Let’s celebrate the International Day of Parliamentarism!
On June 30th, we celebrate the International Day of Parliamentarism
[https://www.un.org/en/observances/parliamentarism-day#:~:text=The%20International%20Day%20of%20Parliamentarism%20is%20celebrated%20every%20year%20on,which%20the%20IPU%20was%20founded.],
a day dedicated to reviewing the key achievements of parliaments and
recognising the progress in becoming more representative and modern.
This includes initiatives like involving more women and young Members
of Parliament (MPs), adapting to new technologies and carrying out
transparent self-assessments.

Parliaments continue to serve as the foundation of democracies and
ensure that the voices of all people, especially the most vulnerable,
are heard and cared for. Their role includes representing the
people’s voice, passing laws, holding governments accountable and
allocating funds for the implementation of laws and policies.

In the European Union, the European Parliament represents the voice of
EU citizens through elections held
[https://www.europarl.europa.eu/at-your-service/en/be-heard/elections]
every five years. This is the EU’s only directly elected
institution, with 705 Members of European Parliament (MEPs) elected by
EU citizens to safeguard the EU decision-making process. The number
of MEPs elected in each country depends on the size of the
population, with smaller countries receiving a proportionately higher
number of seats. The next elections for the European Parliament
[https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/package/european-elections-2024_23001]
and its respective MEPs will take place in 2024. 

Open data initiatives can help citizens in making informed decisions,
for example with the use of EU Integrity Watch
[https://www.integritywatch.eu/]. This platform leverages open data to
inform society about the different decisions made within the European
Parliament. This central hub provides online tools that allow
citizens, journalists, and civil society to monitor the integrity of
the decisions made. The platform collects and harmonises data, making
it easily accessible  and increasing transparency and quality of
access to EU decision-making.

Open data can help citizens stay informed about parliamentary
decisions and integrity. Do you want to explore more open data
initiatives that support democracy? Watch the recording of the recent
data.europa academy [https://data.europa.eu/en/academy] webinar
‘Stories of use cases: Open data and a new push for European
democracy’
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxCQHKUly44&list=PLT5rARDev_rknM6hDfssgSCS6aUxE70eF&index=27],
consult the slides
[https://data.europa.eu/en/academy/stories-use-case-observatory] or
find interesting use cases on our website
[https://data.europa.eu/en/publications/use-cases?keywords=democracy&country=All&region=All&sector=Government+%26+Public+Sector&sort_by=field_publication_date_value&sort_order=DESC&items_per_page=10&keywords=&merged-select=field_publication_date_value&items_per_page=10].


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Publication Date/Time
2023-06-30T08:00:00+00:00
Honoring progress, representation and open data in democracy