A democratic Europe

The situation

The European crisis is a democratic crisis: many citizens see the European Union as a constraint that deprives them of their rights and its functioning is difficult to understand.

There are institutional reasons for this:

Lack of democracy :
The Parliament does not have the right of initiative even though it is the only European institution directly elected by the citizens.
Lack of a European dimension :
The European political parties represented in the Parliament are simple alliances of national parties. Its election is the result of national elections with national stakes.
Lack of proximity: The Commission appears as an unfair censor far from the national and regional contexts and a paragon of bureaucracy.
Lack of transparency :
The Council operates on the basis of a rotating presidency and in an opaque manner, which allows its members to hold a double discourse between Brussels and the European capitals.

Our proposals

The European Union must involve citizens more in its reflections and take their opinions into account. We defend the idea of more representative and therefore stronger institutions:

A more powerful Parliament:
The European Parliament must have the right of initiative to initiate European policies requested by the citizens who elected it.
A truly European Parliament:
In order for the Parliament to become authentically European, we propose the election of 15% of the MEPs by proportional representation in a single European constituency, with a candidate for the Presidency of the European Union at the head of the list.
Clearly defined leadership:
The presidencies of the European Council and the European Commission must be merged into one. Europe will finally have an effective leader designated by European elections.
A politically accountable executive:
The college of commissioners must also be elected. They will act within a clear mandate defined by the Parliament.

Our commitments

Every day the PDE defends its ideas through various actions and makes its positions known. For example:

In our manifesto :
We have been advocating these proposals for several years. They were already at the heart of our program during the 2014 European Parliament election campaign.

Related news

Website of the European Democrats - https://democrats.eu

German citizens share their ideas on the future of Europe

29 September 2022

Participants expect their governments to address climate, digitalization and soaring prices. As part of outreach efforts in September in two countries to party members and policy makers.

Europe, France and the sense of history

25 July 2022

Sandro Gozi, EDP Secretary General, published an op-ed on behalf of European Democrats in L’Opinion at the conclusion of the French Presidency of the European Union