Citizen assemblies can strengthen citizen participation in the EU, but their importance should not be overstated, writes Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf.
For years, Berlin has at best administered, mostly stonewalled, when it came to European policy. It is now time for a German government that will throw its full weight behind an active European policy, writes Jamila Schäfer.
Empty words and slogans will not decarbonise Europe. The EU's leaders must stop paying lipservice to the climate emergency, writes Helena Marschall.
The European Parliament has begun a much needed reflection process with a view to updating the way that the institution works, writes David Sassoli.
There are many advantages in the EU becoming more financially independent of the member states, write Jakub Kučera and Lukáš Rejzek.
European democracy is in urgent need of reinventing itself. Under threat by polarization and disinformation, deliberative democracy could help bring back power to the people, from the hyperlocal to the international political field, write Pepijn Kennis and Samuel Doveri Vesterbye.
The latest successful European Citizens' Initiative, Minority SafePack, is a rare opportunity to take democratic participation seriously, after a number of previous ECis failed to garner enough attention or make an impact on EU legislation, writes Carsten Berg.
During the crisis-ridden last decade, the EU has stumbled into a new intergovernmentalism presented as an apparently pragmatic problem-solving approach. But side-lining the European Parliament is not just a problem for the EU’s legitimacy, but also results in negotiation deadlocks …
From health to employment to education, Covid-19 has brought additional challenges regarding access to and enjoyment of human rights. As December 10, International Human Rights Day, draws closer, it's time to reflect on the state of civic space in Europe, …
Beware of US elections, which may end up with the world’s most powerful nation bogged down in a constitutional crisis, writes Dick Roche. Dick Roche is a former European Affairs minister of Ireland. On 3 November US voters will elect Members of …
In these difficult times for liberal democracy, the EU has to ensure its credibility more decisively than ever, writes Darya Mustafayeva.
The response by EU leaders to the COVID-19 crisis suggests that solidarity is on the rise. But what about solidarity between Europe’s own citizens, and the 65 million Britons who face losing their rights to EU citizenship? A group of authors provide their thoughts.
30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall it is time to bring back the spirit of '89 to forge a new rEUnaissance, argues Luca Jahier.
The UK's offer of settled status to EU citizens may have seemed like a change of tack in its migration policy but there are many causes for anxiety, writes Roger Casale.
Democracy is at risk and requires healthy media, several portfolios from the new EU Commission are relevant. After years of fake news and weak self-regulation, this ecosystem could be rebalanced if four key Commissioners cooperate around the media sector, argues Christophe Leclercq.
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.
In the face of populism, and in the run-up to the EU elections, European leaders need to explain to the citizens the many good things the European Union has achieved collectively, writes Dimitris Avramopoulos.
It is a well-known Georgian secret, that the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili runs the country’s affairs through his “Georgian dream” political party, police and judiciary and even some other political parties and most of the mass media, writes Nino Burjanadze.
On 9 April 1989, Soviet tanks rolled into Tbilisi, and Georgians realised Gorbachev’s regime was just as steeped in blood as that of his predecessors. Thirty years on, Georgia remembers its heroes, writes Natalie Sabanadze.
Cities are the place where the fight against climate change becomes real, most of the decisions are taken and where equal and inclusive societies can be made, Anna Lisa Boni claims.
EU Governments and Institutions should severe their ties with Iranian businesses and diplomats, pending serious reforms in order to implement human rights and freedoms, writes Julio Terzi.
As Tunisians go to the polls later this year to elect a new president and parliament, they are confronted by a confluence of factors that could seriously threaten the viability of their young democracy, writes Dnyanesh Kamat.
The new president of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, is a worthy member of the small group of women in the club of world heads of state and government, writes Clare Moody.
The Brexit negotiations have assumed that EU citizenship will cease for all UK nationals if and when the UK leaves the EU. Tony Simpson, Tony Venables and Alexandra von Westernhagen question whether this is necessarily so, and what this means for EU citizenship in general.
