European Citizens' Conferences
The European Citizens' Conferences are the first public participation project that gave citizens of all 27 EU Member States the opportunity to debate the future of Europe .
Between October 2006 and May 2007, over 1,800 citizens in 27 countries held discussions in the 23 official languages of the EU. Professional recruitment companies or universities selected the participants at random and using specific criteria so that the participants reflected the diversity of the EU ( representativeness ). At European and national level, they exchanged views, developed common ideas about the future of Europe and passed their recommendations on to political decision-makers.
The process was funded and implemented by an independent European consortium of foundations and non-profit organizations. The Belgian King Baudouin Foundation was in charge of the project in cooperation with the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS), the European Policy Center (EPC) and the Network of European Foundations (NEF).
Project phases
Agenda setting event
The project was opened with the agenda setting event in Brussels on October 7th and 8th, 2006. 200 randomly selected citizens from all 25 member states discussed the overarching question “which Europe do we want?” And set the agenda for the following national debates. They determined three future European topics with a clear vote:
- Energy and environment
- Social and family
- Immigration and the EU's global role
In November 2006, two planning cells assessed what information the participants in the national conferences needed in order to have a fruitful discussion .
National consultations
At the heart of the dialogue were the National Citizens' Conferences - simultaneous debates in all 27 member states. From February to March 2007 the question was “what is needed to make this Europe a reality?” The talks were based on the three topics mentioned above. The Citizens' Conferences exchanged their results and impressions and thus enabled a cross-location European dialogue.
As part of these conferences, an event with around 200 citizens took place in Germany on February 24 and 25, 2007 in Berlin . As in all 26 other countries, the result was a national citizens' declaration. Together, the 27 citizens' declarations formed the basis for the final conference.
Closing event
On May 9th and 10th, 27 citizens' representatives from all 27 member states met in Brussels to highlight their common ideas , but also their different views on the three core issues in their “European Citizenship Declaration” . The result was presented to political decision-makers from all institutions of the European Union. In a subsequent European round table , the citizens were able to discuss their results with the Vice-President of the European Commission , Margot Wallström .
Follow-up events
The final event also marked the beginning of the follow-up process. In Germany alone, the results of the national consultation were further discussed and deepened in 15 local citizen forums. Follow-up activities were and are still taking place in other countries, such as 39 local debates in Belgium or various discussion cafes in Slovenia , as well as numerous presentations and press conferences with politicians .