The way we are
“Since 1976 when we founded Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya as a political party, we have always had one priority: Catalonia.
The people who are part of this project called Convergència, look on Catalonia lovingly and from the viewpoint of those who are determined to do a job well done. We have worked day in and day out to make our country grow, and for many people we have made it an example to follow. Today we can see in Catalonia a country that shows the benefits of material and social progress, a country that has a civic spirit and which knows how to combine its cultural character and historical awareness with a spirit of mutual respect and democratic values. But there is still a great deal of work to be done and there are many things that need to be improved. Our enthusiasm for this project grows by the day and in proportion to the problems we face and we will continue to press forward. We will always look upon Catalonia lovingly and from this viewpoint.
If you love Catalonia and want to see it progress, there is a place for you in our project".
Jordi Pujol i Soley
“I represent the new generation which has taken the lead to start a new era in Convergència. We are renewing the project itself in response to a world in transformation but we are doing so with the immutable feelings that have always driven our party: to work from the basis of Catalanism, of Catalan nationalism and to serve Catalonia, a Catalonia without limits.
The men and women of Convergència have always worked to project Catalonia as far as possible at all times. I want to do the same.
I want to see a Catalonia that is strong in spirit, civic, dynamic and creative. A Catalonia that is open to all and that cares for the well-being of all its citizens. A Catalonia that is free in spirit and fully self-governing. That is my commitment and the commitment of all my colleagues in Convergència. It is a commitment that you too can undertake".
Artur Mas i Gavarró
In Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya we are democrats, progressive Catalan nationalists and we work to achieve a fair society that is free and shares its solidarity with others.
What we want
Our aims are clear:
* Strengthen Catalonia’s identity in order to achieve and implement full national sovereignty.
* Contribute to the creation and deepening of common political, cultural, social and linguistic spaces within the territorial area encompassed by the Catalan lands while respecting differences between these peoples.
* Make the political, cultural, social and economic reality of Catalonia known and strengthen relations with the other peoples of Europe and the world.
* Defend individual and collective freedoms and contribute to the strengthening and consolidation of democratic forms of government.
* Social justice and solidarity amongst people and peoples must ensure dignified living conditions and the fair distribution of wealth for all citizens.
* Equip society with a sustainable, productive and competitive economy which encourages effort and creativity to generate wealth and work and which makes the consolidation and growth of the welfare state possible.
* Protect the family in the widest sense of the word as the basic nucleus for mutual respect and solidarity and as the channel for transmitting values, civic sense and for sustaining the development of all its members.
* Peace and the sustainable social and economic development of the world and the eradication of poverty.
* The integration of immigrants into our national community on the basis of mutual respect and without discrimination resulting from of any kind of personal or social condition or circumstance, rejecting all forms of racism and xenophobia. This integration and the contribution made by people from different cultures have been, and continues to be, a positive historical fact that democratically strengthens our country.
* Protect and improve the environment which makes sustainable development possible and to preserve this heritage for future generations.
* Recognize the fundamental character of Catalan civil society’s undertaking in the building of the country and to strengthen it and that of the role of new forms of democratic participation in order to achieve a more open relationship and communicative dialogue between the citizens and the institutions and in such a way as to increase citizens’ participation in the decision-making process.
Where we come from
We are the modern political expression of a national feeling that has more than a thousand years of history". I am talking about my people and my party, Convergència.
In 1974, after almost twenty years of clandestine struggle for our country’s freedom and democracy a large number of people with no particular political affiliation, called upon by Jordi Pujol, coincided in the need to open up a new period in which politics was to have a fundamental role. On 17 November 1974, over a hundred people from the various movements of nationalist activism, the trades unions and the professions met secretly at the monastery in Montserrat. It was the founding assembly of Convergència and it approved a final manifesto containing four fundamental points which would become the basis of a political programme: democracy, social sensibility, nationalism and Europeanism. These four points have also been the pillars of my life.
Finally, on 18 February 1976, those patriots formed themselves into a political party, although it still was not a legal one. The inscription of Convergència in the Register of Political Associations took place in February 1977. Since then, many people have joined the project, working for the firmly-held ideals which we have always defended.
How we participate around the country
We are the main political party in Catalonia in terms of the number of party members, the way our party is structured around the country and in terms of electoral results. We have achieved this together. As party members we are grouped around the country and we actively participate in the party’s political life and in its decision-making process by means of local, district and Federation assemblies. We perform all kinds of activities and awareness-raising campaigns in our local groups and we elect the people who will represent us in the decision-making organs at national level such as the Congress, which is the highest level at which the will of the party is expressed, and the National Council which is the highest decision-making body between Congresses.
Participating in the party’s dynamics is an enriching experience. Relations with other party members are full of debate, discussion and the exchange of ideas so that, together, we can build the country we want.
Around Catalonia we are organized like this:
* City of Barcelona
* Districts of Barcelona
* Districts of Girona
* Districts of Lleida
* Districts of Tarragona
* Districts of Terres de l’Ebre
* Districts of Alt Pirineu
* Districts of Regió 1
EUROPEAN DEPUTIES
We also work in specialized fields through the party’s specific sector groups through which we discuss ideas and come to political positions on specific topics. We study the problems specific to that sector and propose solutions, draw up plans and programmes and encourage training and debate at the heart of the party and within the social sectors involved.
Convergència’s sector groups include two major areas:
* Welfare, Identity, and Culture.
* Economy, Innovation, and Labour.
Training
Members of Convergència have a magnificent resource for activities and training, providing courses, lectures and seminars throughout Catalonia: the Training Institute.
These activities help us better understand our political, cultural and social situation in the international context we live in and to disseminate documentation, form opinion and get to the bottom of current issues.
www.idfconvergencia.org
How we are organized
The responsibilities many of us have in the party have been conferred upon us by our fellow party members as the result of internal elections at different levels. These responsibilities are widely distributed because of the way we are organized throughout Catalonia and in specific sector groups.
Both the territorial and sector groups have their own organs of management and directors which are dependent upon the party’s national-level institutions consisting of three collegiate organs (the Congress, National Council and National Executive Committee) and the individuals occupying the bodies of representation and direction as personified by the President, the Secretary General, six Vice-secretaries.
At the present time, the National Executive Committee which is Convergència’s ruling body at the national level, consists of the President of the Party, the Secretary General, the responsibles of the six Vice-secretariats, the Executive director, the President of the National Council, the presidents of each of the Federations, the Secretary General of the JNC, the spokespeople for the Parliament of Catalonia, the Congress, the Senate and the European Parliament, the President of the Barcelona city Municipal group, the President of the municipal organizations, the President of Convergència’s women’s representative organization and the current President of the Training Institute.
Other members of the National Executive Committee are those designated by the Secretary General to be the party members responsible for the specific sector groups, including a responsible of International Relations. Finally, the party members’ ombudsman, the President of the JNC and the person currently presiding the Ramon Trias Fargas Foundation are honorary members.
Executive Secretariat of International Relations
The International relations is a main topic for CDC. Is for that reason that we have a really active international relations office, that facilitates all our international contacts, relations, and political international relations manifestos. Our party is a full-member of the European Liberal and Democrat Party.
The JNC is the channel for youth action
The Joventut Nacionalista de Catalunya (JNC - Nationalist Youth of Catalonia) is the main young people’s political organization in Catalonia and, although it is an independent and self-governing organization, it is the youth branch of Convergència.
Thousands of young people all over the country are working in the JNC to achieve freedom and the equality of Catalonia with all the other sovereign peoples of the world. However, we believe that national advancement is closely linked with progress in general and full social development that will make it possible to build a country that will be fairer for everyone.
We believe that as young people we have the right and indeed the obligation to take part in building our nation and our society. That is why we say Catalonia is our priority, the Catalan lands are our sphere of action, the Europe of the peoples is our opportunity, social policy is our commitment and the JNC, our channel for action.
www.jnc.org
Promoting debate
The Fundació Ramon Trias Fargas was created to promote debate on what nationalism really means and its importance at local, district, national, and international levels, as well as to promote the study and dissemination of democratic forms of government. The Foundation is a private cultural organization linked to Convergència.
The Foundation encourages all citizens to take part in activities related to political, social and cultural thinking, a very enriching way of exchanging ideas and points of view and a channel for direct communication with those around us.
Fundació Ramon Trias
Rambla de Catalunya 47, pral.
Barcelona
Tel. 93 215 58 48
http://www.fdtriasfargas.org
And we’re still growing
Since that time in 1977 when we registered as a political party and took part in the first democratic elections, we have grown a lot. Now more than 50,000 men and women have committed themselves to our cause, uniting with us to build the Catalonia we want: a strong country with a higher ceiling for self-government.
However, there are many more people who share our enthusiasm and our aims, and who have shown their confidence in us in all the elections that have been held since the restoration of democracy. Thus we have been consolidated as the main political force in Catalonia, at both the municipal and national levels, and one which has at certain times been decisive for the governability of Spain as a whole.
In 1978 we made an electoral agreement with the Unió Democràtica de Catalunya, and since then we have gone to all the polls as a coalition: Convergència i Unió. Twenty-three years later, on 2 December 2001, Convergència and Unió signed an agreement to form a Federation, with statutes to govern the functioning of this new formation. In this way, we gave a new impetus to our shared project, to go on leading the process of national reconstruction and working for the wellbeing of each and every one of the people who live in our country.
Get involved
If you want a Catalonia that is even more forward-looking, with even more social and economic progress, if you want to make progress towards full national sovereignty, if you want an open and welcoming country, come in and help us build it.
You can go to the party’s national headquarters, to the Federation in your rural district or the party office in your town or village, whatever is best for you. Whatever your choice, you will receive personal attention and given all the information you may require.
Make your voice heard. Send us the attached form and take the initiative. Join all the others who share this aim: to be involved in building the Catalonia we want to see.
National Headquarters
Còrsega, 331-333
08037 Barcelona
Telephone 93 236 31 00
Barcelona city
Còrsega, 331-333
08037 Barcelona
Telephone 93 236 31 00
Barcelona-districts
Còrsega, 331-333
08037 Barcelona
Telephone 93 236 31 00
Girona
Plaça Catalunya, 22, 1r 1a
17002 Girona
Telephone 972 21 42 60
Lleida
Republica del Paraguai, 2
25002 Lleida
Telephone 973 27 30 00
Tarragona
Rambla Nova, 88, 2n 2a
43001 Tarragona
Telephone 977 23 76 12
Terres de l’Ebre
Argentina, 21, 1r
43500 Tortosa
Telephone 977 44 36 04
convergencia.org
Learn more about us on our Web site, www.convergencia.org, where you will also find constantly-updated news, statements from our leaders, the initiatives of our parliamentary groups, etc.
Also, you can use our Web site to let us know what you think, to tell us about your opinions, suggestions or doubts.
Facing the future together
On 2 December 2001, Convergència and Unió signed the agreement that constituted the two parties as a Federation, and laid down the statutes that would govern the new formation. The agreement marked the end of 23 years as a coalition, and the formation of a single political force.
The CiU Federation is a step forward to ensure the stability and solidity of the shared project that has united Convergència and Unió for more than twenty years, and it means a new impetus for our continued leadership of the process of national reconstruction and the achievement of higher standards of living for everyone that lives in Catalonia. A very important step, and one taken in response to Convergència i Unió’s commitment to the country and to its people, and one that guarantees the continuity of a political project that has Catalonia as its primary aim.
Since 1978, the year in which Convergència and Unió started to work together, the line taken by both parties has been marked by the desire to pursue a policy of national identity, one that will get the country behind it, and projection abroad. In order to pursue this task effectively, it was essential to strengthen the links between Convergència and Unió through the Federation. With the Federation as a solid base, with the strength of the CiU project and the demonstrably excellent results of so many years in government, Convergència i Unió faces the future with great solidity and a new impetus.
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