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EMiL - European Movement in London - is the regional branch of the
European Movement - and is
the new designation for Central London Europe Group, which had since
1987 been the local branch covering Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham,
Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and the City. Within
these central areas and beyond, our task is to promote and maintain
public interest in and understanding of Europe - an objective we
recognise as more challenging than at any time in CLEG's history.
EMiL's predecessor CLEG was founded in 1987
through a merger of three EM branches (with very distinct traditions)
previously covering what had become London Central Euro-constituency -
Camden in Europe, Kensington and Chelsea for Europe, and Westminster
for Europe. A further branch operated in Hammersmith and Fulham in the
1970s. All these were founded during or in the wake of the referendum
campaign of 1975.
So as to ensure local credibility, our statutes require that all the constituent boroughs of our
core area be represented on the branch committee.
We are, of course, politically non-partisan - and draw support from members of all parties and of none.
EMiL works closely with the European Movement =
to achieve our common objectives; but have our own identity, concerns and especially
local community focus over and above that. We also seek to develop, because of their networking potential, to develop relations with the
local business community.
From the outset, we have sought to provide a regular programme of high-profile speaker
events in central locations. Forthcoming events are set out in our diary.
More recently, we have also developed working relations with counterpart EM sections elsewhere in Europe through the Eurocapitales network.
Of at least equal priority, however, (and especially now) is to develop our
campaigning dimension.
Informing - and securing feedback from - the
public on European issues is a service we propose to develop
systematically for the first time, through this site. On the contacts page we set out members of the EMiL team equipped and willing to field questions by e-mail. Please test out the service!
Balancing all these requirements whilst building a more substantial
membership base representative of our area constitute current key priorities.
What can be achieved through EMiL depends on
the time and commitment supporters and activists can provide. There is
far more to be done than a small team of officers and committee can hope to sustain by their own efforts alone. Therefore, we welcome and can find useful and important roles for anyone interested in supporting our work.
In the following pages we spell out the
various facets of our work - and give contacts for each. For general
enquiries please contact EMiL secretary Mark Paterson.
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