Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Brussels in new drive to seduce EU citizens

  • "We must consult citizens,” says commissioner Wallstrom (Photo: European Commission)

The European Commission on Wednesday (2 April) presented a new plan aimed at increasing EU citizens' involvement in the decision-making process of the 27-nation bloc, as well as making it more popular.

Dubbed "Debate Europe", the initiative is part of the commission's so-called Plan D – a concept put forward in 2005 to boost the EU's public image after the No votes to the EU constitution in France and the Netherlands.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Presenting an update of the plan, communications commissioner Margot Wallstrom said the context now, three years later, was "very different" from 2005.

"It is not anymore about the failed constitution or the reflection period [that followed]," as now the objective is more to effectively involve the citizens into EU decision-making, she said.

"We must consult citizens [because] when we do, we have a better political agenda and a better political result."

"Debate Europe" will have a budget of €7.2 million which will be used to fund a number of civil society projects.

It will, among other things, establish 'European public spaces', where exhibitions, debates, seminars and training sessions on EU matters will take place and involve EU officials in activities at regional and local levels in the different member states.

The commission will also try and boost its "Debate Europe" website. Launched at the end of January, it has gathered some 12,000 posts by EU citizens so far – something Ms Wallstrom called a "big success".

But in addition to its goal to involve citizens in decision-making, the EU is also still aiming to make itself more popular.

Referring to next year's European Parliament elections, an event regularly marked by low voter turnout, the commission said: "We try to change the perception that EU matters are too abstract and disconnected from the national public debate to be of interest to the citizens, and we want to overcome the divide between national and European issues."

She also underlined that launching the new initiative did not mean that one of Plan D's principal objectives – to make the EU more democratic – would be abandoned.

"It's ironic, isn't it, that 50 years after the foundation of the European Union, we are still discussing democracy and how can we become more democratic," she said.

"A lot more" could indeed be done to improve democracy within the EU, as "decisions have moved up to the European level, but the political debates, the media reporting and so on, are still mainly national," Ms Wallstrom noted.

Opinion

Debate Europe!

The European Commission has decided on the follow-up actions to Plan D. We call these next steps "Debate Europe", because we want trans-national consultation of citizens to become a permanent feature of EU democracy, writes Margot Wallström.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  2. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  3. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  4. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  5. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  6. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  7. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  8. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us