Europe Day statement

On Europe Day, we celebrate not simply a political union or an economic project, but a democratic vision founded on peace, participation and solidarity among peoples.

At the heart of that vision lies an essential principle: democracy is not sustained by institutions alone. It survives because people believe they still have a voice.

Today, across Europe and beyond, that principle is under growing pressure.

We are witnessing the gradual weakening of independent voices, the erosion of trust in public institutions, the narrowing of civic space and increasing doubts among many people that democratic systems are listening closely enough to their concerns.

This matters deeply.

Democracy cannot be measured only by elections or economic growth. It depends upon whether people feel included, respected and heard between elections. It depends upon whether citizens believe they can still shape the future of their communities and societies.

That is the space occupied by organised civil society. And it is precisely why the founders of Europe embedded civil society into the institutional architecture of the European project itself.

When the 1957 Treaty of Rome established the foundations of what would become today’s European Union, it recognised something remarkably farsighted: Europe required more than governments and markets. It required workers, employers, farmers, cooperatives, voluntary organisations, community groups and many other civil society representatives, together with citizens themselves, to have a structured voice in Europe’s future.

That vision became the foundation of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). The place of the Committee within the Treaty structure was never symbolic. It was democratic insurance – a recognition that Europe could not thrive if decisions were detached from the lived realities of its people.

That principle has never been more important than it is today.

International reports continue to warn of democratic decline, growing pressure on civic organisations and weakening press freedom across many parts of the world. Public debate has become harsher and more fragmented. Too many people increasingly feel disconnected from decision-making structures that appear distant from their everyday lives.

At the same time, poverty, inequality and exclusion continue to affect millions of Europeans. Many rural communities feel left behind. Young people question whether opportunity remains accessible to them. Economic insecurity continues to undermine confidence and social cohesion.

In this environment, civil society is not an optional addition to democracy. It is one of democracy’s essential foundations.

Civil society organisations are often the first to recognise hardship long before official systems respond. They see poverty before statistics record it. They understand exclusion before policymakers debate it. They hear the concerns of workers, carers, migrants, families, older people and isolated communities before frustration hardens into alienation. In short, it provides vital early warning. 

More importantly, they help deliver solutions. Every day across Europe, organised civil society supports vulnerable families, strengthens communities, protects dignity, develops rural regions, promotes inclusion and rebuilds trust where it has been weakened.

No democratic society can afford to weaken the networks that sustain its social fabric. This understanding has shaped the mandate of my presidency of the EESC.

Europe must never become a place where policy is only delivered to people from above. It must remain a Union where people actively shape the future themselves.

That requires recognising civil society not merely as a stakeholder, but as a democratic pillar.

The many challenges facing Europe today – including the climate transition, artificial intelligence, geopolitical instability, demographic change and widening inequalities – will require not less participation, but more.

The EESC has a unique responsibility in this moment. It remains one of the few institutional spaces where employers, workers and wider civil society come together to search for common ground and practical solutions. At a time of increasing division and polarisation, that role matters enormously.

Europe does not need fewer civic voices. It needs stronger ones. It needs renewed confidence that participation matters. And it needs to remember the wisdom of its founders: democracy survives not through power alone, but through participation, dialogue and solidarity.

On this Europe Day, we should reaffirm a simple but vital truth: When people lose their voice, democracy itself begins to fade.

Protecting and strengthening that voice may be one of the most important democratic responsibilities facing Europe today.