My Europe Week: Mother’s Day and Europe Day 9 May 2010

According to Wikipedia, if I counted correctly, it is Mother’s Day in a majority (14) of the member states of the European Union, globally in 77 countries this second Sunday of May 2010.

Being 9 May, this year Mother’s Day and Europe Day coincide in these 14 EU countries.

In my own country, Finland, Mother’s Day is an official flag day. Europe Day is a flag day recommended by the Ministry of the Interior. If possible, you should fly the EU flag alongside the national flag.

I appreciate the symbolism of the national and the EU flag side by side.

The nurture and care of a mother ultimately aim at adulthood and independence of her child. From our mother, we learn our mother tongue, but wisely she does not prevent us from learning other languages.

For most of us, our fatherland (patria) is where we study, work and live, but a wise father does not imprison us, if our destiny takes us into the wider world.

Being an EU citizen is having a bonus citizenship, with freedom to move and reside, as well as some political rights. It does not deprive us of national citizenship, but amplifies it.

However, at some point in time, mothers and fathers have to accept their children as adults. This goes for our national leaders as well.


Empowerment


After the intergovernmental trivium and the supposedly apolitical and technocratic supranationalism of the quadrivium, our political leaders should allow, even encourage, our progress to become fully empowered members of the universitas of higher learning.

The primary and secondary levels were necessary, but why keep us back?


My message to the political leaders this Europe Day is: Understand to stand back and start preparing us a complete system of representative democracy at EU level.

Full citizenship, please.



Share your Europe



Europe Day 9 May 2010 is a good occasion to share your Europe.



On Europe Day 9 May 2010, the editors of Bloggingportal.eu invite you, bloggers and non-bloggers, to share your visions for the future of Europe on the My Europe Week blog. You can read the roundups on My Europe Week, or you can access the posts tagged #myeurope on the special Bloggingportal.eu page.

Twitter away under the hashtags #MyEurope and #EuropeDay.




Ralf Grahn