Tomorrow, Tuesday 25th of September, at ECAS’ State of the Union Citizens’ Rights event 2018, the web portal www.yourvotematters.eu will be officially presented to the public.
This new and innovative website provides a unique opportunity for bridging the gap between citizens, current Members of the European Parliament, the 2019 candidates and civil society organisations by discussing important topics for the future of the EU before the upcoming European elections.
The multi-lingual platform provides a dedicated profile for all current MEPs, candidates to the EU elections, and NGOs, in which they can publish their policy proposals for the future of the European Union. Citizens can vote on these proposals, fostering a fruitful exchange on issues which matter to them. The portal has already registered the profile of all current 751 MEPs and their political positions discussed in Parliament over the past 4 years.
An additional feature of the portal is a game – a quiz asking citizens their opinions on 20 key issues enabling them to discover which candidates or political party would best represent their political views.
“This platform will make it easier for European citizens to engage in and contribute to all the discussions concerning the issues at stake before the European elections in an interactive and user-friendly way. By exercising their right to political participation in the life of the Union, which is at the heart of European citizenship, citizens will be able to vote on new policy proposals. This will enable decision-makers to benefit from their ideas at the very early stage of policy development. We, the initiators of the platform, do believe that Civil Society Organisations have an important responsibility and role to play in this interactive process – namely to “guide” politicians towards citizens, rather than waiting for the opposite to take place” says ECAS’ Executive Director Assya Kavrakova.
The project is implemented by a Consortium of five European non-profit organisations: the Brussels-based European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) and VoteWatch, Greek Vouliwatch, Polish Collegium Civitas and Italian Riparte il futuro.
“We are excited to launch this platform, and more importantly let our users start playing with it. The Internet is a powerful and empowering tool in advanced democracies, and the European Union must commit to using the internet wisely and towards true democratic participation. We will do our part in this process. Opening up the platform to NGOs is also a step in this direction” says Riparte il Futuro’s Project Manager Priscilla Robledo.
“YouVoteMatters.eu will be the main independent multilingual information hub about the European elections. We have already received partnership proposals from the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, who is sponsoring the Swedish language version, and reputed media, such as Politico.eu”, adds VoteWatch Director Doru Frantescu.
The website is available in English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Swedish.
The official launch will take place during ECAS’ State of the Union Citizens’ Rights event on 25th September at BIP, Rue Royale 2-4, Brussels, from 9.30 to 13.00.
For further information please contact Elisa Lironi, elisa.lironi@ecas.org.