Rule of Law: a bit of an abstract term, perhaps. However, it guarantees very concrete freedoms, those that we Europeans are very much used to. The freedom of expressions, i.e. that you can criticize publicly your government; the freedom to have equal rights, regardless of whether you are a man or a woman; the separation of powers, ensuring the independence of the Judiciary from the Executive power.

The Rule of Law is a powerful guarantor of our freedoms but it is also like a fragile child needing constant attention. Today, eve in our democratic Europe it is threatened by illiberal governments, such as the one currently in place in Hungary.

This is why several pro-European organisations have proposed a new European Citizens Initiative (ECI) in support of the Rule of Law in Europe, to create safeguard measures against its violations anywhere in the EU and thus guarantee all of us our freedoms.

The Italian +Europa party (Brussels branch) and the promoters of the ECI invite you to a debate with Marco Cappato, former MEP and Italian human rights campaigner; Federica Sabbati, European Movement International and +Europe Brussels; Balint Gyevai, representative of the Hungarian opposition party Momentum, which similarly to +Europa is a member of the ALDE Party, and Frederique Hanotier, Director of Human Rights Cities Network.

We look forward to meeting you on Friday 11 October from 17:30 to 19:00 at the ALDE Party headquarters at Rue d’Idalie 11 in Brussels.

Welcome!