As of today, the European Commission will be calling on citizens all over the European Union to help set the policy agenda for the next years and shape the future of Europe in the biggest ever EU public consultation on citizens’ rights. The consultation will be open for four months, until 9 September, during which time the public will be asked about the obstacles they face in exercising their rights as EU citizens, be it when travelling in Europe, when voting or standing as a candidate in elections or when shopping online. The public consultation comes ahead of the 2013 European Year of Citizens. The input received from the public will feed directly into the Commission’s policy agenda and form the basis for the 2013 EU Citizenship Report, to be presented in exactly one year’s time: on 9 May 2013.

“Twenty years after we first created EU citizenship at the small border town of Maastricht, we must revitalise the European project – and we must do it with the direct help of our citizens,” said EU’s first Commissioner for Citizenship Viviane Reding, the. “The European Union is there because of and to serve its citizens. People expect concrete results from Europe, and with cheaper roaming charges, better rights for crime victims and easier shopping online for consumers, that is exactly what we are delivering. Citizens’ direct input will help us to continue doing our job – and to do it even better in the future. I call on everyone to take a few minutes and share your view with us: this is about your rights and your future.”

The ideas behind the European Union were put forward on 9 May 1950 by the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman. This date is now celebrated as a key moment in the creation of the EU.

9 May, or Europe Day, is the anniversary of the ‘Schuman declaration’. Speaking in Paris in 1950, Robert Schuman (the French foreign minister) proposed a new form of political cooperation for Europe, which would make war between Europe’s nations unthinkable. His vision was the creation of a supranational European institution that would manage pooled coal and steel production. A treaty creating such an entity was signed just under a year later and came into force in July 1952.

Schuman’s proposal is considered to be the beginning of what is now the European Union.