Oli Henman was Co-Ordinator of the European Citizens Consultation held in York in March 2007, and covered extensively by openDemocracy.
As we prepare for the Tomorrow’s Europe deliberative poll, let’s compare this process with the first Europe-wide participatory process, the European Citizens’ Consultations (ECC) that was held earlier this year.
Both of these processes come under the European Commission’s Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue & Debate, supported by Commissioner Margot Wallstrom; and they both attempt to provide new ways for European citizens to relate directly with the European Union, towards greater participation. This reflects a change at the European level, a recognition that it is time to engage in a more open debate; no-one would have predicted that in 2007, there would be not one but two Europe-wide opportunities for citizens to have their voices heard!
So how do the two processes compare?
Each provides a different facet of the same question, how to find out what citizens want and how they may get more involved in the choices facing government, broadly within the area of participatory democracy.
In terms of how each process was structured, the ECC included a much longer process. Running over 8 months from October 2006 until May 2007, it began with an initial Agenda-Setting Event in Brussels where 200 citizens from all EU countreis were given the choice over the subjects to be discussed subsequently in all the member states. This was follwed by National Consultations in all member states over February-March before the Final Consultation in Brussels in early May to coincide with Europe Day. Each county’s event was organised by a national partner and the number of citizens involved varied from 30 up to 200 in each country of the EU. The intial Agenda-Setting Event and Final Consultation included participants from all member states and ensured citizens of all nationalities participated equally in developing the final decisions. In total over 1,500 people were involved.
Although the Deliberative Poll of Tomorrow’s Europe is a one-off process with 400 citizens, rather than a series of events, there are certain similarities. It employs a method that requires a random cross-section of participants, who are provided with independent, impartial material to consider; they work through each topic area by phases, with small group discussions before returning to plenary sessions. It appears that there are similarities with the technique of inviting a representative cross-section of people from all EU member states and working through each topic in small groups, before returning to plenary discussion, this was also the pattern followed at all the National Consultations of the ECC.
There are of course clear differences in method but perhaps most important, is the difference in aims of each event. Deliberative polling is focused purely on the change that occurs in participant’s opinions. This aims to demonstrate how peoples views may be changed through the provision of impartial new information. It is a process to show policy-makers how people think about an issue but it is not an attempt to allow citizens to reach a decision themselves or even at co-decision making with government. In this process the decision-making is still entirely in the hands of the political actors, it provides an analysis of changes in thinking but appears not to address the fundamental question of empowerment.
So deliberative polls aim to inform but not make decisions; the ECC on the other hand worked through key topics chosen by citizens to develop their own recommendations to policy-makers. Participants of the ECC were put in the place of policy-makers and were able to choose and develop clear statements of priorities that reflected the diversity of the participants. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that all the choices are followed by the European Parliament or Commission but given that one of the key recommendations focsed on tackling climate change, it is notable how the EU has begun to take this issue seriously. At a recent ECC follow-up event, organised by the European Citizens Action Service in Brussels on 3rd October there was considerable political will to allow citizens greater decision-making power within the EU, have a look at the video.
Whatever the specific process employed, whether deliberative poll, citizens consultation or participatory assembly, the opportunities for citizens are growing and in all these approaches the citizen is the winner, with more participation. There is an opportunity to consolidate participatory democracy in Europe but there remains a need for greater awareness, so that the number of citizens involved increases; leading to a more informed citizenry and ever more representative views that should be considered before all key European decisions.
