Communication, Facts and Regulation for Europe
Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence FREuDe

FREuDe aims to research and stimulate interest in the role of current and potential regulation processes of European Democracy within the context of “post-truth” politics, the dissemination of misinformation and the rise of social movements. What are the possibilities and new challenges for the European Democracy as a future in the making, within the new context, where truths based on experience and facts that have construed Europe are being contested by communication practices of mis-and disinformation, bias, prejudice and intention,  on a global scale? What is the impact of the “new” “tribalist” tendency of the post-fact environment for democracy in the EU? How has misinformation put the EU under siegeand what are the possibilities of change? Can a way out of this be with the youth and even children? Does misinformation touch the lives of children and young people in what they consume on social media or at home and do “we” as society and polity cater for their news and informational needs- and by extension, their informational and citizenship rights?

The project aims to intervene for positive future social change that derives from the commitment and intellectual input across disciplines, such as Sociology, Law, Education, Childhood and Youth studies, European studies and Politics, as well as Communication scholarship and Security studies. 

FREuDe, JOY

FREuDe, a play with the German word “Joy” and connected to the EU Ode to Joy Anthem, aims to address the question from the perspective of future autonomous citizens, today’s children, and explore closely the ways in which information and Europe feature in their lives.

The Jean Monnet Communication, Facts and Regulation for European Democracy (FREuDe) Centre of Excellence aims to 

• stimulate new forward thinking with regards the role of facts and place of regulation for securing a future democratic Europe
• generate new research and policy-oriented thinking about integration on the basis of informational rights and enabling informational environments across disciplines not traditionally involved in studying Europe: 
• develop new agendas for research, policy and teaching across disciplines and across stakeholder communities
• provide an impetus for future oriented thinking, by researching the needs and perceptions of Europe’s future autonomous citizens, young people and in particular children for factual information in and about Europe
• mobilise knowledges and competencies of a range of experts and especially aiming to “hear from” stakeholders which have historically been permitted least input to questions of right to accurate and comprehensive information as a civil and human right