28/05/2020 18:03
Changes in the English original are mostly due to formatting changes - discovering how to achieve nicer formatting with Markdown.
New petition description: [Check out this petition in other languages: www.openpetition.eu/!eu4democracy www.openpetition.eu/eu4democracy ]
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The time of indifference and silence is now over. So-called 'hybrid regimes' have appeared in the European Union, which term refers to the systematic dismantling of the rule of law and democracy.
It is unacceptable that what we European citizens have built up in 70 years is being demolished by some political adventurers for their own petty domestic political and financial gain! I feel that my elected representatives to the EU are not taking strong enough action to stop this process. By signing this petition I wish to put a stop to wasting my money at once.
**As a citizen of the European Union, I do not wish to contribute either financially or morally to my taxes being wasted on:**
* systemic corruption
* enrichment of oligarchs
* intimidation of citizens
* discrediting and hateful propaganda
* the use of public broadcasting for government and propaganda purposes
* silencing voices and media critical of the government
* any form of discrimination. direct or indirect, on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, race, ethnicity, religion or otherwise
**I demand that my elected officials in the European Parliament and Commission take immediate action against corrupt governments and urge that:**
* joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office should be mandatory
* the use of EU funds should be transparent and controllable
* the possibility of the direct financing of civil societies, local councils, businesses and other projects should be available
* the EU should speed up proceedings and actions against non-compliant governments
By signing this petition I wish to stop governments disregarding European values from exploiting the EU's tolerant, democratic, yet slow and bureaucratic processes. I will not accept to see such practices become standard in the European Union.
This would not be the Union, the foundation of which was laid 70 years ago. This would not be the European Union that I wish to finance or I would be happy to be the citizen of.
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For the first time an EU member state is classified as a non-democracy ("hybrid regime"):
freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit/2020/dropping-democratic-facade#Facade
Signatures at the time of the change: 282 (279 in Europäische Union)