Vox Populi: Agnes Darabos from Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

1. What are your expectations/hopes from these elections?

Generally, I am hoping for a high voter turnout across the EU, as the political right of voting is the most important instrument for European citizens to decide on the politicians who will shape the EU in the upcoming five years. Luxembourg is particular in the sense that voting is not only a right of the citizens, but also an obligation. Luxembourg will vote to choose its six Members of the European Parliament. In the cycle of 2014-2019, Christian Socialists (CSV) have had three of the seats, while the Greens, the Socialists (LSAP), and the Democrats (DP) had one seat, respectively. Based on the experiences of the recent parliamentary elections, I predict a more proportional distribution of the seats among the parties.

 

 

2. Do you/people in your member state still have faith in the EU to deliver?

As I experience, in Luxembourg, one of the founders of the EU, people have high confidence not only national institutions (i.e. parliament and government), but also in the EU, and support the values on which the EU has been established. In other words, Luxembourg and its society is stable in the sense of supporting the EU and ‘the European idea’. I believe that strengthening the democratic bases of the EU (i.e. creating a stronger common ground for the Member States) is the answer for many of the issues the EU has been facing recently. A crucial part of this is participation. We vote, we choose, and those we choose will have the chance and the responsibility to bring the EU forward to the direction of a stronger democratic framework.

3. Will you be voting? If so, who for (if you are willing to say)?

Yes, I will vote, because I believe that our opinion matters. Democracy is most importantly about the citizens, and so is the EU!

 

 

4. Tell us some very brief persona/biographical details about yourself?

I am a Hungarian-born Luxembourgish resident. Currently, I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Luxembourg / Aix-Marseille Université in political science. My research field is the quality of democracy in the EU.