In the workshop titled “ (Re) connecting the EU to its citizens: A discussion about the future of European democracy“around 25 participants discussed citizen participation in the EU along with   Chloé Goupille , representative of the French Embassy in Germany,   Valerie Sternberg , president of the Pan-European Movement Volt Germany , and   Jill Knöper, Commissioner for Public Communication in Berlin. Together, they worked with the experts to develop ways that the EU can overcome the political alienation felt by its citizens, including democracy-promoting measures and innovative opportunities for citizen participation. This distance should be counteracted by a European holiday, transnational lists, and citizen dialogues (both offline and online). Everyday areas such as supermarkets, train stations, cultural and sport facilities are to be developed as contact points in order to reach educational and rural parts of the population and to recall achievements of the European Union directly on the spot to its citizens (eg consumer protection rights, infrastructure, …). In addition, a European public service broadcaster should disseminate information about the EU and Europe in general. Furthermore, the initiative monopoly of the EU Commission must be eliminated – an online platform could collect policy recommendations from civil society, from which a selected proposal is implemented annually.

In cooperation with the 1989 Generation Initiative of the London School of Economics, we sought an „Alternative to Euroscepticism: Countering Euroscepticism from Right and Left.“ The discussion initially focused on an examination of the range of EU skepticism and why EU sceptics believe what they do. A very important distinction was that of constructive and destructive skepticism, as a critical attitude towards the EU could also provide ideas to improve it. Through populism, Eurosceptic movements and parties gain attention and popularity. The reasons for skepticism are on the one hand socio-economic and on the other hand due to fear, such as the fear of loss of one’s own identity. The lively discussion with Jakov Devčić, Speaker Western Europe at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung eV and Sulin Sardoschau , co-president of the Thinkank Argo, revealed how much the EU needs to work with high-profile campaigns to show its citizens concrete benefits of the EU at an individual level. Valerio Morelli , political advisor at the Federal Foreign Office, also praised existing measures. However, the exchange of ideas, thoughts and experiences must be further stimulated. Possible measures include ERASMUS + for teachers, digital penpals, # FreeInterrail-type vouchers, and transnational entertainment services (such as a Netflix platform).

In the first part of the workshop „EUROPE 2.0: Can digitization help tackle common challenges?“ participants got the opportunity to meet with experts – Thomas Jeannin , Economic Council of the French Embassy, Yannick Haan , SPD digitization expert, and Eike Gräf , Policy Advisor at iRightsLab– to participate in a general discussion about various topics and challenges of digitization policy as well as current German and French positions. Data protection, broadband expansion, and copyright (upload filter) formed the core topics of this discussion. In the second phase, participants focused on an important challenge of our time: transparency. Today, algorithms increasingly determine our lives- in the health sector, in the banking sector, and of course in the digital information sector. Computers are highly involved in decision-making processes. How can there be transparency in the creation of algorithms? The participants dealt with the challenge: how can we create transparency for whom / by whom? The discussion aimed to create a catalog of criteria for the quality control of algorithms in different areas of our lives. How and how much transparency do you need versus whom? This list of criteria should first be differentiated depending on the field of activity. However, it is important that consumers / patients are effectively informed about the use of their data, in a proactive, understandable and individualized manner. Not only consumers and patients should be informed, but also competent, technically competent bodies, such as. This requires agreements at the EU level, whose implementation should be a national task. to whom? This list of criteria should first be differentiated depending on the field of activity. However, it is important that consumers / patients are effectively informed about the use of their data in a proactive, understandable, and individualized manner. Not only consumers and patients should be informed, but also competent, technically competent bodies, such as. This requires agreements at the EU level, whose implementation should be a national task. to whom? This list of criteria should first be differentiated depending on the field of activity. However, it is important that consumers / patients are effectively informed about the use of their data, in a proactive, understandable and individualized manner. Not only consumers and patients should be informed, but also competent, technically competent bodies, such as. This requires agreements at the EU level, whose implementation should be a national task. Not only consumers and patients should be informed, but also competent, technically competent bodies, such as. This requires agreements at the EU level, whose implementation should be a national task. Not only consumers and patients should be informed, but also competent, technically competent bodies, etc.. This requires agreements at the EU level, whose implementation should be a national task.

The attempt to establish a common position with “From PESCO to the European Intervention Initiative: How to support each other’s priorities for European defense?” Is proving difficult. The different perception of threats and a different understandings of strategic culture are the focus of attention. Building on the discussion on the 29^th of May in Paris, participants were asked to tackle three issues: European, shared capacities, operations, and strategy. The participants received food for thought from our experts Colonel Lieb from the French Army Joint Staff in Germany, Sebastian Chávez Wurm from Airbus Defense & Space and Charles Thépaut from the French Embassy. More co-operation between Germany, France and the other EU Member States and their armed forces is arguably the greatest prerequisite for a truly common foreign and defense policy. The exchange on defense projects and current material equipment within the framework of the Coordinated Annual Review on Defense must therefore go beyond the model of the European Semester. Member States should truthfully consolidate their capacities in a register and update them constantly. In the absence of a common threat perception, the Germans and the French would be interested in seeking partner countries to draft a common document in the form of a White Paper.

In Frankfurt am Main, nine junior experts met to discuss the significance of the Meseburg Joint Declaration for EU fiscal policy in the Eurozone. Dr. Eileen Keller of the German-French Institute Ludwigsburg and Vincent Sternberg , VoltFrankfurt City Team Lead took part in the discussion on two key questions. On the one hand, they dealt with proposals for the renewal of the European stabilization mechanism in the EU and, on the other hand, the democratization of the institutional structure of financial institutions. Firstly, they developed proposals for a stability mechanism based on a common budget. The instrument should specifically intervene in the business cycle and enable investments proactive crisis management. New in contrast to the ESM would be above all the EU budget, which would be financed by a European corporate tax and flexibility. Member States. The second key question was clear ideas of our participants for more transparency, involvement of the citizens, as well as more public relations education, especially on the achievements of the Union for the citizens. However, this is difficult as long as citizens of the EU feel underrepresented in fiscal matters.