People love Europe. It’s mostly the things what they do not know about it what they hate. They reject the lack of transparency in the way decisions are made and carried out in the European Union. Citizens have the right to know more about the EU. The more they understand, the more they will want to be involved into the political processes. So if we take our talk about more democracy seriously, we need to be prepared for substantial changes in the European political process. We need new rules, new practices. So let’s free the ghost of participation from its flask!
To create that European public sphere and make it work is a task well beyond the abilities and resources of any one institution or government. (Margot Wallström)
1. EUrope is more than Brussels
The European Union takes place everywhere - but we do not always realise it. Connecting to the citizens means to make people understand how and why European legislation has an ever increasing impact on their daily lives. At the same time, they must be given the opportunity to directly participate in shaping those decisions. Communicating Europe must therefore begin with local projects that focus on issues that people are already familiar with. Instead of wasting public money on short-term PR exercises, the goal must be building sustainable partnerships.
2. EUrope is more than silent compromises
Democracy is about having alternatives. European politics must be able to explain the alternatives of its decisions to the citizens and the reasons for making a specific choice. Discussions in the European Public sphere must also make clear which values get endorsed by particular decisions. However, there is only one way to a fundamental politicisation of the EU: The President of the European Commission needs to be elected by the European Parliament. This will both trigger Europe wide campaigns of the competing candidates from various parties, as well as a more active and vivid control of the “government” parties by the “opposition” forces. This could finally stop Europe from being too boring to make it into mass media news.
3. EUrope is more than its institutions
National, regional, and local actors also have their share of responsibility in making the dialogue about Europe a success. Political and administrative strategies are not worth more than their actual process of realisation. As long as the EU is nothing but a synonym for additional and incomprehensible bureaucratic burdens, the implementation will hardly ever reflect even the best original intentions behind the rules. Therefore, when creating the rules of the game, the EU must consult and respect those who eventually will have to work with these rules. National and local actors, on the other hand, need to stop complaining and learn how and when to influence the EU decision making process. Subsidiarity is a question of daily practice.
4. EUrope is more than just institutions
There is no chance for a European identity to emerge based solely on politics and bureaucracy. Europeans must be brought together to learn to know each other, to understand each other, to learn from each other. Therefore, the European Union shall invest more in chances to meet - like widening the Erasmus programme, but also supporting other forms of encounters between European citizens. Citizens should be able to shape these programmes themselves, they should be as free as possible to decide how to use the available resources - through establishing a European Fund for Democracy.
5. EUrope is more than PR
Citizens want to be taken seriously by decision makers. The institutions cannot expect to involve citizens more into politics without being ready to share their power and to expose themselves to regular, substantial and effective civil control. A communication road show will not be sufficient to reconcile people with the institutions. Only if citizens get the experience of having something to say, of being able to influence things, only then will they feel ownership, responsibility, and enthusiasm for the “European Project”. They need the tools for generating Europe-wide debates, to bring the issues that matter to them onto the EU’s agenda and to decide on selected questions of importance. A first, practical and effective step towards more participation should be the immediate introduction of the European Citizens’ Initiative, whereby one million European citizens can call upon the EU to change the European laws.
6. EUrope is more than money and markets
Being European is above all about sharing the same culture. Only with a shared set of values can we discuss about and accept political decisions. A “European public sphere” must therefore begin with a dialogue among the citizens themselves. This does not only mean that national media have to care more about what is happening in the neighbouring countries, but also an increased support for pan-European cultural projects.
7. EUrope is more than a place
Being European is not a question of citizenship. It is a mentality, a way doing things a specific approach to humanity. It is not acquired by birth, it is acquired by education. Not being limited to an exclusive club of countries, the European Dream must be a role model of how we deal with each other, how we solve common problems, and how we respect our environment. We must stop just being Europeans, we must act as Europeans. We all are faces of Europe.
Dialog’09 urges all actors to demonstrate convincingly their commitment to working together towards a more open, democratic, and citizen-friendly Europe. We cannot afford more time to be wasted, the citizens want to see changes. We call upon all European, national and local politicians to discuss the above mentioned points and come up with a sound strategy. Since the success of most ideas, concepts, and efforts of the Commission and of civil society depend on action by the member states, we ask especially the EU Presidency to present, at the latest at the June 2007 European Council, a “Roadmap for Democracy” enlisting specific measures that will give European citizens a greater say in European matters.
