Susanna Knab has been working in the European Parliament for the past 14 years. Dedicating years of her life to aid representatives to pass legislations and laws that benefit the citizens of the European Union (EU). The parliamentary assistant is well dressed and there is a lightness in the way she carries herself, someone sure of themselves and their capabilities, but still inviting. Susanna is moving her hands apart from one point to the next to imitate the intricate process a proposal has to go through to make it to parliament, foreshadowing her experienced perspective on connecting with citizens across Europe.
The three P’s; The Parliament, the press and the public
The parliamentary assistant emphasises the commission’s efforts in bridging the gap between government institutions and its citizens. While trust in the EU has been steady and increasing even, Eurostats data shows that trust in national governments within the EU is declining. Susanna Knab is empathizing with citizens scepticism recalling a recent discussion in the media that in her view, emphasises growing citizens scepticism: ”I understand that people are losing trust if you just have like somehow ridiculous discussions on things that don’t really have a huge impact or are sold like […] should veggie burgers be called burgers or not?”
While listening to her humorously explain this instance, one cannot help but also be amused by the discussions that make it into the news. The recent debate she refers to was about banning plant based products being labelled as burger or meat, due to it harming the meat industry and endangering farmers livelihood.
As she recalls the press coverage one can sense her frustration. She continues;” [it is] important for the press to also strengthen the trust”. Susanna notes that in the same week as this debate the parliament passed a resolution on Gaza that was barely mentioned in the media. Anna Cavazzini, a politician from Germany was quoted by the BBC stating that while the world is burning the european union has nothing better to do than debate about “sausages and schnitzel”.
While such criticism is understandable, Susanna points out that the passing of legislation in parliament is a complex process, “ [journalists should] start a discourse here and not just bash the EU, which is also taking place a lot at the moment” In her experience, she states that for citizens to regain trust in the government that there need to be better communication and relations between the press and the EU is needed.
What is the EU doing to make voices heard?
When asked about the difficulties of working together with colleagues from different nationalities Susanna expresses that while it can be challenging at times, “we are really united in diversity”. All of the people working in the European Union represent different voices and citizens, as much as views might differ as she states, very diplomatically, that they were democratically elected, hence communication and compromise is essential.
When members of the public don’t feel represented by their elected officials they turn to other methods such as citizen inquiries or pleas. This is a common occurrence that Susanna is familiar with, what comes to her mind first are the most frequent causes such as sustainability or animal welfare, “there are a lot of people contacting us saying please vote against it” referring to different laws.
Susanna values the dedication of these citizens and emphasises that what we need is “input from stakeholders, from companies, from citizens, from national governments, everyone can participate in this consultation procedure”.
The lack of awareness about the accessibility of governmental information is a topic that is particularly important to her. She notes that a great deal of information is readily available for citizens to inform themselves, yet it is rarely used. To strengthen connections with communities parliament tours are being offered to achieve closer relations to the public. The obtainability of giving common people an insight into the parliament, aims to debunk the myth of politicians being unreachable, thereby bridging the gap between institutions and the public. These pathways among others are being utilised by the European parliament to build community and make sure voices are heard.