Bring Back the Citizens! How to revive democratic participation for a citizens-led Europe

Why are European citizens turning their back on our political system and what needs to be done to give a new impetus to democracy in Europe? Is the EU as it is now compatible with participatory democracy? Is representative democracy the model to follow and can it be applied at every level of governance? Why has the EU lost its mojo among the people of Europe?

The past few years have not been easy ones for democracy in Europe. Alarmingly low levels of electoral participation have been registered in many EU member states, including at the latest European elections of May 2014, which registered the lowest voter turnout on record, with an all-time low of 42.54%. In many EU member states – such as Greece, France, Spain, Slovakia and Italy – anti systemic, populist parties have emerged strong and powerful. Poland and Hungary’s illiberal turn poses an additional threat to democracy on our continent.

Widespread lack of trust in national governments and European institutions, the rise of Euroscepticism as well as low levels of participation in European and national democratic processes are three of the most prominent challenges to democracy on the European continent. The EU, national governments and citizens themselves must take action, addressing the root causes of European societies’ disengagement in democratic processes.

Concerned about these developments, FutureLab Europe’s fifth generation worked on a publication calling for concrete measures to address the root causes of these European malaises by bridging the gap between citizens and decision makers.

In these unstable times, listening to and empowering the voice of young people is pivotal not merely to increase the democratic legitimacy of the status quo, but to revitalise the politics of Europe. We need the ideas, perspectives, analyses and passions of young Europeans in order to develop innovative and credible policies for the future. If the EU fails to bridge the gap between itself and European hearts and minds, it will not only have an issue of democratic legitimacy - it will probably not survive.

Europe is home to a variety of political cultures, and the EU is a project of enormous magnitude. It would be an impossible task to address all possible actions to strengthen its democracy in one publication. However, this paper concentrates on actions which are seen by FutureLabbers as the ones requiring the most attention. Our recommendations reflect, to a certain extent, the diversity of actions that should be undertaken by the EU. While some of these recommendations call on the EU to either act as a safeguard against practices and trends occurring within member states or to take the lead in promoting what should be considered to be the drivers of our democracies, others suggest ideas for increasing the democratic legitimacy of the EU itself. While the different contributions vary in approach and perspectives, they are all written by young Europeans who care about the future of democracy in Europe and the role the EU could play in this regard. We hope that our thoughts find their way into the minds of leaders and citizens alike.

FutureLab Europe is a project of the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship, affiliated to the Network of European Foundations and initiated by the Körber Foundation. It is operated by the European Policy Centre.

The publication contains FutureLab Europe participants’ recommendations to the EU.