The ELF “Liberal messages for Europe” project included 13 civil consultations in Bulgaria and Romania, held over the course of two months at the beginning of the summer. The events aimed to discuss the pressing EU challenges from citizen’s point of view and to help the liberal parties position themselves better at the upcoming European Parliament elections. The third event in Bulgaria took place on 03 July 2018 in the city of Veliko Tarnovo.

The active participation of the attendees resulted in high quality of discussion with lots of shared examples, issues, and results. In the first part, the participants brainstormed on the national contribution to the EU and the mutual benefits brought through the process of integration in the Union. In order to set the ground for a well justified discussion about the future of the EU, the moderators provoked a discussion about the current EU challenges. Amongst all the topics discussed, the recent migration wave and Brexit were ranked of the highest importance. These are developments, which will affect the community in a longer term and proactive policies addressing them and their consequences need to be agreed upon and implemented. Otherwise, populists and Europe-unfriendly trends could easily prevail and capture the European agenda.