Dear

The European elections yet again showed that the EU is falling short in its aims to engage citizens. Citizens have demonstrated that they are fed up with top-down politics, using their votes to challenge the status quo or turning away altogether. The extended debate about who should be appointed as Commission President revealed a lot about the EU's institutional power struggles, but very little about the concerns of the citizens.

Right now, as the priorities for the next five years are being set and the institutions begin their real work, we must make sure that democracy remains on the agenda. We cannot let important issues like growth, energy, immigration or trade be tackled without equally addressing democracy and public participation. We cannot let democratic reforms be postponed to a more convenient point in time.


 

We have run a very successful campaign so far: with the help of dedicated volunteers working in 22 countries, we got 1200 EP candidates to support a new Convention. Now 114 MEPs have pledged their support for fundamental democratic reform of the EU - from all parties and member states. We now have to make sure this commitment moves to another level.

We need to expand this support to build a majority in the Parliament. We have to build a core group of influential MEPs that pushes the debates about democracy forward. We need each and every supportive MEP to bring democratic reform on to the agenda of their parties and committees. We need them to grill the next Commissioners about their positions on democratic reform.

For this we need your help! In total we need to raise €7,500 by the middle of August to continue our work. If you can help by chipping in even €10, you will be part of a winning campaign that is set to make real change in Europe.

 


If you like, we will mention you in the “thanks” section of the website. If you can’t make a financial contribution, you can still contribute by telling all your friends about this.  

 

Thank you for being a part of this, we look forward to making the next steps together!

Best wishes,
Signature
Sophie von Hatzfeldt

and the Democratic Europe Now team