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Read this Special Report in Romanian or in Dutch. From the Conference on the Future of Europe to the European Citizens' Panels, in recent years, the EU institutions have been promoting a stronger participatory approach …
The European Parliament called on the EU to give European citizens a stronger voice and more instruments to influence the Union’s decision-making, as well as institutionalise participatory and deliberative processes.
Elections are nothing without voters. With 12 months to the next European Parliament elections, European politicians and political parties are approaching the final window of opportunity to engage with citizens and encourage them to make their voices heard, writes Didrik …
Experts and activists in the EU called for more diverse participation of citizens in co-decision tools, pointing to the key role of information campaigns in raising awareness and boosting citizens’ competences.
Representatives of EU citizens panels at the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) asked politicians to take meetings more seriously, noting that the majority did not turn up to the last plenary session, according to a letter seen by EURACTIV.
MEPs and experts propose to scale up a city-level tool allowing citizens to decide how to spend a part of the municipal resources and let Europeans shape the EU budget expenditure.
The EU’s attempts to encourage citizens’ engagement through participatory tools has made little impact due to the lack of information and clear follow-up, experts say.
Read this article in Romanian. Giving citizens a say in decision-making beyond elections can help the leadership make better decisions, but sharing power requires a clear division of roles, politicians and experts have said. Citizen participation has increased rapidly …
Forms of deliberative democracy, such as public participation networks, can support traditional politics - but integrating young people into the process remains a challenge, Gillian Coughlan, mayor of Cork County in Ireland, said in an interview with EURACTIV.
While participatory democracy sounds like an important goal to many, it also raises questions of responsibility, accountability, power and trust, according to a panel on citizen engagement.
While the debate was more focussed and better organised than before, participants said disinterest from politicians clouded the latest panel of the conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) event in Strasbourg at the weekend. CoFoE is the first EU deliberative …
Deliberative democracy processes are more democratic than general elections or surveys, according to Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) participants and experts of the second panel on democracy gathered in Florence last weekend.
“Governments are obliged to react, they cannot bypass citizens’ proposals”, Italian socialist MEP Brando Benifei told EURACTIV in an interview on the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Despite participants fears that the Conference on the Future of Europe is not making headlines and therefore might not be as impactful as hoped, the Commission has reassured them that the media is listening and their voices will be heard.
The Conference on the Future of Europe launched Sunday (9 May) in Strasbourg can only succeed if local and regional communities are involved, the European Committee of the Regions has argued. EURACTIV France reports.
We should never forget that democracy is not just about voting: citizens also want their voices heard between elections, write Roger Casale and Verena Ringler.
Two weeks before the European elections, Emmanuel Macron’s La Republique en Marche (LREM) party published its election programme and is now attempting to mobilise pro-European voters, including those in Berlin. EURACTIV German reports.
Against the backdrop of yet another EU political crisis, this time with Catalonia seeking independence, opinion makers and decision makers in Brussels have tried to sketch a plan for rebutting populist pressures and restore trust in the European Union
European citizens are more inclined to vote if they are given the chance to choose who will be the next president of the European Commission, according to a survey released today (6 September).
EU citizens feel insecure and that their voices aren't reaching the ears of their political leaders despite sometimes violent demonstrations. Desperation is growing in several EU countries, says Gilbert Fayl.
Generating all energy from renewable sources is no longer a pipe dream in Europe. From Denmark to Austria, we can see examples of a successful energy transition. Germany is clearly seen as the front-runner and an important driver - especially due to its nuclear phase-out. But the energy transition is not only “made in Germany” but also “made in Europe”, says Anna Leidreiter.
The first six European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECIs) in EU history have launched campaigns and are collecting signatures, but it’s at the moment impossible to support an ECI online due to what one group calls "severe" problems.
It is not an April Fool's joke. It is finally happening. After years of talks, the EU will launch on the 1st of April the European Citizens initiative. The programme will enable people to propose new laws. Citizens will need to collect one million signatures from at least 7 different member states.
EU policymakers must consult citizens more often, but consultations must reflect the specific needs of the EU institutions to justify the cost of holding them, European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding told a Brussels audience on Tuesday (14 September).
