Will citizens be informed or consulted about the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe? Will they even have a direct influence on the decisions made?
These are the words of the Bertelsmann Stiftung – a German foundation and think tank – on the role that Europeans will play in this conference.
The European Parliament was keen to include citizens, calling in particular for the organisation of citizens’ agoras (see EUROPE 12404/1). The Commission, too, has stressed the importance of getting in touch with as many European citizens as possible (see EUROPE 12407/10). But how?
“That has not been answered so far”, says Dominik Hierlemann, expert for the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Future of Democracy Programme. For its part, it proposes three models in which citizens could be involved.
The first, based on the experience of the Citizens’ Consultations of 2018, would imply that each State would organise its assemblies and that in parallel, a transnational assembly would be set up. The second provides for transnational citizens’ assemblies, some of which would be thematic, to take place at different stages of the Conference. Under the third model, finally, European citizens and politicians would participate in the conference in the same assemblies on an equal footing.
“We have been talking for more than two or three decades about involving citizens more. It has never happened in the past. The EU has mainly focused on selling the EU better to its citizens. The approach has never been political”, he deplores, assuring however that this Conference is an opportunity to change things.
Mr Hierlemann welcomed in particular the Commission’s desire to use digital tools, but said that the Conference should not turn into a “communication exercise”.
The expert is also concerned that, for the time being, he does not see any proposals for follow-up to the Conference. The negative point, according to him, “is that it is still not clear what the ambition of this exercise is”. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki – intern)