Welcome to the E-voicer website! See what citizens across the EU said on issues that will shape our future!

In an era defined by digital transformation and climate challenges that transcend national borders, your role, the role of citizens, is undergoing a profound evolution. As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, individuals within their respective societies are experiencing a remarkable shift in power and responsibility. The digital age has not only expanded our access to information and communication but has also empowered us to engage in decision-making processes and hold our governments and institutions more accountable than ever before. This shift places citizens at the forefront of shaping our shared future, transcending geographical and political boundaries to address challenges that affect us all.

We, GLOBSEC, a Slovak headquartered think tank, together with our partners European Movement Ireland, IDM, Austria, and ELIAMEP, Greece, have joined forces to amplify your voices. We strive to engage, connect, and empower EU citizens and to give you an opportunity to influence policies not just in national capitals but also on European level.

For four months, we opened a public e-discussion with EU citizens on the most urgent challenges we are facing today related to climate change and digital transformation: streamlining decarbonisation and managing the rise of artificial intelligence. We believe that citizens can play an important role in both topics, given the impact on our daily lives and our societies. On our platform, participants expressed their primal concerns as well as they proposed and voted for the solutions that they see as most effective and beneficial.

While there are many ways to express opinions from social media to EU official channels, we committed ourselves to amplifying the voice of citizens and delivering their recommendations to those who should hear them. And we will report back here on their reactions and pledges!

WHAT DID WE GET?

114 active users from 25 EU countries

54% women, 45% men, 1% non-binary

95% participation of young people

(18 – 35years old)

136 standing alone contributions on shared concerns and proposed solutions

69 contributions on the green topic of decarbonisation

67 contributions on the digital topic of artificial intelligence

417 total votes on the contributions

THE MOST STRESSED UPON CONCERNS, CHALLENGES AND RISKS

ON CURRENT LEVELS OF CO₂EMISSIONS

The current levels of CO2 emissions lead to changes and extreme weather conditions, which affect climate migration, businesses, wellbeing and conflict.

Those with smaller footprint often more vulnerable to negative changes (climate) due to current carbon inequality.

Lack of clean air leads to health problems, straining the social and health systems.

Not enough commitment and support towards decarbonisation by governments results in inability to really tackle sustainably the problem.

ON RISE OF AI

Inherit biases leading to unfair and discriminatory outcomes.

Uneven access to digital technologies and infrastructure can result in social and economic exclusion.

Unregulated use leading to data security and privacy concerns, including erroneous profiling in predictive policing among others.

Altering of the job market leading to displacement across some industries, loss of jobs, and additional strain on the educational systems.

Soft skills development like writing, creating and analysing, especially among students, is in danger.

THE RECOMMENDATIONS

GREEN TRANSFORMATION

Ensure More Renewable Sources of Energy and Reliable CRM Supply Chains

Public buildings should be mandated to install solar panels to decarbonise the national energy mix and decrease public spending on electricity.

Make a cost-benefit analysis of various sources of renewable energy and support those which are most energy efficient for the geographical conditions of a particular country.

Develop procurement policies that prioritise sourcing from environmentally responsible suppliers and encourage countries through legally binding pledges to invest in green solutions.

Intensify the extraction and/or recycling of critical raw materials needed for green technologies back in Europe.

Strive to establish responsible supply chain partnerships that would ensure reliable imports of critical raw materials to Europe.

Promote Circular Economy

Establish accessible recycling facilities near households, businesses, and public areas.

Launch educational campaigns that raise awareness about the importance of recycling, emphasising the positive environmental impact and energy savings associated with the reuse of materials.

Establish accessible recycling facilities near households, businesses, and public areas.

Launch educational campaigns that raise awareness about the importance of recycling, emphasising the positive environmental impact and energy savings associated with the reuse of materials.

Mandate businesses to adopt sustainable packaging and more informative food labelling everywhere where possible.

Encourage more recycling of electronic waste and so contribute toward reducing European dependence on imports of critical raw materials.

The minimum warranty on electrical appliances should be extended beyond two years and producers should do more to their repair possible.

Employ smart farming technologies to reduce water waste.

Invest in Green and Sustainable Transportation

Invest in green infrastructure such as more cycling lines, green buses or charging stations.

Encourage the use of bicycles as an alternative to cars running on fossil fuels – this would not only reduce the traffic on roads but also bring health benefits to citizens.

Member States should provide citizens with subsidies and tax cuts for the purchase of electric vehicles, especially in CEE.

Taking steps towards connecting all European capitals and other major cities through the network of pan-European trains.

Promote sustainable tourism by involving community members in decision-making processes and encouraging hotels and travel agencies to follow sustainable practices.

Increase Energy Efficiency of Buildings

Provide households with subsidies to purchase green solutions such as solar panels or heat pumps that would decrease their dependency on the energy grid and simultaneously contribute to a cleaner energy mix.

Promote renovations of households through public incentives and subsidies to provide increased energy efficiency and better insulation, so ensuring compliance with the EU energy efficiency targets.

Encourage the construction sector to start using innovative materials that would lower the carbon footprint produced during building.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Provide AI Guidelines

Launch awareness campaigns through various media to share accurate information about AI and dispel common myths.

Ensure responsible and fair use of AI by encouraging states across the globe and international organisations to follow the EU example in establishing ethical AI guidelines and governance structures.

Mandate all companies using AI systems to adhere to an EU-wide code of conduct that would be enforceable and based on ethics, privacy and transparency.

Ensure that AI systems provide explanations for their decisions or predictions to better understand the reasoning.

While training AI, employ the widest selection possible of available data from various groups of population from a large number of countries and nationalities to avoid built-in biases.

Strengthen Cyber Security

Strive to ensure that sensitive and critical data are stored within the borders of the country or region where it originates.

Encourage organisations to prioritise securing AI systems to protect sensitive data and prevent malicious attacks as they might become more common, especially in sensitive fields of work.

Support the implementation of multi-factor authentication in public and private sector.

Invest in advanced threat detection technologies contributing to a more secure digital environment.

Reskill and Upskill the Labour Force

Invest in training and upskilling programs to ensure that the workforce remains adept at using the latest digital tools and technologies.

Enhance collaboration between academia and industry, facilitated by internship programs, for example, to ensure the practical relevance of educational programs.

Provide training and professional development for teachers to familiarise themselves with AI tools, platforms, and their educational applications.

Educate pupils and students about AI and how it can be implemented in everyday life in a safe and efficient way.

Provide sufficient funding for upskilling courses aimed at artists and other creators to assist them in making the best of new AI tools.

Promote the Use of AI in Everyday Life

Develop an AI-powered study buddy app with language processing that would understand students’ questions and concerns and provide them with personalised study recommendations.

Develop and deploy anti-cheating technologies specifically designed to detect and prevent AI-driven cheating, especially in writing essays.

Use AI to provide affordable mental health support for people.

Finance the public deployment of AI-powered health monitoring systems that can track vital signs, remind individuals to take medications, and alert caregivers in case of emergencies.

Integrate AI into personalised language learning programs to tailor them to every student individually to achieve the best results.

Reduce the Costs of Digital Transformation

Utilise cloud computing and SaaS solutions to reduce infrastructure costs, eliminate the need for extensive hardware, and pay for services on a subscription basis.

Build strategic partnerships and ecosystems between the private sector and academia that facilitate innovation and collaboration.

Make data centres run on renewable energy and make them more energy efficient.

Provide state funding to innovative start-ups to help them get on their feet.

Encourage companies to invest in digitalisation solutions.

REPORT

For an Inclusive, Sustainable and Secure European Union:

Recommendations from Young Europeans

Introduction

EUact2 is a two-year project funded by the European Union. The initiative aims to promote sustained citizen activism, especially among young people, to ensure their voices are better represented, including in European policymaking. Between 2022 and 2024, we directly en-gaged, connected and empowered more than 1580 EU citizens from 25 EU countries and beyond. We reached more than 316 000 people online.

We carried out a multitude of activities to cultivate more informed, motivated and engaged EU (young) citizens, boost democratic participation and enhance opportunities for citizen cooperation with decision-makers, contributing to European policymaking.

An emphasis was placed on translating the opinions, ideas and knowledge of young people into pragmatic recommendations directed at fostering a more inclusive, sustainable and secure Europe. This work took place through three primary activities:

we engaged 215 young people in focus groups
we connected with 68 young leaders in transnational reflection workshops
we collected 559 interactions, through e-democracy crowdsourcing events

What European Union do young people want to see?

An EU united in values and democracy
A well-defined Europe from a geopolitical and geoeconomic perspective
A self-sustaining Europe that prioritises its environmental goals
A borderless Europe within, with strong but humane-centred external protections
A safe and secure Europe
An EU that has the capacity for greater numbers of members
An equal and equitable EU
A literate Europe focused on civic education and information space literacy

Recommendations

Democracy, Citizen Engagement and Strategic Communication

Sustain Inclusive Democratic
Participation and Civic
Engagement¹

Top-down channels to better reach and engage EU citizens

Establish a trusted group of influencers and ‘ambassadors’ to motivate students and citizens to participate in various actions, events and programmes
Facilitate meetings and discussions in schools and cultural centres between acting EU officials, representatives of national governments and locals to share their experiences
Provide access to technology (such as Wi-Fi, televisions and computers) to people in need – to be used in their communal spaces to facilitate awareness of local, national and European matters
Talk with minorities and other less represented groups and explain concrete EU benefits that matter to them and influence their daily lives
Involve more local governments in bringing the EU closer to their communities – local governments usually know what their communities need and want
Create a series of Europe Day events beyond May 8, incorporating different themes and activities that encourage citizens with various interests to participate
Engage school children – involve pan-European programmes such as the Blue Star Program in Ireland
Supplement existing curricula with references to Europe and the EU, such as by focusing more on the geographies, cultures, literature and art of other European countries and the introduction of school courses on EU civic education and identity
Further enhance the Erasmus programme and expand it to primary schools, high schools, the EU neighbourhood, entrepreneurs and employees

Bottom-up channels that enable EU citizens to impact EU decision-makers

Create and enhance national and transnational networks of schools focused on conducting informal activities about the EU for their pupils, inspired by Euroscola
Support the creation of branches of European political groups at national universities
Facilitate the creation of a pan-European civil society
- The objective should be to develop a common platform serving as an open, accessible, safe and constructive space for free expression tailored towards ordinary people, civil society organisations and diverse segments of the population;
- EU institutions should consult this platform, engage with participants and submit yearly reports on their work in following up on proposals that emerged from participants
Organise more editions of the Conference on the Future of Europe at the national and regional levels
- The EU should permit the forum to be partly conducted through an online platform to ensure it is more affordable and democratic
- Providing greater regularity in the proceedings will bolster knowledge acquisition and engagement, as long as the process is accessible, reflective of the different topics of interest of countries, regions and municipalities and tailored towards establishing a direct connection between citizens and the EU through two-way communication
Organise citizen assemblies in every member state inspired by those in Ireland
Organise a regular European Youth Parliament
Similarly, citizen panels could be organised on an annual basis, in parallel with the European Council summits or various Council formations:
- Citizen panels would be more focused and involve smaller constellations;
- Reflections by citizen panels would be delivered to the Council, Commission and European Parliament to assess their alignment with citizens
Adjust the requirements for a successful European Citizens’ Initiative and provide the option of using verified digital signatures

Stratcom for the EU

Simplify political communication to ensure it is more comprehensible and actionable
Prioritise the use of storytelling techniques in communication with citizens as much and as widely as possible, thus reasserting European values without “being a teacher” or enforcing a “Brussels diktat”
Deploy vigorous pro-EU ad campaigns featuring well-known personalities; disseminate messages in unique ways (through animated videos, music, kids plays, graffiti, games, etc…)
Tell citizens’ real stories on enjoying the benefits of EU membership, such as working, studying, living or interacting across the EU, focusing on applying a Benefit Oriented Approach
Support the streamlining of the concept of the House of European History (museum of European Identity and History located in Brussels) into other member states; increase the number of EU-themed summer camps, workshops and interactive kids museums

Prepare for Electoral Reforms and Institutional Changes

Work towards introducing transnational lists for European Parliament elections;
Agree on minimal standard qualifications for MEP candidates
Establish a European Electoral Commission to oversee and coordinate parliamentary elections
Explore options to harmonise the voting age and electoral rules across Member States to ensure citizens common access to the ballot box
Explore shifting to the direct election of the European Commission via the European Parliament, eliminating Member State-appointed commissioners
Entertain new formats to ensure the Council is more representative of European regions rather than member states
Minimise veto power in the decisions of the Council of the EU
Review options for transferring more competencies to the EU, ensuring better convergence and strengthening prosperity in the Union
Enact quotas as a first step towards achieving more diverse representation in the European Parliament
Change funding schemes to further bolster the direct access of civil society and NGOs, municipalities and regions, as opposed to merely national governments, to the EU

Climate and Sustainability

Amplify Education and Awareness Measures

Foster more rational discussions about climate change by providing clear and detailed information as well as highlighting the immediate benefits of climate action
Expand knowledge dissemination from the EU to national governments and from governments to citizens
Promote educational campaigns and re-skilling programmes to increase individual responsibility and participation in climate discussions
Facilitate the multi-sector exchange of best prac- tices, involving industry, civil society and experts in a multi-directional process

Concentrate on Social Solutions

Focus on vulnerable groups (women, children, migrants, minorities) and promote international climate solidarity
Ensure a just transition to green energy, addressing energy poverty and balancing climate goals with prosperity
Engage with communities directly impacted by climate change and industries rather than just private households

Improve Policymaking

Include scientists in policymaking and communication efforts to ensure complex reports are comprehensible and actionable
Encourage bottom-up movements and ensure policies consider on-the-ground advice and experiences
Develop policies that link climate change with economic and social issues, recognising their interdependence
Improve the availability and affordability of sustainable options through grants and regulatory measures
Support global coordination frameworks for comprehensive climate crisis management
Strengthen environmental laws and accountability mechanisms