At the initiative of Democracy International and FIDE, more than forty civil society organisations are calling on the candidates in the European elections to stress the importance of strengthening the participation of European Union citizens in shaping European policies. They ask them, if elected, to take action to ensure that the European Parliament is at the forefront in defining standards and allocating resources to facilitate such participation.
“There will be no vibrant, engaged and resilient democracies if the period between elections is marked by ‘civic droughts’. Citizens should be more closely and qualitatively involved in politics, also at the European level. This is urgently needed to make our democracies more resilient and robust to anti-democratic challenges”, these organisations state in their manifesto.
By Friday 31 May, 172 candidates had signed the online petition, pledging: - to strengthen the processes of citizen participation at European level, notably through the European Citizens’ Initiative and citizens’ panels on sectoral issues; - to involve national parliaments more closely; - to support the establishment of the first-ever parliamentary intergroup on European democracy.
Further information: https://aeur.eu/f/ch6 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)