fbpx

News > The European Movement International in 2020

Article Author

secretariat European Movement International

Article Details:

  • 18th December 2020 - 17:23 UTC

The European Movement International in 2020

2020 has been a challenging year for us all and has demonstrated, on many levels, the importance of European solidarity and cooperation while supporting those in need and strengthening democracy in times of crises. We wanted to do our part, through our advocacy, communications, events and networking.

To respond to new circumstances, we pursued creative and innovative approaches, made the most of new technologies and teamed up with our members and partners to promote our common goals. We organised a range of online activities and utilised our network’s communications channels to strengthen the voice of civil society in Europe, promote European cooperation in these trying times, and increase citizens’ engagement in the EU. This autumn, the European Movement International also elected its new Board that will take the network’s activities forward over the coming three years, with renewed ambitions to amplify citizens’ voices in the debates that shape our common future.

Our projects

Talking Europe

We partnered with the European Commission to hold a new series of online discussions, entitled Talking Europe, which aims to foster debate on the EU’s work and the effect it has on the lives of citizens. These one-to-one discussions have featured Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, Director General for Communication; Dubravka Šuica, Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography; Sabine Weyand, Director General for Trade; as well as Wolfgang Burtscher, Director General for Agriculture & Rural Development.

Investing in the Future of Europe

As part of the Investing in the Future of Europe series, a partnership between the European Movement International and the European Investment Bank, we held online events this year focusing on Europe’s response to the spread of COVID-19, the impactful measures taken by the institutions to foster growth and cushion the economy from the impact of the crisis, and how the EU can help create a society where the benefits of economic activity are equally distributed and reconciled with our environmental responsibilities. Amongst others, featured speakers included Frans Timmermans, European Commission Executive Vice-President; Thomas Östros, Vice President of European Investment Bank; and Céline Charveriat, Executive Director, Institute for European Environmental Policy.

Women of Europe Awards

For the fifth year running, the 2020 edition of the Women of Europe Awards, organised with the support of the European Women’s Lobby, was held online this year and featured four inspiring winners from Belarus, Germany, Bulgaria, and wider Europe: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (Woman in Power), the European Federation of Nurses (Women in Action), Sara Nuru (Woman in Business) and Mariya Atanasova (Woman in Youth Activism). The ceremony was opened by European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli. See more on our website and social media campaign.

EuropeanChats

In 2020, we also launched a new series of discussions entitled EuropeanChats which gathers members of our network from across Europe for informal discussions on different issues surrounding the COVID-19 crisis from their national perspectives, including national responses, the need to sustain European cohesion and solidarity, the role of civil society in a public health crisis, and the socio-economic impact of the pandemic. The discussions featured the European Movement offices in Denmark, Croatia, Ireland, Finland, France, Austria, Norway and Romania.

Listen to Europe

The Listen to Europe project this year served as a platform to support Brussels-based networks of civil society organisations in strengthening their messaging and communications. 19 European civil society organisations and institutions were able to test on focus groups their campaigns that were run ahead of the European elections in 2019 and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to learn how different audiences react to their messaging. We further developed the Listen to Europe website and added analyses from a range of different organisations to provide a resource for civil society organisations that want to adjust their messaging according to the latest data, polling and analysis available.

European Democracy Group

As part of a long-standing collaboration with Carnegie Europe, we continued to convene EU policymakers, civil society, academia, foundations and media to discuss ways to enhance citizen participation and civil society engagement in shaping the future of Europe. In January, coinciding with the launch of the European Commission’s plan for the Conference on the Future of Europe, we welcomed European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica to our event in the European Parliament on how to get European democracy right. Further meetings this year, in cooperation with Democracy Reporting International and the European Partnership for Democracy, touched upon the Democracy Action Plan and the Digital Services Act.

Digital Magazine The ViewPoints

The ViewPoints, launched in 2020, is a digital magazine with opinion pieces from key European stakeholders offering their ideas and solutions for some of the most pressing challenges the EU is currently facing. Each edition of the magazine is published online and shared with our network and key stakeholders from civil society, the European institutions, and Member States. Previous issues featured opinions on the next EU budget, the Conference on the Future of Europe and a Europe fit for the digital age.

Democracy Alive

This year, Democracy Alive continued to serve as a tool to connect activists from across Europe and support them in their efforts to defend, strengthen and promote European democracy. Our ‘Action Centre’ provided a platform for pro-Europeans and pro-democracy activists to take part in campaigns and promote the issues they care passionately about.

Our policy and influencing

The COVID-19 pandemic has put Europe’s and civil society’s resilience to the test this year. Only by working together can we provide common solutions to the challenges Europe faces and ensure that Europeans’ ambitions mirror the future work of the European Union. Bringing our member organisations together in our Political Committees, we developed new policy positions and utilised existing ones. Take a look at our main policy proposals that guide our current work and get in touch if you would like to join us or support our work. 

We use our policy positions to reach and engage stakeholders. This year we reached over 2700 key representatives of the EU institutions and civil society.

Democracy, Values and Citizen Participation

The Conference on the Future of Europe

COVID-19

The Next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)

A Green and Just Transition

Enlargement and Western Balkans

Migration

Europe in the World

Our communications

This year has been record-breaking! Our content and campaigns have reached more Europeans than ever – 9,2 million to be exact – and our joint campaign with our national councils, ‘Together for Europe‘, reached 13,9 million people (with more than 22 million impressions!). By using and applying audience data and research, we have been able to create tailored content reaching and appealing not only to our core pro-European supporters, but also more broadly, to citizens that usually operate outside our usual audience. Correspondingly, we have seen exponential growth in our followings across all platforms this year, and we are happy to have been able to contribute to building the capacity of several of our National Councils to do the same.

Together for Europe Campaign (Europe Day)

This year, our network’s Europe Day celebrations went fully digital and consisted of four different campaign videos. The campaign was intended to reach and influence not only our base audiences, but also the ‘persuadables’ who operate just outside our normal spheres of communication, and was promoted in 18 countries and in 18 languages. With this campaign we wanted to play our part in the work to counter the abundant negative messages, narratives, and fake news that are circulating online. We were also able to effectively expand our base audiences and increase the number of European citizens we reach with pro-European and pro-democratic messages. The response from our participating National Councils has been overwhelmingly positive, with most reporting that they have been able to reach new audiences and gain a great deal more interactions and followers on their social media channels and within their networks.

Europe Day Campaign Videos (EN):

Social media campaigns

Europeans Against Covid19

Teaming up with the European Parliament and the #EuropeansAgainstCovid19 campaign, we created the Compassion in Action campaign. It was launched at the height of the first wave of the pandemic in Europe, in early April, and highlights that we are in this together, and we are doing amazing things to help each other through this crisis. The campaign also promotes that there are many ways of showing solidarity with our fellow Europeans. The campaign video received a lot of positive feedback and was formally included in the European Parliament’s own Europe Day broadcast. 

Federal Assembly 2020

With this year’s Federal Assembly and election of the Board taking place online for the first time, we created and promoted visuals on social media – including a video – intended to showcase the core values that connect us, our hopes for the future, as well as our pride in being the largest pan-European network of pro-European associations.

Women of Europe Awards 2020

The Women of Europe Awards were well-promoted over our social media channels and received a lot of external interest. Thanks to our promotion of the nominees, the shortlisted, the jury, and the winners via social media, we raised awareness throughout Europe for the Awards and the cause they serve. Key to that was our partnership with Euronews, which covered the ceremony and broadcast a report on all its language channels here. If you missed it, or want to rewatch it, you can view the full awards ceremony here.

Our network gatherings

Members Council

In September, we held an online Members Council, connecting members from across Europe for discussions on key policy issues, and to plan and debate our network’s priorities for the months to come.

Federal Assembly

n November, we hosted our annual Federal Assembly online. Our members discussed the state of the network, debated the big issues that face Europe, set out our priorities for the coming years and elected the European Movement International’s new Board.

Our events in 2020

Click here to receive more information about the activities of the European Movement International.

Get in touch to find out how to join the European Movement International.

  • Print news
  • 0 Comments

Policies

More news

Your email will not be published
Cancel reply
EUROPEAN MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL

The European Movement is a network of organisations that has mobilised citizens and advocated for a democratic, federal and enlarged union since 1948.

© 2023 European Movement International. All rights reserved.
Site by La Verita Studios LTD
Back to top