Vera Jourova

Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency

Biography

Věra Jourová is currently Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency and deals with democracy, rule of law, media pluralism and fight against disinformation. From 2014 to 2019, she served as EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. In 2014, before arriving to the European Commission, Ms Jourová held the position of Minister for Regional Development in the Czech Republic. Previous to this, from 2006 to 2013, she worked in her own company as an international consultant on European Union funding, and was also involved in consultancy activities in the Western Balkans relating to the European Union Accession. She holds a Degree in Law (Mgr.) and a Master's degree (Mgr.) in the Theory of Culture from the Charles University, Prague.

Organisation

European Commission

Speaker session

(UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris

24/10 - Day 2

11:30 - 12:30

Session 8 : European dimension of elections

Closed session

Closed

Closed session

TOPIC: European elections continue to be dominated by debates over national issues. Voters are not always clearly aware to which EU party a national political party is affiliated. Different measures are implemented to reinforce the European dimension of EU elections, including measures to reinforce the voting rights of EU mobile citizens. Exchanges will address elements fostering the European dimension of the elections including in the context of electoral processes and explore measures bringing EU citizens closer to EU decision-makers, contributing to an engaged citizenship.

SPEAKERS:

Gabriele Bischoff, Member of the European Parliament
Maarten Vink, Chair in Citizenship Studies at the European University Institute (EUI)
Assya Kavrakova, Executive Director at the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)

MODERATOR: Enrico Forti, Director for Interinstitutional Relations at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission

Interventions by Members of the European Cooperation Network on Elections

Enrico Forti

Director

Gabriele Bischoff

Member of the European Parliament

Assya Kavrakova

Executive Director

Maarten Vink

Chair in Citizenship Studies

Assya Kavrakova

Executive Director

Brussels

Biography

Ms. Assya Kavrakova is the Executive Director of the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) - http://www.ecas.org/ - an international non-profit association, based in Brussels, with a pan-European membership and more than 30 years of experience in empowering citizens to exercise their rights and campaigning for an inclusive, transparent and democratic Europe. With twenty five years' experience in senior management positions leading national and international teams of experts and NGOs, Assya has thorough knowledge of the European Citizenship, EU law, EU structural and Cohesion Policy, Schengen regulatory framework, EU external policy decision-making, EU enlargement policy and leverage, European Rights framework, EU civic participation formal and informal mechanisms. She has an extensive knowledge of SEE civil society and regional development issues and in-depth knowledge of the post-accession state of affairs in the ten new member states from CEE. Keen promoter of digital empowerment of citizens, with a forward-looking attitude towards digital democracy and digital management, Assya has a Certificate of the Solvay Brussels school of Economics and Management for a QiLeader (Leading authentically in digital times) and is acknowledged as one of the 21 Digital4Development influencers to be followed in 2021 by the European Digital Development Alliance. She is a member of the Chancellery of the European Citizen's Prize of the European Parliament 2020 - 2024. Assya Kavrakova is also a member of the Board of EUobserver - https://euobserver.com/ - a not-for-profit, independent online newspaper.

Organisation

European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)

Speaker session

(UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris

24/10 - Day 2

11:30 - 12:30

Session 8 : European dimension of elections

Closed session

Closed

Closed session

TOPIC: European elections continue to be dominated by debates over national issues. Voters are not always clearly aware to which EU party a national political party is affiliated. Different measures are implemented to reinforce the European dimension of EU elections, including measures to reinforce the voting rights of EU mobile citizens. Exchanges will address elements fostering the European dimension of the elections including in the context of electoral processes and explore measures bringing EU citizens closer to EU decision-makers, contributing to an engaged citizenship.

SPEAKERS:

Gabriele Bischoff, Member of the European Parliament
Maarten Vink, Chair in Citizenship Studies at the European University Institute (EUI)
Assya Kavrakova, Executive Director at the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)

MODERATOR: Enrico Forti, Director for Interinstitutional Relations at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission

Interventions by Members of the European Cooperation Network on Elections

Enrico Forti

Director

Gabriele Bischoff

Member of the European Parliament

Assya Kavrakova

Executive Director

Maarten Vink

Chair in Citizenship Studies

Tanit Elisabeth Sophie Koch

Member of the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity (TCEI) Columnist and Investor of The New European

Berlin

Biography

Tanit Koch is a journalist, moderator and communications consultant. Until 2018 she was editor-in-chief of Europe's largest newspaper BILD, then served as managing director of the German tv news channel ntv and as editor of the integrated newsroom at commercial broadcaster RTL. She advised CDU candidate Armin Laschet on communications during the German electoral campaign 2021.

Tanit writes the weekly column "Germansplaining" in The New European. She studied in Pamplona, Tübingen, Paris, Cologne and Stanford and holds degrees in law and political science. She is a member of the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, founded in 2018 by Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Michael Chertoff, former US secretary of homeland security. In 2023 she joined the advisory board of the newly-founded Center for News, Technology and Innovation (CNTI). In other news she's a mediocre farmer, aspiring guitarist and enthusiastic tennis-player.

Organisation

The New European

Speaker session

(UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris

24/10 - Day 2

11:30 - 12:30

Session 8 : European dimension of elections

Closed session

Closed

Closed session

TOPIC: European elections continue to be dominated by debates over national issues. Voters are not always clearly aware to which EU party a national political party is affiliated. Different measures are implemented to reinforce the European dimension of EU elections, including measures to reinforce the voting rights of EU mobile citizens. Exchanges will address elements fostering the European dimension of the elections including in the context of electoral processes and explore measures bringing EU citizens closer to EU decision-makers, contributing to an engaged citizenship.

SPEAKERS:

Gabriele Bischoff, Member of the European Parliament
Maarten Vink, Chair in Citizenship Studies at the European University Institute (EUI)
Assya Kavrakova, Executive Director at the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)

MODERATOR: Enrico Forti, Director for Interinstitutional Relations at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission

Interventions by Members of the European Cooperation Network on Elections

Enrico Forti

Director

Gabriele Bischoff

Member of the European Parliament

Assya Kavrakova

Executive Director

Maarten Vink

Chair in Citizenship Studies