Two hundred and fifty EU citizens from all walks of life, together with fifty media and policy experts, will gather on 7-9 December in Brussels to draw the very substance from the six EU-wide participatory democracy projects co-funded by the European commission in 2006 and 2007. They will debate on the major concerns that have emerged from all six projects and come up with a single set of conclusions which they will have the opportunity to present to a panel of decision-makers.

The purpose of this event is to draw on the experience gained from the six “Plan D” pan-European citizen’s projects co-funded by the European commission in 2006-7, increase public awareness of the conclusions of these projects and explore ways of:

    * conveying these conclusions to the decision-makers at all levels of governance;
    * perpetuating cross-border meetings of citizens and civil society events on a regular basis
    * and communicating during the process of the Reform Treaty ratification

The event will be structured around three themes:

    * The human aspects of globalisation
    * Enlargement, political integration and EU citizenship
    * The EU’s role on the world stage

The participants will debate on each of these themes in three workshops per theme. On the final day, they will put their questions/demands to a panel of decision-makers (members of the EU institutions, representatives of national governments, etc.) and media representatives. The results of this event will feed the European commission’s reflection on how to make “dialogue, democracy and debate” a permanent feature of democracy at EU-level.
Theme 1: The human aspects of globalisation

The citizens who took part in the six projects feel that the national authorities have been overtaken by globalisation. They are looking to the EU to help them become active citizens in the new global world but they need to see more clearly what the EU has to offer in this respect.

They would like to know what European citizenship entails in practice. They want it to rest on concrete social, economic, civil and human rights. They expect the EU to deliver – not just protect their present rights but improve them by adapting them to free circulation in the EU and to the global world, e.g. in areas like childcare, health care, equality between women and men, equality of non-traditional family models, comparability and accessibility of the national welfare systems of the EU member countries.

The citizens extended their reflection to non-EU citizens wishing to live and work in the EU: how should EU member countries welcome them and under what conditions should they be granted national/EU citizenship?

This theme will be addressed from three angles:

    * Workshop I.1: “Towards a new European social model?” – Social rights are in essence national. Can the EU help its member countries maintain existing social rights, apply the EU charter of fundamental rights which integrates social, economic, civil and human rights and further develop those rights?
    * Workshop I.2: “Migration ? a European approach?” – Migration is typically an issue that should be addressed at international rather than national level. Can the EU develop a common approach to this often tragic dimension of globalisation? Based on what values?
    * Workshop I.3: Education in the face of globalisation ? should EU citizenship begin at school? In order to make the most of the opportunities offered by the EU and to recover some influence on the issues which are now addressed by the EU institutions, people need to know how the EU works and what rights they have at EU level, on top of their national citizenship.

Theme 2: Enlargement, political integration and EU citizenship

In recent times, the EU has considerably grown geographically and deepened politically. In this context, the citizens’ consultations have revealed a quest for identity and for a sense of belonging. Some fear that their cultural identity and personal freedom ? democracy itself – might be threatened by the emergence both of multicultural societies and of an extra layer of governance ? the European level.

The notion of citizenship should be enriched and the EU should encourage the development of civil society especially in the new member countries and at European level. In the meantime, should the EU continue to expand? Should it be entrusted with responsibility for new policy areas? Should it not focus on what it can do better than the national governments? How can citizens monitor and influence the EU decision-making process? How can they have a say on crucial issues such as enlargement?

This theme will be addressed from the following angles:

    * Workshop II.1: Enlargement and deepening of the EU- how can member countries and the EU create a new sense of belonging? Political integration and geographical expansion are taking place simultaneously. This puts a lot of strain on people’s cultural and political identity. How can the EU meet those concerns so that people feel that living in such a vast and complex entity as the European Union is an asset rather than a disadvantage? How can the EU develop without destroying the landmarks that people have at local, regional and national level?
    * Workshop II.2: How can citizens get better involved in policy-making? The consultation has revealed a quest for more transparency and more citizen consultations, more direct communication with the EU institutions, EU-wide referenda, etc. The European commission is experimenting ways of consulting civil society. The Reform Treaty both strengthens the European parliament and introduces participatory democracy. What form should citizens’ consultation take in the future? How can citizens take ownership of the European parliament and therefore participate more in the European parliament elections?

    * Workshop II.3: In which areas can the EU be more efficient than national governments? People sense that it can be more efficient in dealing with certain cross-border issues such as climate change, energy, trade but also migration and justice and home affairs. A new distribution of tasks is needed between the different levels of governance, from local to global. However, more efficient does not necessarily mean more democratic. The old debate on “subsidiarity” needs to be relaunched but in a novel and more concrete way, taking into account the concerns of citizens and the role of civil society.

Theme 3: The EU’s role on the world stage

The citizens’ consultations confirm that people are very much aware of the relationship between domestic and global issues. They realise that the EU can have an influence and even exert leadership in some areas on the world stage, so long as member countries speak with one voice.

They think it is particularly desirable that the EU assert itself in the face of global challenges such as climate change, regional conflicts, terrorist acts, international trade and the North-South divide. But to speak with one voice, member countries have to agree on the role they want the EU to play on the world stage. The majority of citizens consulted want the EU to be an actor of peace which favours development and security. They want foreign policy to be dealt with by majority voting in the EU council of ministers.

The three sub-themes will be:

    * Workshop III.1: What role for the EU on the world stage ? a future superpower or an actor of peace, security and development? People see the EU as an opportunity to have an impact on the world stage and recover some control over global issues. They want the EU to protect them and at the same time to be an actor of peace and development. It is important to go deeper into this debate and find out more about their fundamental perception of the EU ? hard power or soft power?
    * Workshop III.2: Speaking with one voice on global issues such as trade, energy and the environment- how can this single voice reflect the voice of the citizens? Speaking with one voice but what kind of voice and to say what? The EU is an original political set-up but does it have something original to say on the world stage? How can citizens contribute to forging that single voice?
    * Workshop III.3: EU development aid- can the EU use it to tackle the root problems of poverty and migration? Citizens are aware of the magnitude of EU development aid but they question its purpose. To what extent can development aid be articulated with other policies to address issues such as migration and sustainable development? How can civil society in the EU and in the receiving countries be better associated with the way EU development aid is used?