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Report: Digital Democracy Day 2021
On 23 November 2021, civil society representatives and policy makers convened to discuss how participatory democracy can help to improve the environment. This event also introduced the DigiDEM project and the crowdsourcing platform that will enable the collection of citizens'…
ECAS’ Takeaways on the ‘State of the Union’
Today, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen shared her view on the State of the Union in 2021. ECAS followed the speech closely through the lenses of EU Rights and European Democracy. EU Rights - enhanced…
Consultation on digital transformation now open!
Everyone is talking about the Future of Europe. We are working on it! The consultation on digital transformation of the Civil Society Convention for the Future of Europe has just been opened to all Civil Society Organisations in Europe. Are…
No ivory towers – DEMOS researchers team up with citizens
Research in social sciences should eventually contribute to societal progress. In the DEMOS (Democratic Efficacy and the Varieties of Populism in Europe) Horizon 2020 EU funded project we want to ensure that researchers do not find themselves in ‘ivory towers’, but rather on…
Press Release: Covid-19 and Brexit make Social Security, Residence and Entry rights key concerns in the 2020 Annual Trends Report
In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis and Brexit had an enormous impact on the movement of citizens and businesses within the EU. Citizens faced obstacles imposed not only by national administrations, but also by private entities. The enquiries received by ECAS’s…
Civil society action countering populist movements
By Hendrik Nahr This blog post is based on a working paper, published in the scope of DEMOS – a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Populist movements gained worldwide traction over the last…
A new dimension of European policy co-creation
By Elisa Lironi and Hendrik Nahr An ideal democracy is where everyone can get together to take joint decisions on rules that apply to all. However, in modern representative democracies, the privilege to formulate public policies is usually granted to elected…
Next Level Participation: Citizen-Driven E-Democracy Tools
‘Next Level Participation: Citizen-Driven E-Democracy Tools’, is authored by ECAS’ Participatory Democracy Manager, Flavio Grazian, and Citizen Deliberation Coordinator Hendrik Nahr, for the European Liberal Forum (ELF). Information and communication technology (ICT) constitutes an essential element of people’s daily lives…
Key Messages from the ‘State of the Union Citizens’ Rights 2021: Moving Together Beyond the Pandemic’ Conference
On 21-22 January 2021, the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) held the third edition of its “State of the Union Citizens’ Rights” event, an annual conference aimed at identifying challenges faced by EU citizens to their right to free movement…
Under a Double Lockdown: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mobile EU Citizens’ Rights
At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe, freedom of movement quickly collapsed under the pressure of unilateral border closings. Mobile Europeans suddenly found themselves locked down and separated not only from their host communities, but also from their…