Support across the spectrum

“The candidates who signed our pledge come from across the political spectrum and virtually all EU countries. This proves democracy is a value that can unite us all!”, says Daniela Vancic, spokesperson of Democracy International.

Innovative plan

The “Now the Citizens” campaign has launched an innovative plan to use randomly selected citizens’ assemblies as the starting point of a fundamental democratic reform process. “ Countries like Ireland have shown that such citizens’ assemblies can come up with fresh ideas and compromises that politicians are unable to  deliver”, says Niesco Dubbelboer. “To ensure broad support among the population, all citizens must be given a say on the final outcome of such a reform process.”

Growing coalition

The campaign, coordinated by Democracy International and Meer Democratie Netherlands, has been supported by 58 NGOs and more than 17.500 citizens who signed calls to European election candidates to work towards more democracy in the EU. This includes opinion leaders such as David van Reybrouck (author and democracy activist) and Ulrike Guérot (leading publicist and expert on EU affairs).

“We are part of a growing coalition who recognize that  business as usual for the EU isn’t good enough anymore”, says Daniela Vancic. “If we democratize the EU from the bottom up, the European project can thrive against popular alienation and euroscepticism.”

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For more information contact Niesco Dubbelboer (Meer Democratie Netherlands) at +31 6 2038 9459 or niesco@meerdemocratie.nl or Daniela Vancic (Democracy International) at +49 1522 973 2692 or vancic@democracy-international.org