The European Civic Forum (ECF) was established in December 1989, one month after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The initiative was taken by members of the European Cooperative Longo Mai
[1] together with a circle of friends in different countries. The main aims were to develop links of friendship and cooperation between people in eastern and western Europe, seek together new forms of social and political action as well as alternative ways of life, in opposition to the all too predictable triumph of neo-liberal free-market capitalism.
The ECF also aimed to pursue the activities of the European Committee for the Defence of Refugees and Immigrants (CEDRI) which had been created in 1982, also at the initiative of Longo Mai. This meant that the ECF also included a strong North-South element, in particular with regard to all matters concerning immigration and asylum.
The ECF is a completely voluntary organisation with no paid staff. It relies solely on the involvement of members of Longo mai and friends concerned by particular fields of activity. It publishes a monthly review, “Archipelâ€, in French and German and also contributes to radio programmes broadcast in French by Radio Zinzine (Forcalquier, south-east France) and in German within the framework of the programme “Europa von unten†broadcast by many German-language radios.
It has concentrated on certain questions, including:
- The future of rural areas. This has included an agricultural project in former East Germany, a series of activities in the region of Transcarpathia in Ukraine, support for initiatives seeking to create networks of rural alternatives …
- Cooperation with anti-war and anti-nationalist forces in former Yugoslavia, including close involvement in the network of independent journalists AIM, the Swiss organisation “Causes Communes†which develops links between municipalities in Switzerland and different parts of former Yugoslavia, and a Europe-wide campaign in support of deserters and draft resisters.
- Involvement in the sans-papier movement in several countries and in particular a Europe-wide campaign of information and denunciation of the appalling conditions faced by migrant workers in various sectors of the economy in western European countries.
- This has above all taken the form of an in-depth European-wide investigation into the situation in intensive agriculture, following the riots against Moroccan workers in El Ejido (Andalusia) in February 2000.
- Euro-Mediterranean contacts, including delegations to Morocco and to Tunisia.
[1]Longo Mai is a movement of agricultural and small-scale industrial cooperatives in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland and Ukraine.
