To Build Europe We Need Citizen Lobbyists

it won’t be the thousands of citizens’ dialogues orchestrated by the EU Commission across Europe over the summer that will re-engage EU citizens with Europe... There are an estimated 30,000 corporate lobbyists operating in Brussels, dominating the EU policy process. While NGOs have increasingly been included in EU policymaking... under-staffed ... struggle in connecting with citizens... what then, realistically, can the role of citizens be in a multi-level and largely indecipherable European Union?...
we need to foster a participatory culture by connecting highly-educated and purpose-seeking European citizens with the existing and numerous avenues of participation... A citizen lobbyist ... without remuneration, picks a cause she deeply cares about and advocates for it... complements rather than undermines representative democracy.