EU’s post-elections trajectory: What role for citizens and civil society?

On 10 July 2024, the final event of our EUact2 project, a panel discussion titled “EU’s post-elections trajectory: What role for citizens and civil society?”, took place in Brussels at the European Policy Center (EPC). Research Associate Sophia Beiter represented the IDM. Vladislava Gubalova (Senior Fellow, GLOBSEC) presented the EUact2 project to the audience, which the IDM has been jointly implementing with GLOBSEC, European Movement Ireland and ELIAMEP since 2022. A short video summarising the various events and activities during the two-year project was also presented. A total of 1574 people were reached directly and over 316,000 people online via social media. 

Afterwards, a panel discussion on the topic of the EU election results and the future role of civil society was organized. The panelists were Antonella Valmorbida (Secretary General, ALDA), Apostolos Samaras (Attorney at Law and Research Fellow, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy) and Noelle O’Connell (CEO, European Movement Ireland); the session was moderated by Johannes Greubel (Senior Analyst, Head of Transnationalisation Programme and Connecting Europe Lead, EPC). 

In the discussion, the importance of projects such as EUact2 was emphasised, especially in times of shrinking civil space and increasing polarisation in society. With regard to the increasingly good results of far-right parties in the EU, but also in national elections, the panelists agreed that far-right voters should not be demonised, but on the contrary should be listened to, in order to find out why they vote for these parties. The power of civic engagement and the crucial role of civil society were emphasised. Active participation creates trust, awareness and a shared sense of responsibility. Civil society must decode the added value of the EU for citizens. Furthermore, the panelists agreed that the EU needs to become more robust and defend its values and that these values should not be negotiable.