The European Citizens’ Consultations, involving 1,800 citizens in all 27 EU Member States in the debate over Europe’s future, have provided a new way to reconnect the public with the Union and added a new dimension to the EU debate, speakers agreed at an EPC Policy Dialogue in collaboration with King Baudouin Foundation and Compagnia di San Paolo. The consultations revealed that citizens want ‘more Europe’ not less, in tackling issues related to family and social welfare, energy and the environment, and immigration and Europe’s global role.

EPC Governing Board Chairman Antonio Vitorino said the European Citizens’ Consultations (ECC), which involved some 1,800 citizens in all 27 Member States in the debate over Europe’s future, was a truly innovative project that reached “the heart and soul” of EU citizens. It gave a new dimension to the idea of citizen participation in the European project, by informing and empowering them.

He stressed that the EU institutions needed to ‘unite’ the citizens with Europe: not just by keeping them informed, but also by encouraging them to participate in the debate and listening to what they had to say. The added value of the ECC exercise was that it was ‘bottom up’ and this approach could add a “new dimension to our political life”.

Gerrit Rauws, Director, King Baudouin Foundation (KBF), said new narratives were needed for the EU to “capture the imagination”. This is what the ECC had set out to do.

In these Consultations, which were organised by a network of 31 partner organisations led by the KBF and including the EPC, 1,800 European citizens from across the EU had met to discuss what they wanted from Europe and what role the EU could play in responding to their concerns.

The process started with an ‘Agenda Setting Event’ where citizens decided on the three topics to be addressed, followed by interlinked national consultations in every Member State over a two-month period, and ending with a meeting of citizens in May to synthesis the results, agree the final report and hand it over to EU policy-makers.

Mr Rauws said policy-makers should take the report seriously, because it was based on discussions between citizens chosen at random who were “not the usual suspects”, had been organised by an EU-wide network of independent organisations, and had used “state of the art” tools to overcome barriers of language and geography and facilitate the deliberations.

The Consultations had been inclusive, transparent and open to public scrutiny. “We are convinced that large-scale deliberations should find a place among the different tools and consultation processes which have been developed,” he said.

Citizens’ three major priorities

On behalf of all the citizens who took part in the process, three of them then presented the key recommendations made in each of the three areas discussed: the family and social welfare; environment and energy; and immigration and Europe's global role.

Helen Duffett, a British citizen and a full-time mother of four, outlined “the importance of social and economic conditions for Europe’s families”.

The citizens concluded that the EU should play a bigger role in producing a more social Europe, as its strength lies in its people. They agreed that Member States should retain prime responsibility for social and economic policies, but said the EU should set minimum standards to allow people to reconcile family life and careers. The EU should ensure non-discrimination and equal pay for equal work; guarantee accessible, dignified, high-quality and affordable health care; and set high standards for education, compatible degrees and opportunities for life-long learning and exchange programmes.

Danny Casteleyn, a Belgian student of cultural anthropology, outlined the citizens’ recommendations on “the environmental and economic impact of Europe’s energy use”. The citizens stressed that climate change and energy security cannot be dealt with on a national level alone and the EU therefore needs stronger powers to develop a common energy policy, and they want Member States to live up to the commitments they make at the European level.

They also want the EU to be a world leader in clean, safe and sustainable energy; to set standards and binding targets; and to create a common energy grid. Europe should reduce its dependency on energy supply from non-EU-countries, set guidelines and common objectives to protect the environment and punish infringements.

Personal responsibility should be encouraged through education and awareness- raising, and funding for environmental research should be increased; transportation systems should be made more environmentally friendly; and financial incentives introduced to reduce energy consumption.

Silvi Teesalu, an Estonian citizen and leader of the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, set out the citizens’ recommendations on “the EU in the world and the management of immigration”.

Citizens wanted the EU to have a common foreign policy that can effectively promote peace and the respect for human rights on the global stage. They view diversity as an “added value” for Europe, and a wealth to be preserved and appreciated.

Recognising the link between managing immigration and Europe’s role in the world, the citizens favour a two-pronged European approach: controlling immigration through a joint immigration policy and improved border controls, while increasing development aid and using enhanced trade to raise standards in developing countries, to reduce the incentive for people to emigrate.

The citizens believe that migrants living in Europe must observe EU laws, and the rules and values of their host countries, as well as learning the language. At the same time, Member States and the EU should ensure that migrants enjoy equal rights and opportunities, and have access to education and work.

Overcoming the ‘democratic deficit’

Alojz Peterle MEP, former Prime Minister of Slovenia, began by commenting wryly that the EU’s new Member States had looked forward to joining the club and participating in European democracy, but had found that the Union suffered from a “democratic deficit”. He believed that the ECC had found one way to address this problem.

The results of the Consultations showed that Europe’s citizens wanted “more Europe” in relation to social and family policy, energy policy, and the common foreign and security policy. This implied that the EU should increase its competences in energy, and family and health issues, as well as improving the application of current measures.

Focusing on one of the citizens’ priorities - family and health issues - the former Slovenian Prime Minister said that as a cancer survivor, he shared their increasing concerns about health - particularly as one in three Europeans will get cancer during their lifetime. He noted that survival rates currently vary from country to country, with those in New Member States less likely to be cured.

Mr Peterle welcomed the fact that European citizens want a more equal Europe, since Europe’s future depends on citizens working together.

Anne Sophie Parent, Director of AGE, the European Older People’s Platform, said her organisation had successfully lobbied the Convention for the Future of Europe to ensure the Constitutional Treaty included a social dimension.

She believed these consultations were an “interesting pilot project”, with conclusions that provided a useful lobbying tool for NGOs. She also urged the citizens to make sure that all those involved in deciding on a new treaty to replace the ill-fated Constitution were aware of their report.

Ms Parent felt it would be a positive move for the EU to deal with family issues, despite its lack of ‘competence’, and welcomed the launch of the European Alliance for Families, instigated by the German Presidency. She hoped this would encourage Member States to exchange information and views about family policies, and gain ‘added value’ by pooling resources and ideas.

Unfortunately, some initiatives, in health care and other policy areas, were currently only being discussed among politicians. The citizens’ recommendations would therefore be useful to put pressure the EU to involve civil society in those discussions.

Improving on ‘old fashioned methods’

European Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström said the ECC exercise complemented the Commission’s efforts to engage with civil society, and added a new perspective and depth to its contacts and consultations with citizens.

She stressed that as well as developing policy through the “old-fashioned method” of negotiating between governments, citizens should be involved in the process and every Member State should engage them in public debate about the issues.

Ms Wallström said she had informed her colleagues in the Commission about the ECC, only to discover that her colleagues already knew about them because many attended the national consultations in their own country or had read about them in their national media.

Manuel Carvalho, Councillor for Institutional Affairs, Portuguese Permanent Representation, said the Consultations were a “real expression” of how to make contact ordinary people, and he praised the process for allowing citizens’ voices to be heard. However, he suggested that it should go a step further, with citizens asked to make political choices about allocating resources to match their priorities.