As the EU seeks new ways of involving its citizens in the debate about future policies, one project continues to bridge the gap between decision makers and citizens: the European Citizens Consultations ECC 2009 will bring together randomly selected citizens from all 27 member states to debate the EUs role in shaping the social and economic future of Europe.
ECC 2009 is part of an ongoing process to further develop citizens participation and consultation mechanisms. It builds on the success of the award-winning European Citizens Consultations 2007, the first deliberation amongst citizens from all over Europe.
A group of more than 40 independent European foundations, NGOs, universities and think tanks will implement the consultations with a co-funding from the European Commission.
The results of the ECC 2009 will provide a truly relevant input into the decision makers as a new parliament and a new commission take office.
Margot Wallström, Vice President European Commission :
I see my job in the Commission as giving citizens a voice. And this is what we are trying to do here. I think this is a fantastic thing. And we will definitely listen to the voices of all these people gathered here.
At the heart of the project, the national citizens consultations involve 1.500 randomly selected citizens representing the diversity of the population. 27 identical 2-day events will be held simultaneously in 9 countries on 3 weekends in March 2009.
Professional facilitators lead citizens through a deliberation and dialogue process which ensures that all voices are heard.
Input is given by the public through 27 national website discussions preceeding the events with the top ideas as a the starting point for the national debates.
In each country, a list of 10 recommendations is drawn up at plenary and table discussions.
Weekend events are supported by modern technology and will be interlinked in order to ensure an exchange of opinions and views between citizens from different countries.
All recommendations will be synthesized and voted on by all participants of the 27 national consultations in an internal web discussion and by postal vote.
Ten percent of those participants will be invited to attend the European Citizens Summit in May 2009.
On the first day of the European Citizens Summit, participants will finalise their recommendations in a true European debate, held in 23 languages.
On the second day, representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council, the European Social and Economic Committee, and the Committee of the regions, as well as European parties will be invited to react to the recommendations and discuss them with the citizens just a few weeks before the European elections.
During the Swedish presidency, a series of follow-up dialogues will take place at European and regional level in the late summer and autumn of 2009, addressed to the new Commission, the new members of Parliament and the Council, as they prepare strategies for Europes social and economic future.
ECC 2007 received an extraordinary amount of media attention across Europe. In particular, stories of individual citizens experiencing Europe like they never have before.
Over the next years, the ECC will continue to pioneer a new way for the EU to involve its citizens.
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