The general objective of the project was to foster European citizenship and to improve conditions for civic and democratic participation at the European Union level.
In recent years, citizens’ interest in participating in the public debate on the EU has increased, citizens have been more willing to participate in EP elections with the feeling that they have influence, but at the same time, the level of Euroscepticism has been growing.
There has been a marked decline in trust in politics and politicians both at national and EU levels. As a result, Euroscepticism – emphasized by several political parties from extreme-left to extreme-right – has been raised across the EU and we can observe the rapid expansion of political polarisation in most of the EU member states.
Democratic crisis and political polarisation were two challenges at the heart of the project. We provided a clear and accessible understanding about Euroscepticism: its general concept, its political developments, its dissimilar political ideas and its networks. During debates and workshops we discussed several aspects of political polarization and its influence on civil society.
We prepared an online-observatory through which citizens have access to concrete, unbiased and the most recent information about Euroscepticism, thus helping them to better acknowledge the Eurosceptic political positions regarding EU’s policy-making developments. We stimulated political debates for better understanding between the two divided camps: the pro-EU and the anti-EU. We organized multiple events involving local citizens (with citizen’s direct and active participation) – roundtables and workshops. We gather their recommendations to prepare a final citizen’s manifesto.
The project emphasized the strong need for Citizen’s dialogues and consultations. The multiplication of such initiatives is essential as it is constantly stimulating European citizen’s civic and democratic engagement.
The project « EUscepticOBS: analysing Euroscepticism, informing citizens and encouraging debates » was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme “Europe for Citizens”