Eurostat (2017) reveals that 25 per cent of European Union (EU) citizens aged 16 or over have a long-term disability; in the Portuguese case, the population affected is even higher (33 per cent). However, despite the fact that the EU put accessibility and the promotion of the rights of people with disabilities at the top of the agenda back in 2010 (1st Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - EDPD), this group continues to face serious obstacles in accessing various fundamental areas of life, including participation in political life (Union of Equality: EDPD 2021-2030). Another study, by Inclusion International (2014), also revealed that more than 70 per cent of people with intellectual disabilities did not participate in political and public life, so this is a group particularly affected in terms of democratic exclusion. For their part, and despite the long and ongoing discussion about the lack of democratic participation among young people, recent data shows that, for the European elections, less than half of Portuguese young people voted (‘Youth political participation in Portugal: Results of an online survey and focus groups with young people’, 2022, Univ. Católica Portuguesa). This data shows the serious problem of the exclusion of young people with and without disabilities from democratic participation processes, particularly in Europe, and so D&I was created precisely to mitigate this problem by actively involving young people with intellectual disabilities who attend the partners' regular activities in its preparation and implementation, for the benefit of their peers, with and without disabilities, who are marginalised from democratic life. Thus, the identification of needs stemmed first from the literature review on the causes of the low participation rate among people with intellectual disabilities, which are probably explained by the multiplicity of barriers to participation in political and public life that they face, such as legal, informational, attitudinal and procedural barriers and facilities (Political Participation of Persons with Intellectual or Psychosocial Disabilities, 2021, UNDP). Transposing this data into the reality that the consortium knows well, as well as cross-referencing it with difficulties shared by young people without disabilities, resulted in the following needs: i. Increased political literacy Evidence shows that people with disabilities have lower levels of internal efficacy, political interest and electoral performance (European Social Survey, 2015). If internal efficacy is defined as confidence in one's own ability to understand political facts/processes (knowledge), but also to successfully influence politics (behaviours and attitudes), then political literacy contributes to the development of democratic participation skills. This is a gap that doesn't just affect young people with disabilities, as many young people consider that they have low levels of knowledge about the EU and how decisions made at that level affect/influence their daily lives (Thematic Report of the VI Cycle of Structured Dialogues, 2018). ii. Removing stereotypes and stigmas The widespread belief that people with intellectual disabilities don't deserve to vote because they are not competent to do so explains the lack of investment in empowering them at this level. As well as being antithetical to the notions of democracy (‘one person one vote’), there are no standards that can be fairly defended to define ‘competence’, so it is a subjective issue with discriminatory impacts. In turn, all young people end up being victims of this prejudice, generally considered to be ‘unfit’ due to their lack of life experience and knowledge, which is quite evident, for example, in the resistance to lowering the voting age below 18. iii. Access to information In order to participate in democratic acts (e.g. elections), it is essential that citizens have reliable information. However, we know that this information is often not presented in an accessible and inclusive way, but rather in technical and elaborate language that is difficult for people with intellectual disabilities to understand, but also for many young people without disabilities. In order to mitigate these barriers to young people's European democratic participation, the specific objectives of the D&I were: -To create opportunities to develop European democratic participation skills (political-democratic literacy, self-confidence, etc.) for young people with and without disabilities; -Contribute to combating stereotypes of the political incompetence of young people and, in particular, people with disabilities; -Developing and disseminating inclusive and accessible information on European citizenship. Taking advantage of the European elections, which took place roughly halfway through the project, the project focussed initially on electoral participation and then on other forms of European democratic participation.