Brussels, 10/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - Aside from its current composition (employers, workers, other interests, such as representatives of agriculture, SMEs, craft, liberal professions, etc), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will, in future, be supported in its work by civil society in the broadest sense, including those not represented within it (NGOs, amongst others), said EESC President, Roger Briesch, at a press lunch in Brussels. He said: "the strong involvement in our work of organised civil society which is not represented in the Committee shows the EESC's political will, and has been the strong point of my presidency".
This problem was the subject of a report by Jean-Michel Bloch-Lainé on "Structured co-operation with civil society organisations and networks" (see EUROPE of 2 March, p.18). This report served as a basis for discussion at the conference on participative democracy, organised by the EESC on 8 and 9 March (see EUROPE of 18 February, p.18). Presenting his report to the press, Mr Bloch-Lainé noted in particular that "it is not a case of trying to replace representative democracy with participative democracy", but "the citizens' commitment cannot be limited to voting at elections". Mr Bloch-Lainé said that he was convinced that "the development of participative democracy, which is still finding its feet, can boost representative democracy", and believes that the EESC "has a lot to learn from the people on the ground". Following the work, Professor Beate Kohler-Koch (University of Mannheim) noted the need to "communicate" Europe (because the citizens are totally disconnected from it), and to mobilise civil society resources. As for the role of the EESC, Ms Beate Kohler-Koch said that the Committee should be "the initiator of European participative democracy", whilst re-defining its functional position within the European institutions, and stressing social partnership.
"You chose the concept of participative democracy well, and took care not to compare it to representative democracy", stressed Jacques Delors (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.4). Struck by "the steps forward over the last few years", President Delors noted that the draft Constitution (articles 46 to 51) will be the reference. In the Bloch-Lainé report, the Committee is committed to civil dialogue, but, said President Delors, "in no way does the Committee aspire to the monopoly on NGO representation. However, there must be somewhere where (...) civil society can be allowed to speak", said Mr Delors. He feels that it is a case of talking about the "hygiene of participative democracy": first of all, "the door must not be closed to new NGOs, because our society lives, develops, sometimes warns us of coming tragedies. Therefore, new groups appear; then, social dialogue must be preserved and even stimulated". However, he warned: "excessive concertation kills concertation (...). There is no democracy without looking for simplicity". "The associative world in the broad sense weaves the fabric of European democracy", said the former Commission President, stressing that we must "rehabilitate politics." At the same time, he wondered "What is the EU's plan, today?" On the forthcoming "great enlargement", Mr Delors was at pains to be reassuring, saying: "this is an historical opportunity and a pleasure".
Thanking Jacques Delors, "a moral reference, a committed man, our friend", Roger Briesch noted that "the Committee is where, together, we do the summing up so to have genuine legitimacy vis-à-vis the public decision-makers", and that "on behalf of the vast majority of us", he was going to call upon the Heads of States of Government to "make a gesture and accept the text of the Constitution".