CEE CN site

One of the main problems acknowledged at EU level is the gap between its institutions and citizens. Despite the fact that it has been widely discussed and solutions have been sought for, the issue is still there and there are no clear signs that will soon disappear; the European elections held this year represent another concrete proof.  Although both European Institutions and Civil Society Organisations have initiated various actions targeting this problem, they have not achieved a significant impact, one of the reasons being that most of them are rather fragmented, do not reach a high number of citizens or institutions and consequently are not visible.  

In the framework of the Europe for Citizens Programme, Pour la Solidarite, the European Think Tank, started a process of discussions and analysis in order to bring together institutions and NGOs that have been planning and carrying out this type of initiatives. At the centre of this process are:
the CEE Citizens Network (http://www.ceecn.net) that has been organising for the past 5 years the "Citizens Participation Week"; the Council of Europe that has been organising the "European Local Democracy Week" (http://www.coe.int/t/congress/demoweek/default_en.asp),
the European Civic Forum (http://www.civic-forum.fr) that had organised the European Civic Days in la Rochelle, France, last year, an initiative that will be replicated in other countries too (Spain, 2010 and Hungary, 2011), with the support of the European Commission. Other civil society organisations active in the area of citizens' participation within the EU were invited to join the debate as well. 

To compare these various types of initiatives and discuss the links that could be established between them, PLS organized a working meeting on October 16, 2009 in Brussels. Representatives from DG EAC - European Commission, ALDA - Council of Europe, CEE Citizens Network, EU Civil Society Contact Group, European Civic Forum and from other civil society organisations active in the area of citizens' participation attended this meeting.