EuroPolis

The European Union is currently experiencing a crisis of legitimacy and acceptance. Many citizens are skeptical about Europe. Projects dealing with civic participation promise to generate more interest in the European Union and its future among citizens.

EuroPolis tests the effectiveness of participation processes using academic methods. The research is intended to show to what extent participation projects can get citizens more interested in the European Union and empower them to constructively and actively tackle European topics.

To do this, EuroPolis compares two groups consisting of 500 EU citizens, each selected on a representative basis. The test group took part in a simulated European Parliament debate in Brussels on the subjects of migration and climate change. The control group did not participate. Immediately before and after the event in Brussels, as well as after the European elections in June 2009, the members of the test and the control group were asked about their stance on various political topics.

The project is being run by the University of Siena (Italy). EuroPolis receives funding from the European Commission. Aside from the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the King Baudouin Foundation (Belgium) and the Compagnia di San Paolo (Italy) are among the funding members of EuroPolis.