The European Commission wished to consult citizens before the 2009 elections. It instructed the King Baudoin Foundation to organize a minipublic in Belgium with 49 citizens drawn by lot who must deliberate on the role of the EU in the economy and society in a global world.
Problems and Purpose
In order to mobilize European citizens before the European Parliament elections in June 2009, the European Commission launched a project for European citizens' consultations. This aimed to bring together citizens of the 27 Member States around the following question: "What can the European Union do to shape the economic and social future in a globalized world?" 27 national citizens' panels were organized in March 2009, bringing together a total of 1,605 citizens drawn by lot. The terms varied from state to state.
Background History and Context
The 2009 European Citizens’ Consultation began with a pan-European online debate, followed by the national panels, and ending with a final deliberation phase in Brussels.
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The King Baudouin Foundation coordinated the entire process. The recruitment of participants was harmonized at the European level: a Belgian company (B&B Consulting) was responsible for the coordination and control of operators from the different Member States.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Criteria of age, gender, level of education and geographical distribution are used in the draws. Specific criteria can be added by Member States; for Belgium, it is the mother tongue of the participants (24 French-speaking, 25 Dutch-speaking and 1 German-speaking).
Methods and Tools Used
Deliberation and sortition were used for the national panel phase of the European citizen consultations.
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
The Belgian national panel was organized by the King Baudouin Foundation. It brought together 49 of the 50 citizens drawn by lot, who gathered at the NH Grand Sablon hotel (Brussels) on Saturday, March 14th and Sunday, March 15th, 2009. The process alternated between discussions in small groups and in a plenary session. In addition, an interaction with other participatory processes taking place simultaneously in Europe is organized on the afternoon of March 14th. The weekend ended with a final vote on recommendations by participants.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The recommendations were then presented to four Belgian politicians: the MEP and former Prime Minister, Jean-Luc Dehaene (CD&V), the European Commissioner and former Deputy Prime Minister, Louis Michel (MR), the senator and former Deputy Prime Minister Isabelle Durant (Ecolo), and Flemish Minister Kathleen Van Brempt (SP.A), all four of whom were candidates for the European elections to be held in June 2009. A debate on the recommendations made was organized between these four individuals and the participants in the consultation. A closing ceremony was held at the end of the day at the Egmont Palace, in the presence of the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karel De Gucht (Open VLD), also a candidate for the upcoming European Parliament election.
In addition, the outputs of the 27 national citizens' panels were to be brought together and debated online by all the citizens who took part in them. This would result in 15 recommendations, which would themselves be debated in May 2009, at a summit in Brussels bringing together participants from the 27 national processes. The final recommendations thus obtained would then be discussed by MEPs and opinion leaders at regional conferences organized in five Member States in autumn 2009. A closing event was to also be organized in Brussels, bringing together political decision-makers, stakeholders, and the media, with the results being communicated to the European Commission.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
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See Also
The 2009 European Citizens’ Consultation
The 2006 European Citizens’ Consultation
References
The original submission of this case entry was adapted from Vrydagh, J., Devillers, S., Talukder, D., Jacquet, V. & Bottin, J. (2020). Les mini-publics en Belgique (2001-2018) : expériences de panels citoyens délibératifs. Courrier hebdomadaire du CRISP, 32(32-33), 5-72. https://doi.org/10.3917/cris.2477.0005. Please refer to the revision history for a detailed account of subsequent edits and additions made by the Participedia community.