Can our democracy survive the pandemic? This question was asked by many observers in Spring 2020, when governments were forced to introduce drastic measures to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. Two years later, we note that while European democracy did not perish, the pandemic did leave some serious injuries (and Putin’s war in Ukraine puts democracy even further to the test). But the past two years have also seen the European Union launch an unprecedented deliberative democratic exercise in the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) to engage citizens in European politics and bring Europe closer to them.
We teamed up with the ZEIT-Stiftung to organise a panel at this year’s EuropaCamp entitled “Does democracy need a makeover?” where these experts discussed YOUR questions and comments! Watch the discussion in the video above.
- Helene von Bismarck, Historian, Writer and Public Speaker
- Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor and Director of the Good Lobby (via Zoom)
- Sarah Händel, Federal Executive Board member of Mehr Demokratie (via Zoom)
- Moderation: Caroline Will, Editor of Debating Europe/DE
Does democracy need a makeover? How big is the threat of populism to European democracy? How should the EU respond to rule of law violations by Member States? Should the Conference on the Future of Europe become permanent? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts for their reactions!
Image Credits: Conference on the Future of Europe
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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which democracy? we are treated just like voters for one day. Not citizens. Playing a multiple (usually double) choice game once every 4 years is not democracy. Is just a ridiculous responsibility propagation.
Is the structure of Eu realy democratic? or is It a “silencious communism structure”?….. You have 2h and I take back the copy 😉
We hebben de voorbije 2,5 jaar gezien in wat voor een democratie we zitten. Alle Europese regeringen die enkel aan dictatuur doen, discriminatie, gezinnen en vriendschappen naar de verdoemenis hebben geholpen, dwangmatige spuiten in ieders lijf willen pompen. Enz. Enz. Geef ons leven terug en laat ons met rust.
Ale luc de buck vind dit blijkbaar grappig. Niet erg hoor dat je ermee lacht. Neem het niet kwalijk dat zwakzinnige mensen lachen met het leed van andere mensen.
volledig mee eens….
Today in Brussels, tommorow in Strasbourg ??? 🤮
An improvement can be made by replacing the statistics with organization of competitions at all levels!
Als de EU verdwijnt…dan kan er wat democratie terug komen.
I am conflicted. On the one hand, I do not like a bunch of random people whose only criteria for making country-wide and EU-wide decisions are based on their ability to get votes. Not on their critical thinking skills, not on their ethics, not on the expertise required to make such calls. On the other hand, I do not trust the EU to make those decisions because the EU is not altruistic and pro-people. They have agendas and serve banks and corporations. plus the EU are control freaks. Control this, censor that, ‘you must believe what we say and not question Bovid, our measures, ‘our’ science, Bill Gates or our position on Ukraine. So our choices at the moment are a bunch of unskilled incompetents or agenda-driven control freaks who do not actually care about our wellbeing on all levels, our freedom rights or medical rights. I wrote to Europe Advice and they told me my corrupt government can mandate an experimental rush-job quacksine with experiemntal technologies. Stuff that! I don’t trust any of you to make decisions because you all violate, cause suffering, harm, or massive debt. You are all rubbish choices at the moment.
Europe has no say!!!
Europe is not a country and not my country!
We the people will fight!
make no mistake about that!
Propaganda, manipulation and deceit, payed for with our own money…
#BEXIT #EUFREETRANSPORTFROMGOODSANDPEOPLENOTHIGMORE
Stop lip service of “democracy” but do real things to secure people’s life and living by not fueling war near the doorstep and take positive action for post-Covid social economic recovery. Without social and economic recovery, “democracy” is just to divert people’s attention from real threats.