Should the EU strengthen its defence policy? And does it make sense to promote renewable energies, even if this could lead to higher energy costs? These and other questions are the focus of the upcoming EU parliamentary elections from 6 to 9 June, to which more than 400 million people are called to vote. Those who are still undecided will soon be able to use the EU&I digital decision aid. The app will be launched on 9 May and will help people to find out to what extent their personal views on 30 different statements match the positions of the parties standing for election.
This year, two young researchers from the University of Mannheim helped to develop the digital tool, which was already used in 2014 and 2019: David Schweizer, a doctoral student at the Center for Doctoral Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences (CDSS) and Milena Rapp, a doctoral student at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and the CDSS. Both have analysed the positions of the parties running for office in Germany and determined how they stand on issues such as renewable energies, migration and European integration.
„Based on the election programmes for the European elections, we positioned all relevant parties on various political issues, such as European integration, migration and environmental issues,“ says Milena Rapp. „The special thing about the app is its inclusive and pan-European focus,“ continues Rapp. „It is available in all EU languages. It also allows users to compare their own political preferences not only with the parties in their own country, but also with parties from all other EU countries.“
The EU&I election orientation app is being developed under the leadership of the Italian European University Institute (EUI) and will be available for browsers and smartphones from 9 May 2024. More information is available here.
The original article published in German is available here.