The challenges were many in 2023. But by working together, the EU stood up for its values, helping Ukraine defend against Russia’s invasion, dealing with the pandemic aftermath, addressing the environmental and climate crisis, responding to the advancement of digital technologies, and addressing the war in the Middle East. Once again we were reminded of the importance of European solidarity & cooperation, and of the need to stand side by side if we are to meet our challenges steadfast, and defend democracy across our continent.
At the European Movement International, we strived to do our part through our thought leadership, advocacy, communications, events, stakeholder engagement and citizen outreach.
We applied creative and innovative approaches, made the most of new technologies and cutting-edge research and teamed up with our members and partners to promote our common goals. We organised a range of online activities and utilised the EMI’s communications channels to strengthen the voice of civil society in Europe, promote European cooperation in these trying times, reach out beyond our usual audience and increase citizens’ engagement with the EU. We accelerated our advocacy efforts vis-à-vis the EU institutions, promoting the European Movement policy positions and providing thought leadership in the debates of our times. We continued our work with citizens, not least to ensure that the Conference on the Future of Europe recommendations become a reality, either through legislation or Treaty reform.
Below is a summary of our work. We look forward to what 2024 has to bring.
Our Projects
REAL DEAL
One year into the REAL DEAL project, which brings together Europe’s leading researchers on deliberative democracy and the largest Civil Society Organisations working in the fields of environment and democracy, we developed evidence-based strategic communications in order to promote positive narratives about the importance of deliberative democracy in the context of the green and just transition. So far, our campaigns have reached 13 million people, and generated 60 million impressions and 10 million interactions. We are also creating a community of Europeans who are taking action to build a new model of environmental citizenship for Europe; a model where Europeans are placed at the heart of the decision-making process, making a REAL DEAL for both people and the planet. You can sign up on: www.realdeal.eu.
Stronger Together
This year, we started the Stronger Together Project, led by the British Council, which aims to contribute to the building of a close and stable relationship between the UK and the EU, for Europe’s collective benefit. The project empowers 15-30-year-olds in the UK and EU to take social action, create positive narratives, lead, and fight for a better world. Our role in this project is to foster a positive narrative about the future of EU-UK cooperation by informing and engaging young people. We first conducted an opinion poll to understand the attitudes of British citizens between 18-29 years of age on democracy, co-operation, multilateralism and relations with the EU. The findings were presented to our partners and key EU and CSO stakeholders in June and July 2023. The learnings served to shape messages for Stronger Together campaigns that were launched in December 2023. Our campaigns will run until the end of 2024 and, in the first month, have already reached 92,000 people, and generated 106,000 impressions and 33,000 interactions.
Listen to People
This year, the Listen to People project has been focused on the preparation of campaigns aiming at increasing voter turnout for the 2024 European Elections. To this end, we organised two focus groups, in Poland and Italy, testing campaign messages and designs from various civil society organisations, with the intention to extract learnings that can help in the preparation of campaigns that would resonate with a persuadable audience outside of the usual civil society bubble. We used and shared the results with our network of organisations and pro-European campaigners to refine our communication strategies for the upcoming elections. Additionally, we held two training sessions for 60 activists and communications professionals to build their capacity to reach beyond their echo chambers, using data-driven communication, digital campaigning and community building. At the back of that, we have built a community of communication professionals and campaigners, and we have set up a private communication channel where we regularly share helpful resources with them to prepare their go-to-vote campaigns.
Just EU and Me
In 2023, the European Movement International also took part in the Just EU and Me project, led by ActionAid Italy. Focusing on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, this initiative aims to provide young people (18-30 years old) and representatives of youth associations with knowledge, skills and opportunities to actively participate in developing recommendations to improve EU and Member States’ policies that addresses social justice issues. Our role is to promote an open dialogue between youth activists and associations and EU institutions. To this end, we organised an online event on the “The European Union and the Pillar of Social Rights” in February 2023, which gathered over 100 participants.
Together for Europe
In 2023, the European Movement International continued to support our National Councils, through a re-granting mechanism which supported joint actions under the heading “Together for Europe”. Our aim is to boost Europe Day celebrations across Europe and to enable our National Councils to enhance citizens’ awareness and engagement in the policies that will shape the Union’s future. Moreover, our support contributes to building the capacity of our National Councils to achieve a lasting impact in their communities on issues related to the EU. This year, we supported 9 projects run by our National Councils, mobilising in total more than 11,000 participants in offline and online events implemented across Europe, and generating over 329,000 impressions from all campaigns.
Women of Europe Awards
For the eighth year running, the 2023 edition of the Women of Europe Awards, organised in partnership with the European Women’s Lobby, was held in person at the BELvue museum and featured five inspiring winners: Kaja Kallas (Woman in Power), Yuliia “Taira” Paievska (Woman in Action), Emilie Schmitt (Woman in Business) Maraharyta Vorykhava (Young Woman of Europe), and Shada Islam (Woman in Media, our newly added category). Our event promotion in social media gathered a reach of over 10,000 people throughout Europe. Finally, we also launched the Women of Europe Awards website which gathers information about previous editions. See more about the latest edition here and social media campaign.
Talking Europe
We continued our partnership with the European Commission on a series of online discussions launched in 2020, entitled Talking Europe, which aims to foster debate on the EU’s work and the effect it has on the lives of citizens. In 2023, these one-to-one discussions have featured Andreas Schwarz (Deputy Director-General of the European Anti-Fraud Office), Jaume Duch Guillot (Director-General for Communication & Spokesperson, European Parliament), Ana Gallego Torres, Director General of DG Justice), and Marc Lemaître, (Director General of DG Research and Innovation).
EuropeanChats
In 2023, we continued the series of online discussions entitled European Chats launched in 2020, gathering members of our network from across Europe for informal discussions on different issues surrounding the EU’s response to the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the debate on the future of Europe. This year’s discussions featured the European Movement offices in North Macedonia and Albania, as well as CESI and UNITEE.
Our policy and influencing
Over the past year, Europe and civil society have encountered both novel and familiar challenges. We have actively engaged in thought leadership and advocacy, collaborating within the European Movement International network to formulate and champion positions and ideas. Our goal is to tackle the current global challenges and advocate for a future for our continent that upholds the foundational principles of the European Union.
Bringing our member organisations together in our three Political Committees, we developed new policy positions and utilised existing ones. Take a look at our main policy priorities that guide our current work and get in touch if you would like to join us or support our work.
We used our policy positions to reach and engage different stakeholders.
- Targeted advocacy vis-à-vis policy-makers and institutions: We engaged with a multitude of policy-makers and we reached over 6000 people including 600 MEPs, 27 Permanent Representatives, and over 1000 senior stakeholders from the EU institutions and international organisations.
- Policy emails: We sent 37 e-mail blasts promoting our policy positions and we reached a very diverse audience including 600 MEPs, 27 Permanent Representatives, over 1000 senior stakeholders from the EU institutions, Member States and international organisations, and over 2800 stakeholders from EMI’s member organisations and European civil society organisations, think tanks, research centres, and social partners.
Our policy and advocacy work focused on various areas, consistent with our strategic priorities and our annual work plan.
Follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe
We published and used for our advocacy and communication:
- A new policy position entitled “After The Conference On The Future Of Europe: Reform To Deliver On The Citizens’ Recommendations”;
- One Policy Focus calling for amending the Treaties following the recommendations of the citizens of the CoFoE;
- One Policy Focus on Passerelle Clauses.
To promote our positions and engage relevant stakeholders, we also held:
- One event entitled “A Brave New World: A Reformed EU Fit for the Future”, featuring members of the Plenary of the Conference from various components;
- A joint event on Democracy Bottom-Up with Forum Ruchu Europejskiego, Evolution Institute, and Collegium Civitas;
- A joint event with SGI that featured a discussion between citizen ambassadors of the Conference on the Future of Europe and Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta;
- A joint event with the Union of the European Federalists on the follow-up of the Conference on the Future of Europe Conclusions;
- A panel event entitled “Looking ahead: what the European Union needs to do to strengthen democracy” in the context of the Democracy Alive Summit.
The Rule of Law
We published and used for our advocacy and communication:
- A Policy Focus on the 2022 Rule of Law Report and one on the 2023 Rule of Law Report;
- A Policy Focus on the latest developments in Hungary regarding breaches of the rule of law;
- A Policy Focus on the situation of the rule of law in Hungary and Poland;
- A statement on the attacks against the rights of rainbow families in Italy.
To promote our positions and engage relevant stakeholders, we also held:
- A joint event with the European Movement Belgium on “Democracy in the EU: How is the European Commission defending the rule of law?” with Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice;
- A Democracy Summit with several panels tackling the rule of law.
European Green Deal
We published and used for our advocacy and communication:
- A Policy Focus on the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan;
- A Policy Focus on the Nature Restoration Law;
- A Policy Focus on COP28.
Enlargement and Western Balkans
We published and used for our advocacy and communication:
- A Policy Focus on the June General Affairs Council;
- A Policy Focus on the 2023 Enlargement Package;
- A Policy Focus on the December European Council Meeting.
To promote our positions and engage relevant stakeholders we also held:
- A joint event entitled “The New EU in a Changed World: Enlargement and Security” with the European Movement Finland and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
Europe in the World
We published and used for our advocacy and communication:
- A new policy position on European migration and asylum policy;
- Two Policy Focus on migration, one calling for more effective and humane European migration and asylum policy and one on the current negotiations on the reform of the EU asylum legislation;
- 11 recommendations ahead of the 4th Council of Europe Summit;
- A statement on the June shipwreck off the coast of Greece;
- A Policy Focus on European security and defence;
- A Policy Focus on the various conflicts happening on the continent.
To promote our positions and engage relevant stakeholders we also held:
- A joint event entitled “The New EU in a Changed World: Enlargement and Security” with the European Movement Finland and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
Social, sustainable, creative and prosperous Europe
We published and used for our advocacy and communication:
- A new policy position on The Unifying Role of Culture and Cultural Heritage in European Integration;
- A new policy position on Post-Pandemic Recovery and Development in Europe;
- A Policy Focus on the need for the EU to protect Europe’s cultural and creative sector;
- A Policy Focus on the matching of skills and jobs;
- A joint Multi-Stakeholder Report: Overcoming Labour & Supply Chain Shortages In Europe with METRO AG, following the organisation of several roundtables.
To promote our positions and engage relevant stakeholders we also held:
- A joint event with Europa Nostra “European Cultural Heritage Summit Venice”;
- A joint event with METRO AG to discuss a joint paper on labour and skills shortages;
- Joint event with Eurocommerce on “Ensuring Wholesale and Retail is skilled for the future” organised as part of the European Year of Skills and the EU Vocational Skills Week 2023.
Digital Rights
We published and used for our advocacy and communication:
To promote our positions and engage relevant stakeholders we also held:
- An event on “The assault on truth: Disinformation and the narrative war” in the context of the Democracy Alive Summit.
Democracy, Values and Citizen Participation
We published and used for our advocacy and communication:
- A list of recommendations stemming from our workshop on “The future of participatory and deliberative democracy” organised in the context of the EESC Civil Society Days;
- One Policy Focus on European citizens’ panels.
To promote our positions and engage relevant stakeholders, we also held:
- One event entitled “Reviving Democracy: Modernising European Institutions for a More Participatory Europe”;
- A joint event with the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and SOLIDAR on “The future of participatory and deliberative democracy” in the context of the EESC Civil Society Days.
Our communications
This year marks another remarkable achievement for us! Our content and campaigns have successfully reached a staggering 31 million Europeans. Through meticulous analysis of polling data and research, we’ve strategically segmented and targeted diverse audiences. This approach has enabled us to craft customised content that resonates not only with our core pro-European supporters but also with citizens who typically fall outside our usual demographic. Consequently, we’ve witnessed exponential growth in engagement across all platforms this year. We take pride in our contribution to enhancing the capabilities of numerous National Councils, empowering them to do the same.
Europe Day
Building upon the triumphs of our collaborative campaigns in recent years, this year’s Europe Day campaign within our network retained its digital focus. The objective was to extend its impact beyond our core audiences to include more moderate individuals operating just beyond our usual communication channels. This time, the campaign was strategically promoted in six countries and conducted in six languages. This deliberate approach not only broadened our core audience but also significantly increased the outreach of pro-European and pro-democratic messages to a great number of European citizens.
REAL DEAL Campaign
As part of the green and just transition, in our work at REAL DEAL we are using evidence-based communication strategies to promote positive narratives about citizen engagement with the green transition. Our narrative change campaign has generated 60 million digital impressions and reached more than 13 million people. This project aims for a future in which Europeans are an integral part of the decision-making process, making a REAL DEAL for both people and the planet.
Stronger Together Campaign
This year, we launched the EU/UK Youth Stronger Together campaign. Our primary goal is to foster a close and sustainable relationship between young people in the UK and the EU, with a keen focus on promoting the collective benefit of Europe. The campaign, launched in December 2023, has reached 92,000 people and generated 106,000 digital impressions in the first month alone. It is set to continue until the end of 2024. By aiming to bridge geographical distances and cultivate a sense of European community, we have also obtained over 10 million online interactions.
Support Ukraine Campaign
This year, we initiated a campaign to counteract negative messages and disinformation related to the war in Ukraine. Our aim was to cultivate a sense of hope by promoting positive narratives that encourage solidarity with Ukrainians in Europe. The campaigns reached an audience of 25 million people spread across six European countries. Using evidence-based communication strategies, our content related to defence of and support for Ukraine resulted in 35 million digital impressions and in 8 million of our audience engaging directly with our messaging.
Engaging the European Movement International Network
The European Movement International Network encompasses 75 member organisations, both National Councils and International Associations, bringing together European civil society, employers, trade unions, NGOs, political parties, local government and academia. This year we worked closely with all member organisations and brought together our network in various constellations to co-create the direction of the European Movement International.
To that end we held:
- 2 Federal Assemblies;
- 1 Members’ Council;
- 4 Board meetings;
- 12 Political Committee meetings;
- 8 Working Group meetings.
Our events in 2023
- 3 February: The European Union and the Pillar of Social Rights
- 16 February: Overcoming labour and supply chain shortages in Europe
- 22 February: EuropeanChats with European Movement North Macedonia & European Movement Albania
- 11 March: The future of participatory and deliberative democracy
- 22 March: Democracy in the EU: How is the European Commission defending the rule of law?
- 11 May: EuropeanChats with CESI and UNITEE
- 22 May: Talking Europe with Marc Lemaître, Director General of DG Research and Innovation
- 2 June: Democracy Bottom-Up: Building a Dialogue between Civil Society and Political Parties
- 6 June: Democracy Alive: The Brussels Summit
- 14 July: Talking Europe with Ana Gallego Torres, Director General of DG Justice
- 8 September: Talking Europe with Jaume Duch Guillot, Director-General for Communication & Spokesperson, European Parliament
- 19 September: Reviving Democracy: Modernising European Institutions for a More Participatory Europe
- 3 October: Talking Europe with Andreas Schwarz, Deputy Director-General of the European Anti-Fraud Office
- 23 October: Ensuring Europe is Skilled for the Future: Wholesale & Retail at the forefront of innovation
- 9 November: Women of Europe Awards 2023
- 15 November: A Brave New World: A Reformed EU Fit for the Future
- 28 November: Agora Schuman: What kind of Europe we want by 2029?
- 7 December: One year after: Follow-up on the Conference on the Future of Europe’s conclusions
- 7 December: The Future of the Single Market: A discussion between Enrico Letta, rapporteur on the Future of the EU Single Market, & Citizen Ambassadors
- 12 December: The New EU in a Changed World: Enlargement and Security