Asociacion Backslash

EU Legislative Interests

Backslash is setting up a pan‑European network of young advocates for democratic participation, building on the legacy and follow‑up actions of the European Year of Youth (2022). Our aim is to strengthen youth civic and electoral participation, improve young people’s access to EU decision‑making, and equip them with advocacy, communication and organisational skills so they can meaningfully contribute to EU policies that affect them. To achieve these goals, we seek accredited access to the European Parliament and other EU institutions in order to: - Organise meetings and roundtables with MEPs, political groups, relevant committees and intergroups on youth participation, democratic resilience and civic space. - Contribute to public consultations, hearings and rapporteur outreach on files that touch youth engagement, education for democracy, digital participation and electoral inclusion. - Present evidence and youth‑led recommendations drawn from our transnational network to EU policymakers and services. - Facilitate study visits and capacity‑building sessions in Brussels/Strasbourg for our young advocates, ensuring all interactions comply with the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory Transparency Register (2021) and the Register’s Code of Conduct. Policy areas / EU initiatives followed: youth policy and participation; democratic resilience and civic space; education for citizenship; the follow‑up to the European Year of Youth 2022; and parliamentary work related to increasing youth turnout and representation. Our activities specifically respond to the evidence on low and uneven youth participation in European democratic processes and aim to channel structured youth input into EU deliberations.

Communication Activities

A multi‑country, multilingual campaign designed to Engage, Connect and Empower young people in line with the EU Youth Strategy 2019–2027 and the legacy of the European Year of Youth (2022). Tactics include: social media storytelling (TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, Discord), micro‑influencer partnerships, interactive quizzes on EU participation tools (e.g., ECI, public consultations), myth‑busting content on disinformation, and pop‑up info points at youth festivals and EU Youth Week events. Outputs & KPIs (illustrative): number of languages covered; total youth reached/engaged; video views and completion rates; % of participants reporting increased knowledge of EU participation channels; traffic driven to consultations or petitions; sentiment and misinformation correction rates (aligned with the European Democracy Action Plan pillars on participation, media freedom and countering disinformation).

Interests Represented

Does not represent commercial interests

Member Of

Backslash is member of the following European networks: -CONNECT International - https://www.connect-international.org/ -PRISMA European Network - http://www.prisma-network.eu/ -European Network of Innovation for Inclusion http://www.europeannetforinclusion.org -Anna Lindh Foundation - https://www.annalindhfoundation.org/

Organisation Members

Backslash is an independent NGO without a membership base. It has no member organisations and no affiliated entities (subsidiaries, foundations, controlled networks or similar structures) to declare under this heading of the Transparency Register. This complies with the Register’s guidance, which simply requires registrants to state “none” where no such relationships exist. We are in the process of creating a European network, but BACKSLASH is not it.