A dialogue on democracy - Exploring participatory budgeting and citizen participation in the EU
22-02-2024
WATCH THE RECORDING HERE
In recent decades, political institutions have witnessed a gradual erosion of trust among their constituents, a trend exacerbated by the economic and financial crisis. According to the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), over the past 20 years, voter turnout in both Western and Eastern democracies has dropped by an average of 10 percentage points.
Within the European Union, which has faced criticism from citizens, non-governmental organisations, and other civil society groups, the challenge of greater involvement in European policy-making is consistently highlighted. From 2002 to 2010, the percentage of Europeans expressing dissatisfaction with politics increased from 31% to 43% (EPRS).
Participatory budgeting (PB) emerged as a solution to rejuvenate democratic participation, reinforce civil society, modernise public services, and combat corruption in the EU. According to the EPRS, the number of participatory budgeting experiments in the EU surged from 55 to over 1,300 between 2005 and 2012, engaging more than 8 million EU citizens.
Currently, PB is primarily employed at the municipal level, where citizens are invited to propose and vote on initiatives to be executed through the local budget. Although there are instances at regional and national levels, this practice has yet to be implemented on a European scale.
In the context of the H2020 project DEMOTEC, join this Euractiv Virtual Conference to discuss PB and its potential at an EU level. Some questions to be discussed include:
- How will PB work in practice concerning specific policies at an EU level?
- How can PB complement representative democracy? Is it a valuable tool for improving citizens’ trust in EU institutions?
- What challenges are associated with implementing such a process at an EU level?
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement no 962553.
This website reflects only the author’s view and the Research Executive Agency or European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Supported by:
Location
Online
Panellists
Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul
Deputy Head of Unit, Citizens' Dialogue, DG COMM, European Commission
Eduard Folch
Policy Officer, Strategic Coordination and Communication, DG BUDG, European Commission
Helmut Scholz MEP
Member, European Parliament
Elena Calistru
Civil Society Organisations’ Group, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
Carol Thomas
Policy Advisor, Governance and Institutional Relations, Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)
András Farkas
Strategic Director, PONT Group
Vasilis Manavopoulos
Department of Internet and Communications Studies, Cyprus University of Technology (CUT)
with opening remarks from Marco Venosta, Project Manager, DEMOTEC Project & Euractiv
Moderator
Eleonora Vasques
Euractiv
Schedule
09:30 – 09:35 Welcome
09:35 – 10:00 Panellist statements
10:00 – 11:20 Discussion and Q&A
11:20 – 11:30 Closing statements
Contact
Síofra Gilmore
siofra.gilmore@euractiv.com
Related article
Institutions should involve more citizens in EU budget decisions, experts say [Advocacy Lab Content]
Europeans should have more say when it comes to spending the EU budget, as a way to boost citizens' participation in EU policymaking, a panel of experts on democratic processes said during a Euractiv event on Thursday (22 February).
The post Institutions should involve more citizens in EU budget decisions, experts say appeared first on Euractiv.