---
title: DiEM25
type: movement
status: active
country: EU
website: https://diem25.org
logo: /assets/org-logos/diem25.png
summary: A pan-European political movement founded by Yanis Varoufakis in 2016, calling
  for radical democratisation of EU institutions through transparency, a transnational
  constitutional assembly, and coordinated progressive politics across member states.
concepts:
- direct-democracy
- democracy
- liberal-democracy
location:
  latitude: 50.8503
  longitude: 4.3517
  name: Brussels, Belgium
  precision: city
news_page: https://diem25.org/news
rss_feed: https://diem25.org/news/feed
events:
- date: '2016-01-01'
  title: Launched by Yanis Varoufakis and Srećko Horvat as a pan-European progressive
    movement in Berlin
  url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_Europe_Movement_2025
  quote: The movement was officially launched at ceremonial events in 2016
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: true
- date: '2017-03-25'
  title: First pan-European convention in Rome, adopting the founding declaration
  url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_Europe_Movement_2025
  quote: on 23 March in Rome
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: false
- date: '2019-05-26'
  title: Contested European Parliament elections with a transnational list across
    multiple member states
  url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_Europe_Movement_2025
  quote: established an electoral list for the 2019 European Parliament elections
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: true
activity:
  dod:
    checked: 2026-08-08
    date: 2026-08-08
    note: 'News page source fetched 8 Aug 2026; active publishing — latest: Yanis
      Varoufakis on Brexit/Project Smear (3 Aug), ICE-ification of Europe (5 Aug),
      MERA25 Berlin campaign launch for Sep 2026 elections'
    url: https://diem25.org/news/
  rss:
    date: 2026-08-17
    note: RSS feed active
    url: https://diem25.org/news/feed
    checked: 2026-08-17
  scrape:
    checked: 2026-06-08
    date: 2026-06-04
    hint: bot_blocked
    note: Latest news page scraped
    url: https://diem25.org/news
last_checked: '2026-08-08'
---

DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement 2025) was founded by economist and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis in 2016, with the stated goal of democratising the European Union before it disintegrated — the "2025" being an original deadline, since passed. The movement has since evolved into a sustained transnational political organisation with chapters across Europe and affiliated national political parties: **MERA25** (MeRA25), operating in Germany, Greece, Italy, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Varoufakis continues to publish regularly on the site.

## Why it's notable for democracy watchers

DiEM25 is one of the few serious attempts to build a *transnational* democratic movement that addresses the legitimacy problem of supranational institutions. Most democracy reform work operates within national borders; DiEM25 grapples directly with the harder question: how do you democratise institutions like the European Central Bank, the Eurogroup, or the IMF that are structurally insulated from electoral accountability?

Their proposals include radical transparency for EU institutions, a pan-European constituent assembly, and coordinated cross-border political action — acknowledging that national-level democratic reform is insufficient when key decisions are made at a level that no national electorate can reach.

## Position and caveats

DiEM25 has explicit left-progressive political positions — anti-austerity, pro-redistribution, sceptical of establishment liberalism. It is a political movement with a platform, not a nonpartisan research organisation. We monitor it here because the structural questions it raises about transnational democratic legitimacy are genuinely important regardless of one's views on its specific policy positions.

## Links

- Website: [diem25.org](https://diem25.org)
- News: [diem25.org/news](https://diem25.org/news)
- X: [@DiEM_25](https://twitter.com/DiEM_25)
- YouTube: [DiEM25](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnMk-6Brd8rVEKWSWkwsWUg)
- Bluesky: [@diem25.bsky.social](https://bsky.app/profile/diem25.bsky.social)

## See also

- [Direct Democracy](../concepts/direct-democracy.md)
- [Democracy](../concepts/democracy.md)
- [Liberal Democracy](../concepts/liberal-democracy.md)