At its extraordinary meeting on 22 March 2011 in Brussels, the Group III of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) discussed the prospects of participative democracy in Europe. Bernd Hüttemann, member of the board of the European Movement International (EMI), underlined that the EMI strongly supports the active implementation of Art. 11 of the Treaty of Lisbon, particularly asking to improve the general framework conditions, to establish a European Statute for Associations and to increase transparency.   

Although Art. 11 clearly refers to participative democracy, it is commonly associated with the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). The EESC and the Committee of the Regions (CoR), both non-institutional bodies of the EU, currently examine possibilities to change this perception. Members of the EESC and Civil Society Experts analysed together the context of Art. 11 in view of civil society dialogue and citizens participation.  

Bernd Hüttemann remarked that in the 21th century new forms of decentralised participation are essential. He added that political communication in the European Union will increase and therefore become more difficult to regulate. In this context, several participants voiced their concern that European policy actors have a common responsibility for the project of European integration. The subsequent discussion brought forward significant differences of the perception of participative democracy, which were explained by the different political traditions in the EU Member States.   

Concluding his impressions, Bernd Hüttemann noted that “the interests of citizens are often mixed with the interests of lobby groups. Many also see a discrepancy between representative democracy and participative democracy and not the chance for a partnership”. He added that one of the main tasks will be the development of national, regional and local fora of participation.
 
The European Movement Germany and its members observe the enactment of Art. 11 and are currently discussing aspects of its implementation as for example the representation of associations, the position of civil society towards representative democracy or the involvement of actors in the multi-level system. The debates evolving around Art. 11 relate above all to the latest EU-in-Brief online paper entitled “European governance and the German interests”.