Making the EESC the facilitator and guarantor of participatory democracy activities including structured dialogue with civil society organisations, and citizens’ panels

On May 9, 2022, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) completed its work. In the proposals of the CoFoE on European democracy, the objectives of increasing citizens’ participation and strengthening the structures for participatory democracy and deliberative actions were put forward.

The idea of civil society, even if it is recognised as a fundamental and guiding principle of a given legal order, in fact has little importance without the establishment of specific institutions to make it a legal reality. This view has also been followed by European Union (EU) legislation, singling out the European Union citizenship and its constitutive element thereof, such as the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States or electoral rights. The creation and functioning of EU bodies such as the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR) is also an expression of the idea of European civil society.

Having the important role the EESC is playing already now and the results of CoFoE in mind, the  main objective of the study “Making the EESC the facilitator and guarantor of participatory democracy activities including structured dialogue with civil society organisations, and citizens’ panels” is to explore different options that could provide a blueprint for institutional reform to best serve the EESC’s purposes. The study will provide a set of conclusions on different possibilities and recommendations for policymakers to be taken into account in the EESC, both within existing institutional settings and in the potential situation of a Treaty reform. CASE team will also look at examples of the selected National Economic and Social Councils (NESCs) to enhance the study.

Client: The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

Project coordinator: Magdalena Wiśniewska

Experts: Agnieszka Kulesa, Jan Bazyli Klakla, Karolina Zubel