With less than a year to go before the European Parliament elections 2019, the legitimacy and democratic accountability of the European Union are again the topic of heated debate. In the face of decreasing voter turnout, rising euroscepticism and widespread dissatisfaction with politics, the European Commission has launched several initiatives to better engage with citizens and address the (perceived) lack of transparency in EU decision making. At this FLE debate, panellists discussed the state of European democracy and citizen participation in Europe, while FLE participants of the 2018 generation presented their own citizen-outreach projects they worked on during the year.

Speakers included: Aura Salla, Adviser for Communication and Outreach, European Political Strategy Centre, European Commission, Assya Kavrakova, Executive Director, ECAS, Stephen Boucher, Author of ‘Creative Politique’ and Managing Director Fondaction EurActiv.