On 29 January 2008, the European Commission is relaunching the Debate Europe Forum, in connection with the new internet strategy, Communicating Europe via the Internet - 'Being Global, Going Local'.

Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for the Environment; Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Energy; and Margot Wallström, Vice President of the European Commission; will be among the Commission representatives online to field comments and questions in a debate to launch the new forum between 15.00 and 17.00 CET. Discussion topics will include the future of Europe, energy and climate change and intercultural dialogue.

The relaunch of the online forum Debate Europe will provide a better platform for citizens to discuss EU affairs and interact with the Commission, encouraging more European public debate.

The online forum "Debate Europe" will be accessible at Debate Europe from any computer with an internet connection, no special arrangements are needed. The debates will be available in the 23 official languages of the European Union plus Catalan.