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Time to act on the Future of Europe …

Time to act on the Future of Europe …. www.act4europe.org. Participatory democracy in the European Union: challenges for EU and national NGOs Riga, 20.04.06. NGOs organise themselves in the EU Current EU approach to civil dialogue Next steps and challenges.

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Time to act on the Future of Europe …

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  1. Time to acton the Future of Europe… www.act4europe.org

  2. Participatory democracy in the European Union: challenges for EU and national NGOs Riga, 20.04.06

  3. NGOs organise themselves in the EU • Current EU approach to civil dialogue • Next steps and challenges

  4. NGOs organise themselves in the EU

  5. Growing impact of the EU for NGOs • Diversity of NGOs throughout Europe. - Provision of services and practical resources - Political advocacy • Growing impact of EU for NGO concerns. - Increasing EU competences environment, social. policies, public health, migration... - Role in implementation of EU policies (programmes).

  6. NGOs organise Themselves at EU Level Different channels (mostly since 90s): • Setting up of EU office of national NGOs (e.g. Polish NGO Office in Brussels) • EU branch of international NGOs (e.g. Amnesty International, Save the Children, OXFAM…) • Umbrella organisations (e.g. European Anti-Poverty Network, European Environmental Bureau) • Sectoral platforms (European Social Platform, CONCORD- development, HRDN, Green 10…)

  7. WHAT do European umbrella networks do? They represent Members / constituencies / topics on a political level by: • Collecting information and channeling it between EU and National level • Lobbying EU institutions (policy and position papers, meetings, press releases) • Contributing to capacity building on many levels

  8. 2) Current EU approach to civil dialogue

  9. What is Civil Dialogue? • Civil Dialogue ( Social Dialogue) as structured contact with EU institutions • Dates back to early 90s (democratic deficit, need for better policy-making) • Civil society contributes to bridging gap between EU and citizens, to a better and more inclusive policy-making: -Legitimacy -Expertise

  10. Civil Dialogue: in practice • Different types of consultations: • Biannual meetings (Commission, European Parliament) • Hearings • Expert groups, consultative committees • Stakeholder forums (European Health Forum) • Public consultations (http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice/) • Structured relations = tip of the iceberg: importance of less formal contacts (“lobbying”)

  11. Civil Dialogue: key developments • 2001:White Paper on Governance: acknowledges the specific role of civil society • 2002:Minimum Standards on Consultation of Interested Parties • 2002:Communication on Impact assessment • 2004:Constitutional Treaty: article 47 acknowledges participatory democracy

  12. Main features of the current civil dialogue framework • Commission - focused, no single framework for all institutions: lack of rationalisation? • Wide definition of civil society (incl. socio-economic actors) • No accreditation but a database (CONECCS) • No representativity criteria • Not binding • Article 47 of the Constitutional Treaty : more comprehensive approach

  13. 3) Next steps and challenges

  14. Challenges: EU institutions • Respect of time limits (June 2005: 9 out 40 public consultation less than 6 weeks) • Diverse levels of dialogue across policy fields (environment  culture) • Improving access to consultation • Ensuring a horizontal approach on cross-cutting issues • Need for increased transparency (e.G. Expert groups) • Balance between stakeholders (e.G. Public/private interests) • Does it really matter? Improving feedback • Take dialogue with NGOs seriously

  15. Challenges: EU NGOs • Improving awareness about existing participatory tools • Enhancing mutual knowledge and trust with EU institutions • Sharing information and coalition building • Reaching out « beyond Brussels » (to the national and local level) • Involving members from the New Member States • Capacity building

  16. Challenges: national NGOs • Lack of resources (specialised EU officer) • EU-related activity: implementation of programmes rather than policy work • Different levels of knowledge /technical skills required • Finding the right balance: devolving to EU network, participation through EU network or direct participation?

  17. Next steps • Transparency initiative(consultation between May and August 2006) • White Paper on Communication (consultation until July 2006) • Period of reflection on the Constitutional Treaty (ongoing)

  18. Questions for debate • How to make the participation of national networks more effective? • Which type of tools/resources are needed? • Which lessons can already be drawn from 2004 enlargement?

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