Can a group of strangers solve Europe’s biggest problems?

Can a group of strangers solve Europe’s biggest problems?

From The Europeans | European news, politics and culture by Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer

April 2, 2026 · 45 min

About this episode

The episode explores the workings and impact of European Citizens' Panels aimed at addressing major EU issues.

If you got a knock on your door from someone inviting you to Brussels to hash out some EU policies…you’d think it was a scam, right? Us, too. At least, that was the case until last week, when our producer Wojciech went to report on a European Citizens’ Panel, an event designed to allow 150 randomly selected Europeans to weigh in on some of the EU’s thorniest problems. This week we’re taking a deep dive into the ins and outs of what seems like the nerdiest game show ever. How do these panels work? What do they actually achieve? And crucially, are they worth the cost? Resources for this episode: European Citizens’ Panels EU Citizens’ Engagement Platform Maybe you’re tuning in this week and thinking, “Wait, where’s Good Week, Bad Week?” To that we say: Have you heard about our newsletter? GOOD WEEK BAD WEEK is available for free on Substack and offers everything you love about the podcast, plus a few extra memes and internetty things. Try it; we think you’ll like it. This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with Euranet Plus , the leading radio network for EU news. But it’s contributions from listeners that truly make it all possible—we could not continue to make the show…

People in this episode

Hosts: Katy Lee, Dominic Kraemer

Topics covered

  • EU policies
  • citizen engagement
  • European politics
  • public opinion
  • democracy

Keywords

  • European Citizens' Panel
  • EU policies
  • citizen engagement
  • democracy
  • public opinion

Sponsors

Euranet Plus

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: European Citizens’ Panels, EU Citizens’ Engagement Platform

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