📅Events and Activities

Webinar 4

Now that the European Elections 2024 are behind us, it is time to explore the lessons learned!

In this webinar, the SEEEDS partners will provide insights into the 2024 European Parliament elections based on the findings of civil society organisations and initiate the discussion on the way forward regarding future European electoral reforms and strengthening democratic processes at the EU level.

AGENDA

16:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks by Roy Virah-Sawmy, EPD

• Introduction to the webinar's objectives and importance.

• Scene setting and background: overview of the 2024 European Parliament elections and their significance.

16:10 What did we observe in the European Parliament elections?

• Armin Rabitsch and Tatyana Hilscher-Bogussevich, Election-Watch.EU: Election Assessment Mission findings, good practices, and recommendations.

• Ognjan Denkovski, Democracy Reporting International: Findings from Social Media Monitoring.

• Robert Lech, Political Accountability Foundation: Perspective from Poland.

16:40 Panel discussion with policymakers, EU administrators and civil society

Marie-Hélène Boulanger, Directorate General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission.

Sophie Pornschlegel, Europe Jacques Delors.

17:10 Q&A with the audience

17:30 Closing

Moderator: Michael Lidauer, Election-Watch.EU

Re-watch HERE

You can access the material shared during the webinar here.

Webinar 3

It's time for our third SEEEDS webinar on women's representation!

Women have the right to vote but continue to be under-represented in European politics and the public sphere. Political parties at national and European level, EU institutions, media and CSOs have a strong role to play in strengthening female involvement in politics.

What progress has the EU made in the last decades in women’s political participation?

What is the current state of play in the EU?

Join us to discuss assessments of the situation of women in European elections and European politics. In the course of the discussion, we will analyse what measures are needed to improve the representation of women both in the voting booth and in office.

AGENDA

16.00 - Welcome and introduction to SEEEDS

Emma Achilli, Strategic Advisor on Civic Space, European Partnership for Democracy

16.10 - Input Statements

MEP Radka Maxová, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, European Parliament

Carlien Scheele, Director, European Institute for Gender Equality

16.40 - Q&A Session

17.10 - Closing remarks and end of event

Re-watch HERE

Webinar 2

It's time for our second webinar on Youth Engagement in the European Parliament Elections!

In this session, we will focus on an overview of opportunities for youth engagement, offering solutions to possible barriers, and pointing to a variety of youth-tailored information resources, while also demonstrating the impact of electoral engagement on the national and EU-level decision-making.

Why is it important to vote in the EP elections? What is the impact of your vote? How can you hold your party/candidate/MEP accountable? Apart from voting and standing, what are other ways of getting politically involved?

Join us for the discussion!

AGENDA

16:00 – 16:10 - Welcome and introduction by Election-Watch.EU

16:10 – 16:25 Setting the scene - “All the difference you can make when you use your vote”

Rareș Voicu, Board Member of the European Youth Forum (EYF)

16:30 – 16:40: Questions and Answers

16:40 – 17:00: Showcasing engagement options for a young generation of voters

How to engage young voters

Ana Valiente, Communications Coordinator at the Youth Outreach Unit of the European Parliament

European political parties’ positions exploration tool

Hendrik Nahr, Head of European Affairs at Make.org & Co-Coordinator of EurHope

Youth debunking election-related disinformation

Veronika Hincova Frankovska, Project Manager at Demagog.SK

SEEEDS / Election-Watch.EU Videos

17:00 – 17:10 Questions and Answers 17:10 – 17:15 Conclusions and Closing Remarks

Moderators: Michael Lidauer & Tatyana Hilscher-Bogussevich, Election-Watch.EU

Re-watch HERE

You can access the material shared during the webinar below:

1. Presentation by Tatyana Hilscher-Bogussevich

2. Resources shared by Rareș Voicu:

• Erasmus generation - Voting Abroad

• Vote at 16

• European Youth Forum Youth Manifesto

1. Presentation by Ana Valiente

2. Presentation by Hendrik Nahr

3. Presentation by Veronika Frankovská

Webinar 1

EU mobile citizens are EU citizens living in another Member State. They are estimated at 13.7 million, among whom some 11 million are considered to be of voting age. Mobile EU citizens can also stand as candidates but in the 2019 European Elections, only 168 decided to do so.

Civil Society Organisations reported several problems of mobile EU citizens when exercising their political rights in their MS of residence.

What are the alternative voting possibilities in the Member States?

What are the different requirements for mobile citizens to register and vote in their host countries?

EPD and the SEEEDS partners are glad to invite you to the first webinar of the SEEEDS 2024 series on the participation of mobile EU citizens in the European Elections 2024.

AGENDA

17:00 – 17:10 Welcome and introduction

Armin Rabitsch, Chairperson Election-Watch.EU

17.10 -17:20 Input Statements on mobile EU citizens’ participation in European elections

Damian Boeselager, Member of the European Parliament, Volt party, Greens/EFA group, Rapporteur of the EP Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) on the proposal for a Council directive on mobile EU citizens

David de Groot, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), Author of Electoral rights of mobile EU citizens in European Parliament elections

17:20 – 17:50 Questions and Answers

17:50 – 18:00 Closing remarks Amb. Urszula Gacek, Advisory Board Member Election-Watch.EU

Moderators: Armin Rabitsch & Tatyana Hilscher-Bogussevich, Election-Watch.EU

Re-watch HERE

Webinar Series of 2023

Webinar 1

Special emphasis is placed on:

AGENDA

16.00 Welcome and introduction to SEEEDS

Michael Lidauer, Election-Watch.EU

Carolin Johnson, European Partnership for Democracy

16.10 Input Statements

Domènec Ruiz Devesa, Member of the European Parliament, S&D Group, EU Election Observation Mission Chief Observer

Urszula Gacek, Senior Diplomat, former Member of the European Parliament, EPP Group, OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Head of Mission

Alejandro Moledo, Deputy Director European Disability Forum (EDF), PWD rights advocate

Noémie Arcidiacono, President Agora Election Observation, Youth CSO leader 16.40 Q&A Session

17.10 Closing remarks

Re-watch HERE

Webinar 2

The webinar "Transparency in European Elections" provides an overview of the state of knowledge on transparency and targeting of political advertising in the European Parliament elections. Particular attention will be given to upcoming regulations to political advertising, algorithms-led online campaigning, disinformation, and monitoring of social media.

Special emphasis is placed on:

• What are the main changes for political advertising from the 2019 to the 2024 European elections?

• How are the envisaged reforms enhancing transparency of political competition across the EU Member States?

• What measures are envisaged to avoid bias against women and minorities of algorithm-led online campaigning?

• Which are the most effective measures to counter disinformation and information from malicious actors from inside and outside the EU?

• Which strategies and methodologies are envisaged to monitor social media networks and platforms and their compliance with the new EU regulations during the 2024 European elections?

AGENDA

16.00 Welcome and introduction to SEEEDS

Armin Rabitsch, Chairperson Election-Watch.EU

Status quo on political advertising regulation in the EU

Fernando Hortal Foronda, Digital Policy Officer, European Partnership for Democracy

16.10 Input Statements

Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament, Greens/EFA

Edvin Hasangjekaj, Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU, current EU Presidency

Francesco Sciacchitano, AGCOM Senior Legal Officer and Chair of the ERGA Task Force on Political Ads

Eliska Pirkova, Europe Senior Policy Analyst and Global Freedom of Expression Lead; Access Now

16.40 Q&A Session

17.10 Closing remarks

Re-watch HERE

Webinar 3

Elections to the European Parliament (EP) are regulated by the national legislations of all 27 Member States as well as EU-level regulations. When looking at the issue of political party finance and campaign spending, there is a variety of regulatory approaches across the EU.

During this webinar, we will disentangle the regulatory jungle between the EU and national levels and look at how discrepancies in political finance oversight can affect equality of opportunity and transparency in the European elections.

We will focus on enforcement mechanisms that have been developed at both levels:

• The firewall between EU and national level legislation concerning how European political parties can be funded and can participate in the elections;

• The role of the EU in promoting best practices among Member States concerning accountability in the political finance sphere.

The discussion builds upon the findings and recommendations made in the study published by SEEEDS’s project partner the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) “PUZZLING RULES – EQUAL GAME? - Comparing political finance regulations across the EU”.

AGENDA

16.00 Welcome and introduction to SEEEDS

Kira Mössinger, Program Manager of the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) 16.05 Panel discussion

Moderator: Alexander Shlyk, International Election Expert, former Head of the Election Department of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (Co-author of the EPDE study)

Panelists:

Lina Petronienė, Head of the Division of Political Parties and Political Campaigns Funding Control of the Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania

Barbara Jouan Stonestreet, Senior Legal Expert with the French National Commission on Campaign Accounts and Political Party Financing (CNCCFP) (Co-author of the EPDE study)

Quentin Reed, Political Finance Expert engaged in research on national provisions affecting European political parties and European political foundations

Shari Hinds, Policy Officer on EU Political Integrity at Transparency International EU 16.40 Q&A Session

17.10 Closing remarks

Re-watch HERE

Webinar 4

This webinar provides an overview of the state of knowledge on inherent risks and opportunities arising from the European Parliament elections.

Particular attention will be given to the implications of the rule of Law crisis, matters of media freedom as well as disinformation and cyber-attacks.

Beyond these topics, the webinar content will be determined by the results of a survey that the consortium will run for two weeks via newsletter and social media channels and which will determine the main risks and opportunities of the target audience. Furthermore, the webinar session will be structured with the help of a digital co-working board to which the live-audience can contribute to, to guide the panellists in the discussion.

AGENDA

16.00 Welcome and introduction to SEEEDS

Mr Michael Meyer-Resende, Executive Director, DRI

16.05 Introduction of the panel by the moderator, presentation of the results from the survey

Ms Amanda Coakley, Senior Staff Reporter, Coda Story

16.10 Input statements and commenting on audience contributions via digital board

Ms Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Islandic Diplomat, Former Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,

Ms Sabrina Spieleder, Team Leader, Policy, strategy and global priority issues, European External Action Service.

Ms Camino Mortera-Martinez, Head of the Brussels Office, Centre for European Reform,

Professor Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law, HEC Paris.

17.00 Q&A Session

17.25 Closing remarks

Re-watch HERE

SEEEDS is a project implemented by Election-Watch.EU, the European Partnership for Democracy, Democracy Reporting International and the European Platform for Democratic Elections EPDE.

These webinars are co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of SEEEDS and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.