The Euro­pean Par­lia­ment (EP) is the only direct­ly elect­ed insti­tu­tion of the Euro­pean Union, mak­ing the upcom­ing 2024 Euro­pean Par­lia­ment elec­tions cru­cial for EU cit­i­zens to have a voice in the deci­sion-mak­ing process and ensur­ing that the EU remains demo­c­ra­t­ic and accountable.

The VCEEonEUElect22 project aims to address the biggest and most salient issues EU cit­i­zens per­ceive ahead of the 2024 EP elec­tions, with a focus on Cen­tral and East­ern Euro­pean mem­bers. Par­tic­u­lar­ly, as those coun­tries dis­played the low­est elec­toral turnout in the 2019 EP elec­tion and are some­times seen as sec­ond-class EU mem­ber states.

The project con­sists of a transna­tion­al net­work of ten orga­ni­za­tions from ten EU mem­ber states (Bul­gar­ia, France, Ger­many, Hun­gary, Italy, Latvia, Lithua­nia, Poland, Roma­nia and Slo­va­kia), coor­di­nat­ed by Viseg­rad Insight and the Res Pub­li­ca Foun­da­tion from Poland. The project will orga­nize pub­lic events in all ten coun­tries to bring the 2024 EP elec­tions to the pub­lic agen­da. More­over, transna­tion­al exchange among the ten orga­ni­za­tions will con­tribute to the pub­lic debate about the elec­tions. Through exten­sive work­shops, con­sul­ta­tions, and sce­nario-build­ing, the project also aims to give a voice to civ­il soci­ety stake­hold­ers who may not be heard through con­ven­tion­al and state-led chan­nels of consultation.

At the end of the project, a pub­licly avail­able report will be pre­sent­ed and dis­sem­i­nat­ed among civ­il soci­ety orga­ni­za­tions and Mem­bers of the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment. The project will sup­port pol­i­cy ini­tia­tives around the Euro­pean democ­ra­cy action plan, the EU Cit­i­zen­ship report 2020, and the Strat­e­gy to strength­en the appli­ca­tion of the Char­ter of Fun­da­men­tal Rights in the EU.