During this meeting we will discuss the current democratic challenges in the EU in the shadow of the 2024 European elections as well as the agenda for the next year of the democracy cluster. Professor Nicolaidis will present the report of the High Level Group on Bolstering European Democracy which she chaired at CEPS entitled 'The Radicality of Sunlight: Five Pathways to a More Democratic Europe'.
The EU has become increasingly democratic. However, the notion of the EU’s democratic deficit is still present. According to the latest Eurobarometer poll, less than half of EU citizens think that their voice counts and do not consider it highly important to vote in EP elections. This thus leads to a crucial question - what is the real issue with EU democracy and how can we solve it? While this debate is anything but new, it is necessary to rethink EU democracy now - not only has the Conference on the Future of Europe injected fresh momentum into the debate on EU democracy but a possible new round of EU enlargement over the next few years requires a genuine attempt to ‘put the house in order’. Most importantly, we are only one year away from the next EP elections, a critical moment for citizens and voters to express their stance on democracy and for a public discussion on how to strengthen the EU’s democratic legitimacy and empower citizens. Against this backdrop, CEPS and SWP Berlin joined forces to set up a High-Level Group (HLG) to develop and disseminate concrete and actionable policy recommendations to strengthen EU democracy. This HLG is composed of well-known academic and authoritative practitioners (politicians, diplomats, advisors) and reflects the EU’s political, geographical and institutional diversity. The HLG produced a report which will be launched on 19 October in Brussels, also via a discussion Colin Scicluna, Head of Cabinet for VP Dubravka Šuica.
This event is co-organised by the TD21 cluster and the EUI-STG Democracy Forum.
EUI members willing to participate to this event are invited to register under the TD21 cluster.
The event will be followed by a cocktail.