January 2022

Local and EU leaders’ debate: time to strengthen European democracy from the bottom-up!

With the Conference on the Future of Europe, citizens across the continent have a unique opportunity to organise local events and make their voice heard to shape the direction of our Union. But how can we foster citizens’ participation? And what visions do we have for municipalities and regions in the future of Europe?

Last week, ahead of our Policy Committee meeting, local and regional leaders, senior EU official and representatives of civil society took part in a debate to discuss precisely these questions.

Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Democracy and Demography, emphasised that European democracy must not be a top-down process. “Once a mayor, always a mayor,” she said. “As a former mayor, I know all politics is local.”

Mayors and regional leaders must make their voices heard at the Conference. The Croatian commissioner said it was impossible to know what the Conference’s outcome would be but that it was important to already look for ways to embed citizens’ participation in decision-making.

Taking local action to involve citizens

Involving ordinary citizens in European debates and decisions is not always easy however. Developments in Brussels and Strasbourg too often seems remote and abstract. That is why the French city of Rennes has invited local citizens to participate through municipal projects.

Flavie Boukhenoufa, Deputy Mayor of Rennes, presented Labo Europe, an organisation helping citizen get involved in and better understand the EU. This year the “Lab” launched a campaign to develop a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) for Rennes. Citizens are able to send in their ideas and participate in online debates to create the city’s proposal for a European action.

The final choice will be presented on Europe Day on 9 May. “We aim to speak not with experts but with citizens, even those who have no knowledge about the EU”, said Boukhenoufa. Get inspired by checking out this video and website on Rennes’ citizen initiative

People across Europe can provide their input to the Conference by organising local events and registering these with the official online platform. Servane Metzger, part of the Cabinet of the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, highlighted the importance of these local events in terms of engaging people and reflecting the sensibilities of different regions.

Metzger raised the possibility of maintaining the platform into the future: “The platform is an extremely powerful tool to map events. It’s really easy to see events that are nearby, that way we reach local people, not only EU specialists.”

What future for Europe?

The health of European democracy is also affected by the state of national and local democracy.  Mayor of Gdansk and CEMR Executive President Aleksandra Dulkiewicz stressed that we cannot take democracy for granted and urged protecting the next European elections from digital threats and outside interference.

Vibrant local democracy can also be a bulwark against negative developments at national level. Dulkiewicz called on the Conference to support NGOs and local and regional governments to counter rising authoritarianism. “These two pillars should be strengthened because threats to democracy, rule of law, human rights and transparency in one EU country can affect the whole community”, she said.

Jordanka Fandakova, the Mayor of Sofia and CEMR Executive President, highlighted the importance of the digital divide, with rural areas in particular often lacking connectivity. She called for making equal Internet access a priority. “Digital strategies should not only be focused on big cities, but also take into consideration the needs of small towns and communities”, she said.

No one can say what will result from the Conference. Eva Maydell, a Bulgarian MEP and President of the European Movement International (EMI), argued that pandemic showed the power of European solidarity, but also the need to strengthen our continent’s autonomy. She stressed that the EU can only maintain trust if the Conference delivers results: “Like every political project, the EU is based on a story and its ability to meet the promises it makes to its citizens.”

THOMAS Carol

Senior Adviser, Governance, Gender Equality, Local Democracy

The passing away of David Sassoli leaves a “terrible void” in Europe

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing away of David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament, at the age of 65.

“David Sassoli was first a journalist, and then an excellent politician and a man of the institutions, but he was above all an outstanding human being acting with commitment and passion for a Europe of and for the people, rights and openness”, said Stefano Bonaccini, president of CEMR and of the Emilia-Romagna Region. “His death leaves a terrible void in both national and international politics.”

“In addition to his deep European commitment and strong support for territorial development, PresidentSassoli will be remembered as the man who steered the Parliament through the worst of the COVID crisis, enabling MEPs to work effectively against and despite the pandemic”, said CEMR Secretary General Frédéric Vallier. “In the name of Europe’s municipalities and regions, CEMRexpresses its condolences to his family, friends and his colleagues in the European Parliament.”

After a three-decade career as an Italian journalist, starting out in newspapers then moving to television and becoming a nationally known anchor, David Sassoli became a member of the European Parliament in 2009 as part of the centre-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group. Ten years later, he was elected President of the European legislative body.

Sassoli’s mandate was coming to an end this January. MEPs are expected to hold the first round of voting for his successor on Tuesday next week in Strasbourg.

ROSSI Fabrizio

Secretary General

How cities are shifting the narrative on migration

Mechelen, Belgium. A middle-aged woman dressed in light colours sits in a public library. It seems like someone interrupted her while she was reading a book, but she doesn’t mind. She looks straight, and you immediately feel there is a story to tell behind those warm brown eyes.

This is Farida, a woman, a mother of three children, a grandmother of five, an accountant. She speaks five languages, likes to cook and loves to read. She lives in Mechelen, but fled from Syria five years ago: she is a refugee. This picture, placed on a window near the public library in Mechelen was part of the ‘People Make the City’ exhibition and Farida’s story is just one of many in the series.

‘People Make the City’ is a storytelling project that translates residents’ stories into public content such as street art, podcasts, exhibitions, images and texts, building a more nuanced narrative of migrants and refugees’ impact on their local neighbourhoods. These features show the diversity and the rich multi-layered identities of people living in the local community.

The people concerned can co-create the way they want to be presented because it’s up to them how they want their story to be told and where. “Listening to a story is the first step to connect with someone you don’t know”, explains Sara Lanoye, the project’s coordinator. Storytelling is a powerful way of strengthening social cohesion by promoting mutual understanding.

Tackling rumours

We tend to make up stories about people we don’t know well. An animated story, ‘It all started accidentally’, sets a mirror to people who spread assumptions about other people without checking the facts first. Such rumours can spread like wildfire and thus contribute to exclusion and discrimination.

This animated video has been made for children and adults alike as part of the Antirumours Project in Fuenlabrada, Spain. It aims to raise awareness about the negative impact of rumours. “If we don’t stop the rumours, they grow into more dangerous forms, which are used to spread fear and misinformation”, warns Juan Carlos Hernandez of the City of Fuenlabrada.

The Spanish city has experienced rapid population growth due to migration over the past 40 years. Therefore, the municipality put social participation and inclusion programmes in place that helped the city become multicultural.

‘Antirumours’ is one such project, bringing together 25 cities to discredit false rumours through the collection of data and the creation of a network of local civil society actors. The project has been running since 2013 as part of the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities initiative.

It Takes a Community to shift the narrative

Nowadays, media narratives tend to be reactive, related to specific events or tragedies, and frame migration with negative words such as waves, crisis, invasion. In addition, migrants are portrayed either as dangerous or helpless victims. Personal stories, messages that evoke emotions work better. This is one of the lessons learned from the ‘It Takes a Community’ campaign.

This multilevel campaign showcases how migration enriches our lives by sharing concrete stories of families, friends, neighbours, co-workers or classmates from around the world who are making our local communities a better place. ‘It Takes a Community’ is a collaborative effort of national and local governments, civil society, the private sector, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“The international level tries to build upon the richness coming from the local level”, says  Sophie van Haasen of the GFMD Mayors Mechanism.“Engaging with national governments is sometimes difficult. The problem is, the national levels usually don’t have a lot of communication campaigns fostering inclusion and integration of migrants.”

Migrants in Europe are sometimes are portrayed as a threat to national identity and economic prosperity, and this is even the predominant political discourse in some countries. However, local and regional governments are taking the lead with campaigns and projects promoting integration and inclusion. These initiatives often achieve better outcomes than overly centralised ones.

Tackling rumours and prejudice, letting newcomers tell their stories, fostering an environment where locals can engage with newcomers and their stories: all these actions can change attitudes towards migration in the local community. However, connecting the dots between different levels of government remains the main challenge in changing the way we frame and shape migration.

BORDELOT Federica

Director – Policy & Impact