JEF Finland has compiled the SpeakEU dictionary, which explains 101 concepts related to how the EU works, while also showing everything the European Union encompasses and what its institutions are trying to do for Europeans. Understanding EU discourse and how the European Union works makes it easier to keep up with what’s currently happening in the EU.
““The dictionary is a great tool for raising awareness of how the EU works and for encouraging young people, in particular, to get involved in building an even better European Union“, comments JEF Finland’s President Risto Rajala.
Terms, concepts, and processes relating to the European Union – and sometimes to politics and society more broadly – can be difficult to grasp, and in the worst case, they can even raise the barrier to democratic participation. Citizens of the EU have the opportunity to influence the future of the whole of Europe through various means of democratic participation, yet well under half of young Europeans vote in European Parliament elections.
“Over time, the EU’s network of institutions has become highly complex, which can raise the barrier to influencing decision-making. This barrier needs to be lowered so that everyone’s voice can be heard. With this dictionary, we want to encourage young people to have a say in their own future, and especially in what the European Union will look like going forward”, comments JEF Finland’s President Risto Rajala.
This dictionary is part of JEF Finland’s SpeakEU project, funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ Europe Information programme. It is freely available to everyone to use, copy, and share. The concepts are presented in alphabetical order, and the entries also include most of the alternative terms used for them. Descriptions of concepts may also refer to other concepts explained elsewhere in the dictionary; these words are marked with underlining. It is a dictionary for everyone, but above all, it is a dictionary by young people, for young people.
Explore the dictionary here!
For more information:
Risto Rajala
President
+358 40 0563080
[email protected]