Tag: European Union

Online workshop – Improve 4 Europe, The Netherlands, September, 19, 2020

The activity took place on September, 19, 2020, online, via Zoom. The event involved 28 citizens, including 25 participants from the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1 from the city of Lisbon, Portugal, 1 from the city of Rome, Italy, 1 from the city of Budapest, Hungary. This activity aimed to familiarise the participants with the complexity of decision making at the EU level and to promote the discussion of the type of Europe we would like to see.

The methodology used was in line with non-formal education and the tools used were from Improve Theatre – improv games and role playing. Each participant was given the role of the leader of a random EU country and had to conciliate national interests with the European interests in solving a case study (the event that had happen few weeks ago about the refugees in Moria camp).

The programme of this workshop session included:

1 – Welcoming & Ice-breaking exercise

2 – Small groups games to start to enter the character

3 – Plenary discussions and exchange of experiences

4 – Case study presentation and the 5 scenarios explained

5 – Same small groups get together to discuss what to do with Moria situation – each group had to act has one of the possible scenarios for the Future of Europe

6 – Big group discussion and exchange of opinions about the best scenario

7 – Voting

8 – Informal discussion

9 – Closure

We had a few people leading each small group that were training in Improv, and the rest of the participants were young adults from different backgrounds.

For the ones that have o previous knowledge of politics and decision making at the EU level the 5 scenarios are concepts difficult to grasp. In the end there were more questions that answers but the groups felt that scenario 3 would be the desirable in order to avoid complex never ending processes and being able to take fast and efficient decisions.

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Italian kick-off event of Eulections´19, Lugo, Italy, June, 3, 2019

This event took place on the June, 3, 2019 in one of the high schools of Lugo and we counted on 72 participants (71 participants from the city of Lugo, Italy, 1 participant from the city of Lisbon, Portugal), mainly students, teachers, and staff of the school interested in the method and to the project. The participants were from two different high school courses: humanistic and technical, and students of the last two years of high school.

This was the first event of the Emilia-Romagna tour and all of us were excited: Flaminia staff, students, teachers, and trainers. The introduction of the workshop was dedicated to the White Paper of the Future of Europe 2025, the methods, and the goals of the project.

Each student had his own bag with his own Lego pieces. Throughout the event, with the help and instructions of the expert trainers, they went through all the points that we wanted. Gradually, the students showed their commitment to the activities, showing to be more and more willing to build “complex” models whit the LEGO, giving a 3D representation to their ideas and points of view.

After the introduction activities, a sort of ice breaking activities aimed at facilitating the student to get into the objective of the workshop, the 5th scenarios were introduced and they started to work on them divided into groups. Each group worked on one single scenario, using the same approach adopted during the introduction activities: own personal thought, 3D representation, and sharing with the rest of the team.

At the end of the project the participants photographed their 3D models, they wrote a brief summary of the experience, complete a questionnaire to collect key messages and suggestions and to assess the impact of the activity.

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Second public presentation of the project, Academy ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal, April, 17, 2019

The second edition of Academy ISCTE-IUL happened on the 17^th April and it was an opportunity to present the project to high school students and collect inputs from young citizens regarding the project’s activities. Through the “Who wants to be Euromillionaire” quiz and a debate, they had an opportunity to know more about European Union and about the objectives of E(u)lections´19 project, which was represented by the project coordinator and project manager.

The students were also invited to participate on the first event of the project which will take place on 10^th May at ISCTE-IUL.

2025-11-12
#changeEU – What do young people think of the European Union?

E(u)lections´19: Think, Decide, Change intends to hear what young people have to say about the European Union.

In this video series, you can watch what some of our participants have answered to the questions about what they expect from European Parliament and what Europe represents to them.

2025-11-12
EULECTIONS’19 online workshop with students @ Universidade dos Açores, Azores, Portugal, December, 11, 2020

The EULECTIONS’19 roadshow continued online with Universidade dos Açores on December 11, 2020. The event gathered 46 citizens, including 41 participants from the city of Ponta Delgada, S. Miguel, Azores, 5 participants from the city of Lisbon, Portugal, to reflect and collect perspectives from the archipelago, one of the European Union (EU) outermost regions, about the future scenarios for the EU.

We’ve started the session with the project’s presentation and a short video about Europe’s day and asked participants to share the words they associate with the video and Europe. After a brief commentary about the group’s word cloud, we’ve presented a short video about the history of the EU, followed by a quiz on this topic. Participants were invited to test their knowledge about the European project after the Second World War, before the reflection about the present and future of the EU.

After sharing the quiz results and a brief discussion, the next activities of the workshop were focused on the current state of the EU and the possible ways forward. Having, as a starting point, a video and a presentation about the “White Paper on the Future of Europe”, the participants were then divided in small groups, in different Zoom rooms, with the task of choosing and reflecting about one of the five scenarios, its pros and cons. Each group was supported by a facilitator.

Following the reflection about the scenarios, each group’s main conclusions were presented and debated by the facilitators and the participants. After this collective reflection, each participant was invited to decide individually, which scenario they considered better for the future of the EU, the “citizen’s scenario”.

For some of the participants, the Union needs to consolidate its institutions and coordination processes to respond to challenges, as for others it needs to change to “do much more together”.

Recognizing Brexit and the initial COVID19 pandemic response as pivotal moments that underscore the need to make improvements to the European project, students also recognized the importance of the EU in promoting better living conditions in the poorer regions of the continent. They’ve also stated the importance of European values and the fight against extreme nationalist ideas to keep united in diversity.

As for citizens’ role in shaping the EU’s future, students emphasized the importance of improving the Union’s communication with citizens, especially from peripheral regions, and find ways to engage Europeans in the debate.

With the aim of promoting the participants interest in the future of the EU, we’ve share information about the Conference on the Future of Europe and the European Citizens’ Initiative, key instruments to allow citizens to engage with the European project and shape its policies. Also, highlighting the importance of an informed and active European citizenship, we’ve shared with participants the ChangEU Webcourse, developed in the framework of the project, where they can access information about the European Union’s history, role and challenges.

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EULECTIONS’19 online workshop with students @ Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, May, 4, 2021

On May, 4, 2021, the EULECTIONS’19 roadshow returned to Iscte, to promote an online workshop with Political Science students. The event involved 29 citizens, including 28 participants from the city of Lisbon, Portugal, 1 participant from the city of Madrid, Spain

The workshop started with a project presentation by the coordinator and the partners, followed by an introductory activity in which students where invited to share the first word they associate with the EU.

After the introduction, we’ve invited students to watch a short movie about the history of the EU and test their knowledge about the building of European community through a quiz. The first activities of the workshop aimed to set the floor to the discussion about the present and future of the European Union.

Following the quiz about Europe’s past and a brief commentary by the facilitators, we’ve presented a short video and additional background information about the White Paper on the Future of Europe and – Five scenarios. This was the starting point for the next activity, a group reflection about the pros and cons of the various scenarios. Participants were then divided in small groups to chose one of the five scenarios and reflect about it.

Each group’s main conclusions were presented and debated. For some of the participants, it’s important to set more ambitious goals for the future of the EU by developing the political union and improving its representativeness, although recognizing the risks of alienating those groups of citizens who oppose increasing the EU’s political role. For others, the more ambitious scenarios for the future of the EU are also difficult to achieve or even unrealistic in the short term, due to the very diverse socioeconomic conditions in the member states.

Another group of students considers important to improve and consolidate the current European model and its institutions and only then, advance to more ambitious goals. This strategy would contribute to improve EU’s relations with European citizens and reduce Eurocepticism although key important challenges remain, namely the international role of the EU and its ability to respond to international events and the development of common tax policies. The debate was wrapped up with the individual vote on the preferred scenario for the future of the EU.

We then proceeded with the next activity in which we invited participants to present their suggestions regarding priority areas to be addressed by the EU to respond to its citizens’ needs and ways to improve the relationship between the European institutions and European citizens.

Regarding the priority areas for EU’s intervention, participants mentioned climate change and sustainability, the socioeconomic inequalities between countries and the refugees crisis. In order to improve its relationship with European citizens, EU institutions should be more transparent, promote participatory decision making, take into account each countries’ specificities and reduce bureaucracy. Citizens should also be more involved in European issues.

Following the collection of the students’ perspectives suggestions about European citizenship, we’ve shared two important initiatives regarding the future of Europe and citizens’ participation, the Conference on the Future of Europe and the European Citizens’ Initiative.

Finally, we’ve invited participants to continue to learn and share information about Europe through the online resource created by EULECTIONS’19, the ChangEU Webcourse.

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Eulections’19 workshop with students @ Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, December, 4, 2020

The Eulections’19 – Think, Decide, Change project took its roadshow to the Internet, adapting the debates and workshops to the virtual space. On December 4, 2020, the debate about the future of Europe continued with students from Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa who shared their perspectives about EU’s current and future challenges.

The event took place via Zoom and included two sessions with two groups of students and involved 64 citizens, including 63 participants from the city of Lisbon, Portugal, 1 from the city of Brussels, Belgium.

We’ve started the sessions by presenting the project to students and after that, a small video about Europe’s day. Using Menti, students shared the first word that came to their mind inspired by Europe and the introductory video.

After a debate about the students’ word cloud the groups watched a video about the EU’s political project and answered a quiz about the history of Europe and the European Union. Those two introductory activities aimed to set the floor for the discussion about the main topic of the event, the Five Scenarios for Future of Europe.

We started by looking at the Five Scenarios for Future of Europe with a video and a presentation. After that, the two groups were organized in smaller groups in separate Zoom rooms to choose and reflect about one of the scenarios, its pros and cons. Each group chose a representative who presented the groups’ main conclusions.

Following the groups’ debate about the five scenarios, we’ve invited students from the workshop groups to individually choose the scenario they believed to be the best for the future of the European Union.

During this collective reflection, the students emphasized the importance of European solidarity, namely in response to the pandemic, and its role in reducing socioeconomic asymmetries between member states, but also recognized the need to improve coordination and solidify the European project.

Students stated the importance of bringing the EU closer to European citizens by improving its communication and information initiatives, an effort that must be also undertaken by national governments and civil society, as citizens participation in European affairs is fundamental to improve the EU.

To promote the students’ engagement with the debate about the future of the European project, we’ve shared information about initiatives and instruments that aim to create spaces for European citizens participation, the Conference on the Future of Europe and the European Citizens’ Initiative.

Considering the importance of information in the promotion of active citizenship, The ChangEU WebCourse was presented to participants as an easily accessible resource to understand key facts about Europe’s history, its role and institutions and some initiatives where citizens can participate and contribute to shape its future.

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EULECTIONS’19 online workshop with students @ Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, December, 15, 2020

Students from Universidade de Coimbra joined the EULECTIONS’19 online roadshow to debate the future of Europe on December 15, 2020. This event included two workshops with two groups of participants from the European Affairs course with a total of 28 citizens, including 23 participants from the city of Coimbra, 5 participants from the city of Lisbon.

The workshop started with a brief presentation of the EULECTIONS’19 project by the partners and an overview of the goals and objectives of the session. Following the introduction, we’ve asked the participants to share the first word they associate with the European Union.

The word cloud was formed by words like “union”, “cooperation”, “economy”, “mutual aid”, “multicultural”, “human rights”, “development”, “challenge”, “connection”, reflecting mainly favorable perspectives about the EU. Following this initial brainstorm, we’ve challenged the students to test their knowledge about the history of the European project through a quiz. These first activities aimed to set the floor for the debate about the current state of the EU and its future.

After the quiz results were shared with the participants and commented by students and facilitators, we’ve started the collective reflection about the future of Europe with a short video and a presentation about the “White Paper on the Future of Europe”. In the two workshop sessions, the participants were divided in smaller groups with the task of choosing and debating one of the scenarios and sharing their perspectives. Each group had a facilitator to mediate the discussion.

The conclusions of the group work were presented by the group’s representatives and a debated followed with some comments from the facilitators. The students debated the 5 scenarios, with different perspectives emerging about how to overcome the challenges facing the European project.

For some students it’s important to focus on key areas to improve EU’s performance and therefore “do less more efficiently”, as for others the Union must strengthen its policies and institutions to deliver its current agenda. A third group of opinions was focused on a more ambitious EU that is able to do “much more together” namely, face climate change and health. This discussion was wrapped up with participants choosing, individually, the scenario they would prefer for the future of the European Union, a “citizens’ scenario“.

The group reflection was then oriented towards the relations between European institutions and European citizens namely, what should the EU do to respond to citizens’ needs? what can citizens do to improve the EU? how can the relationship between the EU and its citizens improve?

The students recommended the creation of better communication and participation instruments as well as more debate opportunities about European issues, underscoring the role of citizens in engaging with the institutions through the channels already available. They emphasized the need to continue to involve schools and universities in the discussions and promote a real understanding of what the EU really means.

In order to promote an informed and active citizenship, we’ve challenged participants to take part in the ChangEU Webcourse and share this easily accessible resource with others. We’ve also shared the current initiatives that allow citizens to shape the EU’s policies and the debate about its future namely the European Citizens’ Initiate and the Conference on the Future of Europe.

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Want to learn more about the EU?

EULECTIONS’19 has developed an online course about EU’s history, its institutions and the instruments available for citizens’participation. Check the programme.

2025-11-11
The joint declaration ‘Conference on the Future of Europe’ was approved
The initiative on the Conference on the Future of Europe was approved by the Council of the European Union (EU), now under the Portuguese Presidency.

First announced in the end of 2019, this joint declaration of the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission aims to involve citizens in the debate on Europe’s future in the coming decade and beyond, including in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to give citizens a stronger voice, a series of events will be organised by the three institutions, where citizens will have the opportunity to express their views on different issues and areas.

On 10 March, took place the signature of the joint declaration by the Presidents of the European Parliament (David Sassoli), the Council (António Costa) and the European Commission (Ursula Von der Leyen).

You can watch the signing ceremony here.
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Photo source: Eudebates.tv
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European Elections – How did they start?

The next European elections, scheduled for 2024, will be the tenth time that European Union (EU) citizens will be able to cast their votes to choose the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

The elections for the EP take place every five years and are the largest transnational elections in the world, with over 400 million voters spread across the current 27 member states.

But how did they start?

The road to the first direct European election in 1979 was a long one. Since 1952, with the foundation of the predecessor to the current EP, the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and with its political authority to represent citizens “within the newly developing supranational political system of European integration, it seemed self-evident that it should be directly elected”. Direct elections were foreseen as an option both in the Treaty of Paris (1951), which created the ECSC, and in the Treaty of Rome (1957), which founded the European Economic Community (EEC). Nevertheless, until the introduction of direct elections, the Members of the European Parliament, renamed in 1962, “were appointed by each of the Member States’ national parliaments”, at a time when Members had a dual mandate.

In September 1976, 16 years after the first proposal for European elections, the Council of Ministers issued an Electoral Act “concerning the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage” (Salm, 2019). Despite the initial plan that elections would take place in 1978, the act had to be rectified by all Member States, and it was not until June 1979 that the first elections took place (Box, 2021). For the first time, the then 180 million European citizens, had the opportunity to vote on their representatives. Former German Chancellor, Willy Brandt, the leader of the Italian Communist Party, Enrico Berlinguer, and the former French Minister of Health, Simone Veil, were some of the high-ranking politicians that stood for election (Salm, 2019).

With a turnout around 63%, in a universe of 410 parliamentary seats, divided among nine Member States, the election led to the formation of seven political groups. In the beginning of the 1979-1984 legislative period, Socialist Group had the most seats (112 seats, 27,32%), closely followed by the Group of the European People’s Party (108 seats, 26,34%). Simone Veil, a Jewish survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, become “the first President of the first directly elected European Parliament”, constituting as a “symbolic stand against the nationalism that was one of the causes of the First and Second World Wars” (Salm, 2019).

References

Salm, C. (2019). European elections: A historical perspective. European Parliamentary Research Service

Box, U. (2021). The European Parliament: Historical Background. Fact Sheets on the European Union

Europarl (2019). European Parliament: 1979-1984 – Constitutive session. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/election-results-2019/en/european-results/1979-1984/constitutive-session/

Photo “First direct European Elections 1979” via Europal

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Work begins on the Conference on the Future of Europe

After the signature of the joint declaration on 10 March, the work on the Conference on the Future of Europe has officially started. The Executive Board of the Conference on the Future of Europe, composed of representatives from the three institutions (European Parliament, Council and Commission), held its constitutive meeting on 24 March in Brussels.

As the Commission’s statement reads: “In this first meeting, the Executive Board agreed on a series of essential items needed to get the Conference started. They took the first steps to ensure that citizens can soon start to contribute to the Conference without delay, in particular on the multilingual Digital Platform, including the Charter for citizen’s participation and the visual identity.”.

As for next steps, the Executive Board will convene again on 7 April in the European Parliament and the Digital Platform will be launched on 19 April.

Read more about it here.

Photo via Europarl

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20 APR (10AM) | Webinar: Europe for Citizens Programme – Ana Isabel Xavier presents the EULECTIONS’19 experience

On 20 April (10am), Ana Isabel Xavier, CEI-Iscte’s researcher and EULECTIONS’19 coordinator, will participate in the Webinar: Europe for Citizens

In an initiative organised by Europe Direct from the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, in partnership with the Jacques Delors European Information Centre (Lisbon, Portugal), Ana Isabel Xavier will participate in the panel “Good Practices” (starting at 11am), to present the experience in the project “E(U)LECTIONS’19: Think, Decide, Change!”.

This event aims to inform about the implementation of the Europe for Citizens Programme and its perspectives for the future, presenting examples of good practices.

This initiative will take place in the Microsoft Teams platform.

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Conference on the Future of Europe: launch of the multilingual digital platform

The Digital Platform, in the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe, was officially launched on 19 April.

After the last month was highlighted by the signing of the joint declaration (10/March) and the constitutive meeting (24/March) by the Executive Board of the initiative, it was time for the launch Digital Platform for the Conference on the Future of Europe . Available in 24 languages, the platform is presented as “the hub of the Conference on the Future of Europe”, where EU’s citizens have the “opportunity to speak up, to say what kind of Europe you want to live in, to help shape our future”.

As mentioned in the Commission’s press release, this tool is organized around “key topics: climate change and the environment; health; a stronger and fairer economy; social justice and jobs; EU in the world; values and rights, rule of law, security; digital transformation; European democracy; migration; and education, culture, youth and sport”; also complemented by “an ‘open box’ for cross-cutting and other topics”.

Know more about the Digital Platform here.

Photo via Europal

2025-11-11
EULECTIONS’19 policy paper – Citizens’ perspectives about the future of the EU

EULECTIONS’19 partners have produced a policy paper with key information collected during the project’s events. It summarizes citizens’ perspectives about the future of Europe, the pros and cons of the 5 scenarios and how the EU can improve its relations with Europeans.

About the policy paper

This report presents the main reflections produced by the many participants of different nationalities who, over the last two years, have taken part in the various activities promoted within the framework of this project. In such events, which varied in format over time, they had the opportunity to think about the current state of the European Union, their European citizenship, and to reflect on the future of Europe. Apart from this introductory part, which briefly presents the project, the document is divided into two main parts. In the first, there is a summary of the main pros and cons associated with each scenario of the ‘5 Scenarios for the Future of Europe’ – considerations taken from all the presentations and conversations held in the different countries. In the second part, which is in turn divided into two parts, it is possible to give an account of the main recommendations for the EU on the one hand, and on the other hand, recommendations for the citizens themselves. Both produced throughout the different activities, completed with direct quotes from the participants and the place where those events took place.

Consult the policy paper here.

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Livro sobre os Desafios e Cenários Futuros da UE enquanto Ator de Segurança e Defesa (PT/ENG)

PT | Apresentamos o livro “A União Europeia – Ator de Segurança e Defesa – Desafios Presentes e Cenários Futuros” da autoria da coordenadora do projecto e investigadora Ana Isabel Xavier. Este documento, sobre o desafios presentes e cenários futuros da União Europeia enquanto ator de segurança e defesa, constitui um dos recursos desenvolvidos durante o projeto E(U)LECTIONS’19.

ENG | The book “The European Union – Security and Defence Actor – Present Challenges and Future Scenarios” by the project coordinator and researcher Ana Isabel Xavier. This document, on the present challenges and future scenarios of the European Union as a security and defence actor, constitutes one of the resources developed during the E(U)LECTIONS’19 project.

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