Policy Brief 1/2024 – The EU’s participatory enlargement

Dear reader,

Future enlargement offers the EU a historic opportunity to reform its institutions, policies and democracy. It is crucial that the EU seizes this moment to become a true Union of citizens, not just on paper but in practice.

In their recent report on EU reform, the Franco-German group on EU institutional reform called for strengthening EU participatory democracy by making better use of existing participatory instruments and using them to prepare for enlargement. What does this mean in practice?

In our new policy brief 'The EU’s participatory enlargement’ we elaborate on this proposal. There are three main steps on the road to a citizens' Union.

First, the EU should move from having a patchwork of participatory instruments to building a coherent participatory infrastructure that links instruments together, optimizes and simplifies their use for citizens. Second, the EU should promote and support the institutionalisation of citizens’ assemblies as an important instrument of citizen participation in policymaking. Third, the EU needs to rethink its approach to the enlargement process. Citizens, civil society actors, politicians, and decision-makers across various levels from current and future member states need to be involved in the process early and effectively.

We hope you find our policy brief insightful and valuable and look forward to receiving your feedback and thoughts.

Enjoy the read!

Dominik Hierlemann