Our analysis of the 'Have Your Say!'' platform revealed challenges in accessibility, transparency and outreach.

The Portal2EU team found that the platform is difficult to use and have full access to users without technical or specialist knowledge, lacked transparency in several key aspects, did not have proper accommodation for marginalised and/or underrepresented demographics, and did not engage the general public. To address these issues, Portal2EU proposes measures to improve the user friendliness of the interface, maximise citizen participation

Among our recommendations, we advise the following:

• comprehensive guidelines about public consultations should be created for users. They should include essential information from EU public consultation guidelines reproduced in simplified language comprehensible for an ordinary citizen;
• the platform should be simplified to respond to the needs of ordinary citizens, using generally accessible language and offering guidance for search filters;
• further accessibility measures include creating readable overviews of documents that summarise the essence of the proposal in all official EU languages;
• to improve access for citizens with disabilities, an accessibility toolbar and combination of textual and visual formats should be introduced on the 'Have Your Say!' platform;
• IT improvements should include the introduction of an AI content moderation tool, alternative bot-prevention tools, and the addition of points of contact on each initiative and information on the reason for delay;
• solving low participation rates requires broad outreach to society at large and targeted outreach to those age, economic, and social groups with historically low participation levels in digital formats. This can be supported by a combination of increased collaboration with national institutions and civil society organisations to improve general awareness of the platform.

Enhancements in both conceptual and technical aspects related to accessibility, transparency, and engagement will establish a platform that can reach a wider audience. This, in turn, will facilitate increased civic participation among European residents, leading to a European Commission that is better equipped to address the needs of the public. By achieving this, the 'Have Your Say!' platform has the potential to become the central pillar of a more democratically resilient and prosperous EU.

Our report is available in two formats! You can find the link below to download the report, or in the next section a link is avaiable without downloading!

• Download a PDF of our official report in this link
• Download a more lightweight PDF of our report in this link