Conference given my María Jesús Garcia of the Department of Administrative and Procedural Law of the Universitat de València and member of the Jean Monnet Chair for Services of General Economic Interest in the framework of social and territorial cohesion (SIEGE).

Increasing democratic participation of citizens has been a constant throughout the evolution of the European Union. The progressive expansion of the EU cosmos has made the distance between the citizens, around whom the EU orbits, and the decision-making institutions more evident, accentuating the perceived democratic legitimacy deficit that has been attributed to this supranational organisation since its origins. To make amends, the European Union has turned to democratic participation, first through the mechanisms of representative democracy and the direct election of Members of Parliament by citizens, and then by articulating collaborative mechanisms embedded in the realm of so-called participatory democracy.

Activity organised jointly with the Jean Monnet Chair for Services of General Economic Interest in the framework of social and territorial cohesion (SIEGE).