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DiEM25 and the search for a European demos

A successful Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) needs to redefine European citizenship by leading and shaping debates on the place of the individual in today’s European society.

By Ian Bancroft
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DiEM0216-session1-0124[1].jpg
DiEM0216-session1-0124[1].jpg

DiEM0216 Session One, Volksbuhne. Arno-image. All rights reserved. (click to enlarge)

The “EU will be democratised. Or it will disintegrate!”, so cries the manifesto for a democratic European Union by 2025 (DiEM25). Yet the pillars of this democratization process - greater transparency and citizen participation - alone will prove insufficient in the absence of a genuine European demos.

In this regard, the notion of a European citizenship and the rights it entails is the manifesto’s missing dimension. Any discussion about democracy in Europe is incomplete without considering the notion of European citizenship itself - the civil, political and social rights enjoyed by citizens of the EU.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0