A new chapter for EU democracy

The new chapter for EU democracy campaign focuses on strengthening the democratic culture in Europe's regions and cities by promoting civic education, further encouraging youth participation and gender balance in decision-making, and fostering the debate on EU issues within local and regional elections. The CoR Members, the network of EU regional and local Councillors and the Young Elected Politicians (YEPs) are key elements in reinforcing the democratic legitimacy of the European Union. At the same time, the CoR maintains its efforts to be at the forefront when it comes to innovative methods in fighting disinformation and promoting participatory democracy.

Tällä sivulla

Aloitteet

A new chapter for participatory democracy

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is committed to reinforce the democratic legitimacy of the EU and foster a deeper sense of engagement among its citizens.
Alue- ja paikallisvaltuutettujen eurooppalainen verkosto

EU:n toimielinten käynnistämä aloite alue- ja paikallispäättäjille, joilla on poliittinen tehtävä alue- tai paikallistasolla jossakin EU:n jäsenvaltiossa.
Young Elected Politicians Programme

The Young Elected Politicians programme (YEPs) is a network of politicians who are no older than 35 and hold a mandate at regional or local level in the EU and candidate countries.

Our goals

Democracy and the future of the EU remains one of the political priorities of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). A new chapter for EU democracy, alongside communication campaigns on Cohesion and the Green Deal, remains a major initiative for the CoR and its members.

A new chapter for EU democracy sets out to reinforce European values, youth participation and gender equality, and breathe new life into the Union's democratic spirit through the active engagement of cities and regions.

The campaign achieves this through the following activities:

Providing support to Members of the CoR who wish to create events in their local areas to engage citizens in a dialogue about Europe
Capacity building by providing tranining and interactive sessions on innovative participatory democracy methods
Extending the network of practitioners through the CoR networks of EU Councillors and YEPs
Ensuring that citizen dialogue outputs are fed into the right channels for policy- and decision-making
Promoting a better gender representativity within local and regional politicians through the For more women in politics initiative
Working with external organisations to support the development of new and innovative methods of citizen engagement and participation, and encouraging the take-up of these new tools. More information on our projects with the Bertelsmann Stiftung is available below.

EU Local Dialogues

The Members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) are bringing their citizens closer to the European Union through EU Local Dialogues. Learn more about EU Local Dialogues in your region here.

CoR Members organising EU Local Dialogues can apply for additional support.

For further information, please contact the secretariat at: eulocal@cor.europa.eu.

Collaborations

Bertelsmann Stiftung: The CoR successfully concluded its project "From local to European" with the Bertelsmann Stiftung supporting over 40 local dialogues across Europe in 2021-2022. The new joint project for 2023-2024 was launched with a kick-off event on 9 March and will be gradually rolled out to interested local and regional politicians, authorities interested in taking up citizen participation practices in decision-making.

Network of Regional and Local EU Councillors

There are more than one million elected politicians in the regions and cities of the European Union. They are dealing with European laws, funding programmes and debates on a daily basis. The Network builds on the successful experience with national of local politicians dealing with EU affairs existing, for example, in Austria, France and Germany.

Visit the Network webpage for more information and to get involved.