During a press conference at Europe House, Valletta, local NGOs, activists and academics declared their support towards the European campaign for the right to an unconditional basic income.

Finnish activist Vivan Storlund – representing the European Campaign, Sociologist Michael Briguglio, David Pisani from Zminijietna Voice of the Left, Charles Miceli from Anti-Poverty Alliance spoke saying, “Many persons have become innocent victims of the present economic crisis. To halt this trend a Citizens’ Initiative for an Unconditional Basic Income has been launched in the EU. Supporters include progressive, green and leftist activists, organisations and parties.”.

Malta has joined the campaign through Zminijietna – Voice of the Left, the Anti-Poverty Allianc and progressive activists and academics.

“Today a basic income for all continues to be promoted by persons such as the philosopher and political economist Philippe van Parijs and organisations such as the Basic Income Earth Network, BIEN. The European Citizens’ Initiative is a new tool for participatory democracy, where citizens can forward their concerns to the EU.”

The campaign for an Unconditional Basic Income was launched in January 2013 by citizens from 15 European countries. Today this number has reached 22 countries including Malta.

The EU Citizens’ Initiative calls for a basic income that should be universal, unconditional and high enough to prevent material poverty. It should provide the opportunity for active participation in society. The general idea is to support decent living conditions for everyone.

While being a tool for fighting inequality and poverty, a basic income can also simplify welfare benefits.

The general organiser of the initiative, Klaus Sambor from ATTAC – a global NGO active for social justice – underlines the symbolic dimension of the campaign: “The broad collaboration of groups from 15 European countries participating in the preparation of this initiative demonstrates that the long-standing idea of an Unconditional Basic Income is now gaining momentum.”

The initiative was accepted by the European Commission on January 14th. The campaign must now collect one million signatures before January 14, 2014, while reaching a minimum threshold in at least 7 member countries.

The minimum threshold for Malta is 4,500 whereas it is 74,250 for Germany, the biggest EU member country. If the campaign succeeds, the European Commission will have to examine the initiative carefully and offer a public hearing in the European Parliament.

The initiative can be supported through the website http://basicincome2013.eu/

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