Action

When we arrived at 8 am this morning we heard that the whole of the Friends of the Earth International delegation were forbidden entrance to the conference centre. There's dismay and it's a very bad sign for the rest of the day.

Once the Reclaim Power Action put in place, it starts and the tension rises rapidly.

José Bové, wanting to plead Friends of the Earth's cause beside their President Nimmo Bassey, is taken away by the conference Centre security and stays locked up for a while. Many NGOs observers stay stuck outside, even though they have the “must-have” 1 and 2 level badges.

Belgian, German, Italian and Spanish students gathered together in front of the European Parliament in
Brussels for a symbolic action concerning the Lisbon Treaty. They laid down in front of the entrance of the European Parliament and formed with their bodies a clear "NO".

They were asking the Irish people to vote "no" at the referendum that will take place on the  2nd of October. It's a call to reject the treaty in order to start the construction of another Europe, a social, ecological, peaceful and democratic one.Students were gagged to remind that the European citizens of their countries were not asked their opinion on the last version of
the treaty.

Hi Attac activists, Could we share ideas ...to be understandable outside of Attac, in the street, during a public event ?In our local group in Provence, we developed to that end some effective devices with common properties:-Unusual, strange !  People come to  have a look.-Delivering simple, clear and strong messages. An introduction to ask for more.-Inviting people to act (press a button, turn a wheel) in a symbolic way...mind is free for a moment-Aesthetic, pacific. The media take pictures and carry onwards our message...3 pictures are attached. They show a fake roadsign "Citizen Choices/Carrefour des choix de société/Kreuzung zur Wahl der Gesellschaft" - the German language version was produced at the Austrian AktionsAkademie in Linz.Year after year, pictures of the panel appear on bookcover, publications, cartoons....I will try to describe other tools that support explanations about  : sharing the wealth, choosing concurrence or cooperation, learning about GATS, about the European Treaty...It is fun and effective at the same time.