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Brussels, Vienna, 26 June 2023:  A high-level event  at the European Parliament on 4 July 2023 will focus on how best to ensure the integrity of the 6-9 June 2024 European elections through the participation of civil society.

The EU’s commitment to defending democracy is more important than ever. The elections provide an important opportunity to strengthen citizen participation in elections, improve trust and promote identification with democratic values. In the run-up to 2024, voter mobilisation and campaigning will provide an opportunity to build a collective advocacy agenda, improve inclusion and address equality issues for underrepresented groups, including women, persons with disabilities and minorities.

The panel discussion will bring together civil society organisations, election observation experts and representatives from the European institutions in order to discuss the regulatory options and non-regulatory support initiatives.

The event’s opening speech is delivered by First Vice President Othmar Karas, and by the hosting MEP Domènec Ruiz Devesa, who has been AFCO rapporteur on electoral reforms. MEP Sandro Gozi, IMCO rapporteur on transparency and targeting of political advertising, delivers a speech while European Commmission Vice President Ms. Věra Jourová (tbc), MEP Ignazio Corrao, and Ms. Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of the European Association for Local Democracy ALDA and former President of the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), join the panel discussion.

The high-level event takes place at the European Parliament – Room Paul Henri Spaak 4B001 from 11:00 – 12:30 hours on Tuesday, 4 July 2023.

Participants from outside the European Parliament can register for the high-level event here and need to be at the European Parliament entrance 60 rue Wiertz at 10:30 hours at the latest.

The following initiatives will be discussed:

• the draft European Elections 2024 key policy paper including findings and recommendations of the four SEEEDS webinars held in 2023;
• the European Commission’s Defence of Democracy Package that is intended promotes measures to support broad and inclusive participation in the 2024 elections to the European Parliament;
• the European Commission’s recommendations on civic engagement and on resilient electoral processes ahead of the 2024 European elections to the European Parliament;
• the European Parliament’s election strategy presented in June 2023.

The full agenda can be downloaded here 

2024 EP elections, citizen led election observation, data protection in elections, election security, EP elections 2024, participatory electoral reforms, youth participation in elections