CALL FOR THE EUROPEAN MEETING OF
PEOPLES' GLOBAL ACTION,
Milan, March 24-25 2001

see also: www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/new/milan_encuentro.html

1^st reports!:
brief overview
another report
Kurzbericht (de)
SchNEWS #300
Actas (castellano)
duch summary
working groups:
"global to local"
Gtbg. - Barcelona
Salzbg. - Genoa
(summary in german)
Labour Relat's
convenor/
cochabamba

last plenary

At the crucial moments of the fight for grassroots globalisation, Peoples' Global Action has provided information, mutual support and organisation of initiatives and ever-present and active energy, often anticipating future developments.

In Europe PGA plunged its roots into the terrain of Zapatism at the El Indiano meeting, anticipated concern about the WTO in Geneva and the themes of agri-busuiness and biotechnology through the intercontinental caravan, whilst in Prague it once again launched the spirit of Seattle on this side of the ocean: a search for maximum co-ordination and respect for differences.

We have done many things and it's time to reflect on the route we have followed up to now and the new directions we should take, to see who we are and what we have in mind. This is the reason why everyone - individuals or groups, who at present support PGA activities in Europe or are interested in making contact and supporting future activities - is invited to a European meeting of Peoples' Global Action from 24 to 25 March in Milan.

Within this open framework we include everyone we have met on the roads we have travelled along: those who have supported Peoples' Global Action and its initiatives in the fight for the rights and dignity of migrants and exiles without papers - the Zapatist paths in Europe - as well as all those who have chosen the white overalls as the symbol and practice of their fight; and naturally we include those who come from routes that are different from these.

Understandably, everyone has their own plans and fixed dates according to the direction they have chosen. In June the network of the fight on behalf of migrants will be meeting, at the moment there is the Zapatist meeting and in May white overalls from all over the world will meet in Italy. But they will all conceive of Peoples' Global Action as a container which offers a common framework capable of accommodating many differences, to everyone's benefit.

Over the past few years the wind rising from the grassroots of San Cristobal has been blowing harder, penetrating to the heart of the global fortresses and making their thick walls tremble. Occasions such as the PGA European meeting are an opportunity to redefine and re-launch future initiatives regarding our network and the specific role of European movements, as we compare our experiences and our proposals for the future.

In the Ya Basta network we are collectively defining our ideas and want to compare them with others. We think that this should be the content on which to focus attention in our discussion: grassroots proposal of content must be the objective - and one to be thought carefully about in order to make it more effective. It is an objective we have established in preparing action for the Genoa G8 from 20 July onwards. We call on you to do likewise and remind you of the procedure for taking part in the European meeting which, as European convenors of the PGA, we agreed upon for the first call for the meeting, together with the ex-European convenors, Reclaim the Streets - London:-

All those who are interested are invited to contribute to the preparation of the meeting by sending the following, at least three weeks before the date of the meeting:

1. presentation of the person/group taking part and the reasons for their participation;
2. presentation of proposals for the agenda.

Attendance does not necessarily depend on making these contributions , but they will make the debates easier to organise and will be considered as elements that give priority of access to speakers.

Those interested in attending are advised to organise local, regional or national meetings in preparation.

We also suggest organising exchanges of opinion regarding the European meeting, as side initiatives at events regarding similar themes that may already have been organised; obviously these exchanges should not steal time from the discussion of the themes for which the events were organised and should be agreed on with the organisers.

As a means of communication, we shall be using the mailing list caravan99mail.nadir.org, the list in use by the PGA European network since the intercontinental caravan project. All those interested are invited to register with this list by sending a message to caravan99-requestmail.nadir.org with sunscribe in the body of the messages (no subject!). Future decisions regarding communications in the PGA European network will be taken at the European meeting.

The following are the details for contacting the Ya Basta! Association, the present European convenor of the PGA and reference point for the organisation of the European meeting:

yabastatin.it
tel. +39026705185
fax. +39026705621
address: Ya Basta!
Centro Sociale Leoncavallo,
Via Watteau 7,
20125 Milan, Italy.

The meeting will take place in Milan, Italy at the Centro Sociale Leoncavallo, Via Watteau 7, from the morning of Saturday 24 March to the evening of Sunday 25 March.
Participants are advised to arrive on the evening of the 23rd and to give the organisers details of any accommodation needed.
We also invite you to take part in the organisation of the meeting and give it your full support.