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You vote once every five years. What about the other 1825 days?
Every five years, Europeans walk to the polls and choose the people who will represent them in Brussels and Strasbourg. It is an important moment — but it is also a single moment. Between one European election and the next, 1825 days unfold. And during those days, thousands of decisions are quietly being shaped: the food on your plate, the air you breathe, your rights online, the future of your job, the way public money is spent. A ballot cast years ago cannot speak to all of them.
So how to make your voice heard in between elections? Hot to make institutions and elected representatives keep listening to you?
Lobbies, organised interests and well-funded networks don’t wait for elections — they show up every day. The good news is that you can show up too.
The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is the EU’s official tool of direct democracy: a megaphone that lets ordinary people place an issue directly on the European agenda. No party membership required, no political career needed. Just an idea, seven citizens from seven different countries to start, and the commitment to gather one million signatures across the Union within a year. If the threshold is met, the European Commission must listen, the European Parliament must hold a public hearing, and a formal response is to be provided.
This isn’t theory. It’s already happening and has already happened in Europe with concrete examples.
Thanks to Right2Water initiativie, EU law now imposes higher water quality standards and improves access to safe drinking water in public places, with cities adding fountains in parks, stations and schools.
End the Cage Age brought together almost 1.4 million Europeans demanding the end of cage farming for hens, sows, and rabbits — and the Commission committed to phase it out.
More recently, Stop Destroying Videogames became the 14th successful initiative, with a public hearing held at the European Parliament on 16 April 2026, forcing Brussels to confront the digital rights of consumers whose legally purchased games can be remotely switched off.
In last months, My Voice, My Choice mobilised over 1.1 million Europeans calling for safe and accessible abortion services across the Union, ensuring that no woman is left without care because of where she lives. The initiative was formally submitted to the Commission and brought the issue of reproductive rights firmly onto the EU agenda — a powerful reminder that bodily autonomy is a European concern, not just a national one.
Some are pushing for stronger democratic guardrails — like the call for ethics, transparency and integrity for European political parties. Others address the geopolitical fault lines of our time, with one initiative asking the EU to phase out harmful and useless Russian imports and another demanding the full suspension of the EU–Israel Association Agreement in light of the situation in Gaza, which has already crossed the one-million-signature threshold.
There’s a campaign for a European Public Social Network as a public-interest alternative to commercial platforms, and one to protect stray dogs, stray cats and animals in shelters across the EU.
The most recent, registered on 25 March 2026, focuses on sustainable and accessible transport. And for those who feel that European identity is built also from small symbolic gestures, EU Stars On My Passport (STAR-PASS) invites Member States to add an optional EU-themed cover design to national passports.
Each of these campaigns has only twelve months to reach the one-million threshold. Each of them needs roughly two minutes of your time.
Pick the cause that resonates, provide a few basic details through the Commission’s secure, privacy-focused system, and you’re done. Starting one takes a little more courage and a few friends across borders, but the path is open to anyone.
Democracy is not something that happens to you every five years. It is something you practise on the other 1825 days. Be proactive about European policies — or accept that others will gladly decide in your place.
Explore the active initiatives or launch your own by visiting the the Official EU portal accessible by clickin here.
Your idea could be the next chapter of Europe’s story.
