Our mission
The European Union has been a success story for many years and contributed to economic prosperity and political stability on the continent.
However, many citizens do not understand how the EU operates. They wonder how and why certain political actions are undertaken.
They are exasperated that the EU fails to realise its full potential as a player on the international stage.
EU Watch aims to address these questions. We want to encourage debate about EU policies. The objectives of EU Watch are to:
- support the values and principles of the European Union;
- analyze EU policy-making with respect to effectiveness, transparency and fairness;
- scrutinize key EU actions, notably in the field of foreign affairs, migration, good governance and respect for fundamental rights;
- contribute to better communication between citizens and EU institutions and bring the EU closer to citizens;
- raise critical thinking and the capacity for objective judgment about the EU foreign policy in particular.
Founded on values
Article 2 of the EU Treaty outlines the Union’s values and guiding principles. It states that the Union “is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.”
Article 3 says that the Union’s aim is “to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples.” It adds that the EU “shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justicewithout internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured in conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border controls, asylum, immigration and the prevention and combating of crime.”
Most important, Article 6 incorporates the Charter of Fundamental Rights into the Treaty. These rights “shall constitute general principles of the Union’s law.”
EU Watch is a non-partisan non-profit non-governmental organisation
We want
to encourage debate about EU policies and actions,
an EU that lives up to its own values and principles,
to contribute to better communciation between citizens and EU decision-makers,
the European Union to be accountable, transparent, and
to be a force for good in the world.
