You encounter Europe everywhere, actually. And yet it's not really present for many people. Well, what's the reason for that?

You buy something on the Internet? Europe regulates that these purchases are under a certain protection. We can travel without border controls. There is a single currency. No complicated conversion, as in the past.  Clean drinking water? Water quality at bathing beaches? Minimum social standards?  No carcinogenic substances in cosmetics? Europe takes care of that, too. My educational qualifications are recognized in other European countries. Student exchanges run smoothly. The EU sets standards for equal treatment in labor law. And it is a guarantor of peace and human rights.

Existential fears

Nevertheless, there are more and more Europeans who have existential fears. Unemployment in the southern countries of Europe is very high, especially among young people. Many have worries. They feel that their concerns are not understood. The distance between politics and people is growing. How interested is one side in the other? How do people deal with each other? Things are not always going in an exemplary manner. What if people no longer perceive Europe? What if Europe is no longer accepted by the people?
How can we solve global problems?

Right-wing populists are already trying to tap into people's fears and occupy the empty spaces that arise. How? With overly simple answers to very complex questions: They call for a return to the nation-state: Each country should look after its own interests again, they say. Will this solve global problems such as water and resource scarcity, the energy question, environmental protection and global warming?  In countries where right-wing populists and extremist-oriented parties are in power, they are eroding basic human rights step by step: There, not everyone is allowed to say what he thinks. Freedom of the press is being restricted. Legal security for every individual, a precondition for our democracy, is in danger where the separation of powers is abandoned.

Peace has never been with us for so long.

Shortly after World War II and the Nazi rule with its cruel and inhuman methods, two arch-enemies of history, Germany and France, finally joined hands and made a friendship pact to turn the tide. They broke the spiral of violence. There was a spirit of optimism. The leaders of the countries sat down at the same table. Europe was founded to support each other, to move forward better together and, above all, to secure peace. And indeed: never before in the history of our country has there been peace for so long at a stretch as since then. We want it to continue.

Reinventing enthusiasm for Europe

If something is to continue as it is, then we have to change something. Eliminate what is not going well. We need new ideas that will ensure togetherness and peace in the future. And we need some of the old enthusiasm, the earlier spirit of optimism for Europe. How could it look today? What could trigger it?

For this, we need your contributions and suggestions. It's about your life and ours. About our future. Everyone is important!

Europe is also me. And to ensure that this gets across, here's what we do:

We are the bridge to politics

We transport your contents and demands to the decision makers, so that your ideas will be heard and considered!