Bring back the citizens! How to revive democratic participation for a citizens-led Europe

We, the fifth generation of Future Lab Europe are deeply worried about the future of Europe. The complexity of EU policy-making, the lack of appropriate responses to the multiple crises Europe is facing, the prevalence of national topics in the media and the public discourse, the inadequacy of our education systems to the challenges of today and tomorrow, as well as the growing distrust in our political system leaves us with no other choice but to call for radical changes. So far, the sense of urgency has been ignored by our politicians and representatives. We, as young Europeans, believe that these changes cannot happen without one crucial shift of paradigm: changing the face of democracy and turn it into a citizens-centred governance model.Democracy cannot stay the same in a multi-level governance system. But one key principle should always be respected: citizens first! On this basis and with this manifesto, we encourage policy-makers, leaders and fellow citizens to rethink our political system with us and to put more effort into bringing back people to the democratic participation. In this publication, we outline the steps that we consider necessary for such a major rethink, in which the EU will play a central role.