A growing number of people have turned their back on Europe in recent years because of dissatisfaction with the EU. There are growing doubts about the added value of European integration. This is raising questions about what unites Europeans, making it harder to foster the shared sense of responsibility needed to generate active support for integration. At the same time, people are increasingly aware of the growing impact on their lives of decisions taken in Brussels. But people feel they cannot influence EU policy.
One of the recommendations in the New Pact for Europe report is to have a ‘Participatory Union’. This union should strengthen the ties between the EU and its citizens by increasing its democratic legitimacy.
How to create a better sense of responsibility and gain active support for European integration?What role can artists, culture and citizens play to engage people more actively? What mechanisms can strengthen public's direct influence of EU policies and priorities? What images, stories and participatory approaches can form the basis of the EU future's strategy?
Speakers Janis Emmanouilidis, European Policy Center and Letizia Cariello, visual artist, have discussed these questions during the debate "Towards a New Pact for Europe" on 7 November 2014, moderated by Lennart Booij, BKB.