass on their skills to younger women. It is expected that this training will create the basis for new businesses to be set up.
The People's University of Rüsselsheim plan for a records centre, where older women's skills will be documented, recorded and archived.

Active Women's Circle

Every Wednesday from 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. a group of interested women headed by Ilse Bechtold meet in the public library.
Group discussion on various topical subjects is serious and frank. Many different themes are dealt with. Those in the Active Women's Circle visit exhibitions, take part in conferences, go to the cinema and discuss politics, the environment and culture over a cup of coffee.
The activities are basically concentrated in the Rüsselsheim area, given the vast range of cultural activities there which matches the women's various interests.
Do you feel like taking part? You'll be able to find out about new things and contribute your personal experiences and new ideas to the group's activities.

For information:
VHS Rüsselsheim,
Am Treff 1,
Iris Bergmiller, Fachbereichsleiterin Frauenbildung,
Tel : 06142/832734.

Women and Creativity

Monika Roth,
Evangelische Familienbildungs-stätte Frankfurt

"One who has a soul and feels a fire within themselves, cannot hide it beneath the ashes but would rather burn than suffocate." (Vincent van Gogh in a letter to his sister)

In my creative work with groups, especially with women between 25 and 65, I always start from an anthropological, rather than an academic or economic concept of art. In other words, art forms a part of life like eating or drinking, sexuality and movement, birth and death. All of us have this "divine spark" within us, which may become fire and start to live: in poetry, in shapes and colours, in dance and in the language of music. As Joseph Beuys believes: every one of us is an artist. The more artists there are, the less the world suffers. Art comforts and has always had the power to heal.
In the workshop "CREATIVITY+CULTURE" women meet in groups to give their daily lives a new imprint and perhaps find a new direction in life through creative expression. The group functions as a mirror for the individual and as a catalysing agent in social relationships. We start from the individual situation of every participant, whether young or old, from their abilities and knowledge. Each person is encouraged to accept and become aware of their own individual potential for ideas and creativity and put it into practice so as to develop it with the desire to create something. Often it's not easy for women to accept their own work and that of others without over- or undervaluing it. "Accompanying" and encouraging individual development in a way that respects its limits aids motivation. Then - and this is very important, especially for older women, - I also "accompany" people as they go beyond their self-imposed - often too rigidly self-imposed - limits and give free expression to their individual personalities.
It's not a rare occurrence that older women discover themselves and feel creative and full of resources for the first time in their lives, realising how much skill and talent they have hidden within them.

When a woman begins to express herself, not only does her personality change but also the world around her. And her own environment takes note of her in a different way.
To give an example: Edda is over 60 and a retired secretary. Some years ago she came to my painting group to paint portraits. but she wasn't able to develop because figurative painting was not her talent. I encouraged her to try with other forms of expression. Not even she could believe it but in fact her vocation for abstract art came out in all its glory! In one year she painted very many pictures and was invited to show her work in various galleries.

In my opinion this is an excellent example of changing direction at sixty.

Initiative: New ways for Later Life

We are women of between 40 and 70 years of age who want to find new ways to age well, and to understand and live this later life in a better way, thus discovering the importance and the meaning of this phase of life and being able to plan actively for it.

We have brought to our meeting experiences, talents, expertise, questions, fears, personal hopes and needs, some of them different, some of them common. Through the activities we have done (Sunday lunches once a month with discussion on a set subject, seminars, work groups, parties, a round table, groups for discussion and the exchange of experience) we have developed our awareness of what we want, become more united, and discovered helpful new forms of meeting and getting closer to others.

For the first time in human history a completely new later stage of life has been granted to us. When work finishes many of us will still have a period of more than 20 or 30 years of life.
Is this a step forward, which is full of potential for each one of us, and a new opportunity for the whole of society? Or is it only evolution gone wrong, characterised by stagnation, a costly journey towards death and a burden to society?

Few models exist for this new phase of life. It is not possible to inherit suitable roles from our mothers and grandmothers, while prevailing social images give us no new ideas, since there is a mania for youth, and old age is always seen from their point of view. It is a matter of urgency to work out new models to correct current inadequate models.

We have a different identity. Our generation has the task of correcting these images and developing and practising new models to live this later stage of life.
In spite of the prejudices about old age, in spite of its physical and mental changes, and in spite of the thought that our lives will have an end, let us be aware of our vitality, our joy in living and our expertise. Let us develop our own rituals and images through which to create life and celebrate it together.

Forum by Women for Women
Sozialzentrum Marbacherweg Dörpfeldstr. 6,
D-60435 Frankfurt
Tel. 0049 69 54800863/8 Contact: Hildegard Bradt

Italy

Mila Spini

A couple of months past a young man asked with polite cheek whether I had decided what to do when I grew up. To which I replied it was my fixed intention to continue doing what I had been doing for years - and try to perfect it. In other words, to help women on their own and no longer young to weigh on themselves and others as little as possible, to keep their self-respect and consider themselves, to use thought and a sense of responsibility in their choices, to tell the people who would like to stifle us with unsought help where to get off, and most of all, to develop respect for the demands of their bodies in harmony with nature, the firmest base for good health and longevity.
For these reasons I was welcomed into AIDA (the Italian Association of Older/Active Women), and with them I feel so much at home that I am trying to push the idea of constructing branches of the same association, or similar affiliated societies, first of all in Florence, my own city, but also in other Italian cities.
As far as I know it is the only (Italian) association that deals only with women, and this is the main reason for my partiality. Not that I'm a supporter of an Amazon Republic, but those very different problems that divide girls from boys - problems which often seem to disappear when the age to fall in love comes round - spring up again in different forms in a very conspicuous way in the last phase of life.
The troubles that are common to both sexes in old age are somewhat relieved in our present civilisation, especially in the case of males. Wealth, even very little wealth, is overwhelmingly in possession of men. They are more easily granted civil or academic honours; a state of senile dotage is admitted to later. Average life expectancy as well (in other words old age) is higher in us than in them by a number of years.
In conclusion, every day us women are more and more a numerical majority and a social minority.
The result in this high-handed consumer society is that we form the majority of those who "take bread from the mouths of the young". In addition, if we have the good luck - good luck, so to speak - to have a family, we often still have to wear ourselves out looking after others when we ourselves are already in need of care.
It is very important, as the AIDA Constitution says, that there be active solidarity between us, so as - definitely - to obtain from government bodies that minimum amount of assistance which is indispensable to those who are not self-sufficient, and also, as long as we feel well enough, let us do as much as possible to have confidence in our bodies. This means the direct opposite of passively lying back and is literally good for you.
In younger women, at least until a short time ago, every concept of friendship was rooted out, and, the direct opposite taught, that women's only haven was the family.
And, unfortunately, this malpractice is being born again, the consequence being the great terrorist campaign against so-called loneliness, which is often nothing but the price of freedom.
I realise that it would be good to compare the various national situations, with a view to make us think and build for the many individual and collective situations. Unfortunately, for now, I am talking from an Italian viewpoint, which already in itself varies from region to region.
One main thing is the almost complete impossibility of throwing light on loneliness and establishing how far it is the result of free choice and how far fate is to blame. In any case, the first thing to do is to sweep away the terrible habit that "family" women have of viewing women who live on their own with suspicion. The rest will come of its own accord or, anyway, we'll be able to talk about it again. If I may add a small parenthesis:
Four or five years past, while the Council of Women in Florence was being formed, it occurred to us how ugly old people's homes were, and how the so-called sheltered housing was not so attractive either. Yours truly, who - as you'll have understood - doesn't accept that old age should become a category of spirit or a lower social class - scribbled down a couple of pages on the earthly beauty of the famous béguinages in Flanders, more as a literary game than anything else,. It was written in the spirit of non-religious self-management of the female sex, the poorest and most numerous.
People took it seriously and liked it, despite the fact that the current world financial situation has no room for thinking about re-structuring and re-using buildings, but perhaps only jointly-shared non-divisible co-operatives. I'll pass over the painstaking procedures, which had to involve economists, tax and legal experts, to get as far as the architects, with whom we held a couple of seminar-type sittings on "Making Cities in Women's Thoughts and Actions".
On this, as on other occasions, we verified how important it is that women, both from Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, contribute their wisdom, even up till the very last, towards the building of a Europe which, for the moment, seems to be having a struggle to start up amid thousands of difficulties and a certain amount of resentment.

We must succeed. I repeat: we must. And personally I'm in a bit of a hurry: in a few weeks I'll be four times twenty.

Being a man, or being a woman in our changing society

Marie Claire Boulet
FEMMES ET MONDE VIEILLISSANT
(Women and an Ageing World)
Brussels

I am convinced that men and women as human beings are as similar as - as sexual beings - they are different. The reflections that for many years I have made on this theme arouse many reactions, in different ways.
I feel called upon to respond to, and touched as well by the reaction of one man, who writes:
"Sex is a particular, profound and total difference. To understand one's own sex (before anything else!) and that of the other is fundamental. Seeing and knowing the other, as Other, rather than wipe out the differences is the condition for a rich, constructive, dynamic exchange. If one's partner is a little unknown (rather than completely known) a dynamic of adventure and risk is created, without which commitment, in the strongest sense of the word, does not exist, nor does a true experience of trust, in other words not complete love. From a woman I expect that she will reveal all the masculine in me, as, on the other hand, she will reveal all the human. As a man, I would like to reveal to a woman all that is feminine in her, as too all her personal qualities, all that makes of her the woman she is and not another... I completely subscribe to all the discoveries that have shown a feminine element in men and vice versa, and the importance for each sex not to mock or disregard this element in themselves. To be precise, on the one side there is a feminine element, on the other a masculine. Not something undifferentiated."

The letter from this correspondent continues in the same way and I very much appreciated it, because it shows an opening up to and a unique special attention to the other, both as regards couples, where discovery is reciprocal and without limits, and as regards personal humility in questioning oneself.

I am however perplexed by the insistence of the writer in emphasising the differences between men and women. Be it well understood that he is not speaking of differences that are obvious, that can be measured and traced. Rather he is conjuring up specific feminine and masculine attitudes, faculties, and behaviour, which makes us suppose that he has already defined them. Does he really know what "masculine" or "feminine" really are?

I confess that I do not know and that it matters little to me. What does matter to me is to know how I feel a woman, how I experience my relationships, and how I am ageing, without trying to conform to pre-established models on how I ought to be by reason of my sex or my age.
And I can see only one hope in dealing more successfully with the serious problems of our radically changing society: a partnership between men and women, all in the same boat.

Reminiscing Project at Frauenfrühling in Charlottenburg,
Berlin 15.3.1996 4 p.m., total stay
Monika Schmid Jenkinson

Friday 15. to Sunday 17, March.
After a sleepless night from 14. to 15.. I got up at 5 am to collect Rose by cab and then we made our way to London Heathrow Airport. To keep us awake we drank a lot of coffee, unusual for Rose because coffee is not her favourite drink. Our flight was with Lufthansa at 10 am,

Flight without any incident. We arrived at Tegel Airport around 12 p.m. midday. Ulrike Slafskovskie welcomed us with a lovely smile. Off we went to our hotel "Pension Arkade" where we had just enough time to get ready for the seminar. At Ulrike's office we had some time to relax before we went to the hall where the meeting was going to take place. We hung up our exhibition with translation in between. Three longish tables were laid out with cups and saucers for coffee and wonderful buttercakes which were made by a member of Ost - West Frauenbrücke, Gisela Rhein who took us to see the house of the Frauenbund and Max BürgerKrankenhaus the next day. I shall come back to this a bit later.
I met Frau Dr. Scholke from Linz Austria and Frau Helma Horath before the presentation took place. Dr.Scholke was surprised that I came from Wels, a town just 11 km away from Linz. She was under the impression that I came from Graz. She invited me to come to Linz to present this project, (nothing definite has been arranged). I gave her the books and leaflets that were given to me for her. Frau Horath said that she would go to the Ukraine very shortly. She expressed the same sentiments as those faxed to Elisabeth.

Ulrike then started to introduce us (Dr Shcolke and volunteer, Frau Helma Horath, Rose and me. Rose talked about Deepway residential home and its aims and activities, (interpreting this and following questions and answers by me, this continued the next day at our visit to the house of the Frauenbund).
Rose then handed over to me and I read with the help of Ulrike various stories from the booklet "Deptford Women Remember". Half way in between the reading we had a break when I was told that Frau Gisela Rhein the fore mentioned member from the Ost - West FrauenbrÜcke would not contribute because her story was an autobiography relating to her experiences during the war linking it with the atrocities committed in Scotland. The stories that I had been reading had nothing to do with war (something that ought to be left well alone at such meetings between Germany and England. At any rate this was the feeling that I went away with when I first visited Ulrike in October 1995).

After the second part of the presentation Dr Scholke spoke about her involvement with the project, then questions and answers followed (mainly about the aim of such a project and how it is continuing, spoke about Ann Johnson and her involvement trying to build a bridge between young and old).
Conclusion of seminar by Ulrike. She thanked everyone who took part and suggested to carry this project forward we should gather information about such present or forthcoming projects.

The following day we went to the House of the Frauenbund set up for working single women (at that time quite an innovation because women were to fall in line with their respective roles, see brochure) The manageress, Frau Klara Ullrich would find such a scheme useful for those in the home who had come to the house in the 1930s. She also runs a training course for would be volunteers visiting the elderly in hospitals and residential homes.

Our next trip was to the Max - Bürger hospital to Dr Med Frommholz in the department of geriatrics. It was an unexpected visit, on the off chance, and we were lucky. The doctor (stayed for three years in Liverpool) was very pleased to see us. From the outside the building was very old, but inside, one could not have expected a bigger contrast. All the latest equipment for the care of the elderly and the most recent technology to help the elderly in and out the bath. The hospital had two wards for the elderly, the long stay and the ward for patients who come in during the day and go home again in the evening.
Reminiscing would be an advantage for those who stay there longer. As in England, however, the elderly not well enough to look after themselves will be transferred to a nursing home, the others go back into the community.

Last but not least we, Rose, Frau Jochen, Ulrike, Johannes and me met for dinner to discuss first Frau Jochen's project which runs on somehow the same principals as ours. Her aim is to reach the residents in homes for the elderly. At the moment only those well enough to travel come to her reminiscing (story telling) sessions. She is very active and committed to this project. Personally I think she is the best person to do so, It takes some time to be able to break into these homes and make useful contact. (see booklet)

Finally we came to the same conclusion as mentioned above, Also could there be money available from the EU Commission and what would be the conditions? Proposal was also made that this project could run under different names such as Poesie - Erzählen, story telling a.s.o.
It might also run under a different structure. To come together next year at Frauenfrühling to exchange and report on the findings that the various participants and volunteer groups have been able to make.
Copy of project application.

Next day boat trip on the river Spree.
But, although it was quite cold, we saw a lot of historical buildings and we drove through the zoo, world famous for its many species of animals which are scarcely seen anywhere else.

Return to London at 6 p.m. from Tegel

Your OWN News Issue 4; June 1997 Newsletter of the Older Women's Network, Europe

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Copyright © Older Women's Network, Europe: 1997.
Edited by Orlando Moretti and Alto/OWN 1.0