Dear Daniel Feher, I realize that the overlapping of the public consultation on Plan D and on the White Paper on a EU Communication Policy may generate some confusion, and your remarks are a good opportunity for me to clarify things. The White Paper is about designing a European Communication Policy at the service of citizens and democracy. Plan D is the Commission‘s response to the constitution ‘crisis‘, launching a genuinely democratic debate with citizens on the future of Europe. If the inspiration is the same, these are two different initiatives…
How is it, you ask, that the Commission is presenting its “citizens‘agenda“ while Plan D and the debate on the future of Europe are still running and the reflection period has been prolonged?
Two points; Firstly, Plan D was launched in October last year and it would be worrying if we hadn‘t managed to draw some preliminary lessons about citizens wishes and expectations after several months of debates, polls, media–monitoring, visits to Member states. We also had a special Eurobarometer report on the future of Europe which is a bit more scientific that the internet debate where 90% of the participants are males aged 18–44, even if the discussions there are also very interesting.
Second, the Commission proposal is far from a “finished agenda“. On the contrary, it is launching several initiatives aiming at broadening and deepening our understanding of how Europe could work better in the areas that matter to citizens: in the social field, in the economic area, in the external policy, in the area of individual rights and personal security… Is this something you can really call a “neo–liberal agenda”? I genuinely believe that this can only lead to a better balance in our policies!
Weiterführendes im Netz:
- Dániel Fehér's comment
- Margot Wallström's reply
- Commission press release 10/05/2006 - Delivering results for Europe: Commission calls for a citizens' agenda
- Commission press release 10/05/2006 - Questions & Answers on the Commission paper A Citizens' Agenda: Delivering results for Europe
