What practical steps could the European Parliament take to build awareness and support of the institution among the European Public?

The Preamble of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union explicitly states that the Union is founded upon “…principles of democracy” and “places the individual at the heart of its activities.” Putting these two founding ideas from the Preamble into a comprehensive guide for democracy in the European Union, one can deduce the importance of an individual’s participation within the supranational entity. Given that voter participation is an indispensable element of a legitimate democratic process, it therefore remains essential for the European Union to promote its democratic nature and intent. The easiest way to do this is through its only democratically elected body: the European Parliament. In order for both internal members and external observers of the Union to perceive it as a legitimate democratic entity, the Union ought to seek to maximize the democratic utility of the European Parliament. As the only directly elected institution within the European Union, the European Parliament carries a special and unique responsibility in establishing and maintaining the democratic reputation of the entire European Union. In this paper, by first providing a description of the Parliament and the deficiencies of its current role within the Union, I will suggest a variety of steps to be taken by both the European Parliament and the European Union to foster awareness and support of the institution amongst the European Public. The concept of an European identity, the role and use of the media, and the quality of election campaigns are three interrelated ideas that, if dually cultivated, could have a highly beneficial impact on the awareness and support of the European Parliament amongst the public.

Although the purpose of...

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...an Parliament is to draw attention towards what has been deemed a “communication deficit” (Bilska 2011).

The final suggestion that I have found most ever-present in the literature regarding the high levels of the European public’s apathy towards the institution of the European Parliament is political campaigning.

While the three aforementioned suggestions (development of a supranational identity, improvement of media coverage and improved campaign strategies) are frequently found in the literature concerning the normative behaviour of the European Parliament, most authors have failed to take into account ulterior factors that could be attributed to high citizen apathy. As proposed in this paper, I suggest that there are logistical deficiencies within the European Union as a whole which are contributing to the lack of European solidarity amongst its citizens.