recommendation not to cure the ills of democracy by more of the same, but develop it further. Accordingly, a progressive vision of democracy has to further develop existing democracies by making them more inclusive and offering new avenues for civic engagement. This is especially crucial for the EU’s political system, where representative democracy in a transnational political system still faces major deficits which need to be ad­dressed. To do so, the discussion made the following concrete recommendations: → Invest in civic education: Progressive forces should increase the funding for civic education. Citizen edu­cation must be improved on all levels, with a special focus on current challenges to democracy, as dis­cussed before. These should also make use of new dissemination channels on social media to reach ad­ditional target groups. → Develop new instruments for civic engagement: Currently, new forms of political participation seek to involve more citizens and strengthen grassroots-level participation. Progressive forces should therefore re­form existing representative democracies and add complementary instruments of civic engagement. → Enhance the EU’s democratic legitimacy: The trans­national character of EU democracy is still underde­veloped. To strengthen this cross-border dimension, progressive forces should support transnational lists and the concept of“Spitzenkandidaten” to enhance the legitimacy of European elections and encourage further reforms. → Promote economic democracy: Civic participation is not limited to the political sphere. Progressive forces should therefore promote democracy and civic partic­ipation in other areas of life, most notably in the workplace, where the role of trade unions needs to be reinforced. → Develop inclusive patriotism: Right-wing extremists are promoting negative patriotism. To reach people outside their own constituencies, progressive forces should reclaim national symbols and develop inclu­sive patriotism based on pluralism, diversity, solidari­ty, freedom and political and workers’ rights. → Leading, not following: Progressives should develop bold new ideas to reimagine European democracies and move forward. About the author Julian Plottka , Dipl.-Pol., is a Scientific Senior Project Manager for the Horizon Europe project‘InvigoratEU – Invigorating Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy for a Resilient Europe’ at the Institut für Europäische Politik(IEP). He is also a Re­search Associate at the Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Passau, where he is pursuing his doctorate on strategic cultures. His research focuses on institutional reforms of the EU, its democratic legitimacy and Germany’s EU policy, as well as the EU’s relations with Central Asia and the South Caucasus states. He regularly advises European and German institutions on his research topics. Previously, he worked as a Research Associate at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and as a Senior Researcher at the Institut für Europäische Politik in Berlin. Imprint Published by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. Godesberger Allee 149 53175 Bonn Germany info@fes.de Issuing Department Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung| European Union& Global Dialogue| Brussels Office| Rue du Taciturne 38| 1000 Brussels| Belgium https://brussels.fes.de/ Responsibility for Content and Editing Marco Schwarz| Policy Officer| Democracy & Rule of Law, EU Enlargement marco.schwarz@fes.de Contact democracydialogue@fes.de Design/Layout pertext| corporate publishing www.pertext.de The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES). Commercial use of media published by the FES is not permitted without the written con­sent of the FES. Publications by the FES may not be used for electioneering purposes. November 2025 © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. Further publications of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung can be found here: ↗ www.fes.de/publikationen European Union& Global Dialogue Brussels Office 4 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.