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Although the 2019 European elections had the highest political participation ever (increasing from 42.6% in 2014 to 50.6% in 2019), the general trend since 1979 has been steadily decreasing and in some countries, participation was very low with a mere third of citizens submitting their vote. For this reason, the next EU parliamentary elections in 2024 will be an important juncture to evaluate the active participation of European citizens in the European Union.
The overall goal of EUNITE! is therefore to increase the participation of European citizens in the European Parliament elections, increase their general interest in EU policies and increase, their critical sense in reading information and using the media, with a series of workshops, debates and meetings.
Through its activities, the project will bring citizens closer to the European institutions, improving their knowledge about the opportunities offered and increasing their sense of responsibility and active participation in the European democratic political life.
The project includes various training events, in particular:
‘EU for All’, Trainings and workshops to improve the EU citizens knowledge about EU institutions, EU parliament elections and opportunities;
‘Be Informed and Debate!’ a training course to increase citizens’ knowledge on media/information to enhancing their critical thinking skills, enabling them to deliberate on current political issues.
‘Let’s participate’, a training courses on participatory democracy and to bring European citizens closer to EU political institutions;
Encounters among EU citizens to share experiences, ideas and proposals about EU policies.
In addition to the training events, these objectives will also be achieved through the publication of various resources:
Infopack on EU institutions and opportunities
Infopack on (mis/dis)information
EUNITE Citizens’ Policy Proposals
Document with recommendations, opinions and ideas that citizens will share with MEPs
Objectives
To enhance knowledge of EU citizens
To enhance knowledge of EU citizens with diverse backgrounds and of diverse age, including those of underrepresented categories (women/people with disabilities/minorities) about EU institutions, EU parliament elections and opportunities;
To increase citizens’ knowledge
To increase citizens’ knowledge on media/information and enhance their critical thinking skills, enabling them to deliberate on current political issues;
To facilitate a European exchange
To facilitate a European exchange among citizens and provide citizens thus with concrete opportunities for living the EU integration project;
To foster active civic participation
To foster active civic participation at local/EU level and encourage voter participation at EU elections in 2024.