Insights, in-depth analysis, Ideas Papers News Comments Conversations Recommendations
The future of democracy and democratic reform in Europe
The EU Democracy Reform Observatory is a joint initiative by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, the European Policy Centre, the King Baudouin Foundation, and the Stiftung Mercator. Our aim is to foster the debate on modernising European democracy and provide recommendations on how to make democracy and decision-making more legitimate, participatory, and effective in the EU.
News
7th Online Democracy Reform Conversation
EU Democracy reform Monitor
Keep track of how EU and national actors follow up on the Conference on the Future of Europe and get a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the field of citizen participation with the help of our EU Democracy Monitor. The Monitor provides an ongoing timeline of democratic reform activities, initiatives and debates across different institutions and actors, spanning from national to EU levels.
Papers
How do we modernise democracy in the EU? What is the state and prospects of participatory democracy in this context? How can representative and participatory democracy work together? How can we make the best out of the outcomes of the Conference on the Future of Europe? Is there any room and appetite to reform the EU treaties? With our publications, we seek to spark and shape ideas about modernising European democracy through in-depth and outside-of-the-box research, analysis, debate, and policy discussion.
Commentary: Democracy demoted
Participatory democracy at the EU level: How to break the invisible ceiling?
Policy Brief 1|2024: The EU’s participatory enlargement
Events & Multimedia
Our interactive event series, ‘Democracy Reform Conversations’, is a continuation of our earlier series, ‘Conference Conversations’, in which our experts talk with high-level guests about how to make democracy and decision-making more legitimate, participatory, and effective in Europe. Find out about previous and upcoming events here.