We Promise : Driving Democracy in the Digital Age

Press briefing & panel discussion in the European Parliament, 1 April at 2pm, Room PHS 0A50

In the course of the current legislature, the European Parliament took important steps towards improved civil rights and a more democratic European Union. It listened to citizens when rejecting ACTA, it passed several Resolutions supporting net neutrality, it listened to citizens when it started the world’s first parliamentary inquiry on the mass surveillance scandal.

Heading towards the European Parliament elections, we can use the democratic power of the internet to turn the EU elections into a project by and for all citizens, with increased legitimacy for decision-making on the European level.

During this debate, the We Promise campaign will be presented and the speakers will discuss the participatory possibilities for citizens, new ways of engagement and challenges for democracy and civil rights in the digital age.

The project aims at giving citizens the possibility to influence the EU’s political agenda leading to more European discussions and debates.

You can already register your participation by sending an email to .

1 April – 2pm – PHS 0A50

Opening remarks
MEP Paweł Zalewski (EPP, Poland)

Moderator:
Joe McNamee (European Digital Rights)

Speakers:
MEP Marietje Schaake (ALDE, Netherlands)
MEP Josef Weidenholzer (S&D, Austria)
MEP Christian Engström (Green/EFA, Sweden)

Background:
In order to put civil rights on the centre of the debate and to set the political agenda for the incoming Parliament, European Digital Rights has initiated a campaign based on a two-sided promise: Candidates for the European election 2014 and citizens eligible to vote in this election can make a promise to each other via http://wepromise.eu.

Candidates for the European Parliament are able to endorse (with appropriate verification procedures) a “Charter” of ten principles. Voters can use the same platform to sign a statement to promise to vote for the candidates supporting the Charter – with the platform giving them the opportunity to check which candidates had given their endorsement. WePromise therefore enables voters to take an active role in national and EU level discussions on issues of significance for citizenship and fundamental rights in the digital environment.

The campaign was launched by 35 civil rights organisations (EDRi) with the support of GoVeto.