The Conference on the Future of Europe is a milestone in the history of the development of participatory democracy in the EU that drew and summarised previous efforts by academics, practitioners and policymakers at various levels of government. Meanwhile, it has become a beacon for the future of participatory democracy in the EU, with no doubt that civil society and industry will expect more participatory processes in the EU policymaking arena. Furthermore, the importance of civil dialogue has been enshrined in Art. 11(2) TEU. Despite this, the development of civil dialogue has been uneven across EU institutions and agencies. A structured application of civil dialogue at EU level that builds on the foundation of existing practices could better engage civil society for broader EU policies and more resilient EU democracy. The first step towards this vision is a comprehensive mapping of existing civil dialogue practices in the EU institutions.
This study aims to do exactly that: address the knowledge gap by mapping civil dialogue practices across EU institutions, identifying best practices, and providing recommendations for improvement. It will bring together various stakeholders from across the EU, adopting a multi-faceted approach that combines desk research, stakeholder interviews, surveying, focus groups and workshops to map existing practices of civil dialogue within EU institutions. The outputs of this study will be a comprehensive report documenting and assessing current civil dialogue practices while highlighting best practices through more focused case studies. Our goal is not only to provide a detailed overview of civil dialogue practices but also to offer practice-oriented, effective solutions for improving systemic shortcomings. We believe that these objectives have significant implications for the future of EU policymaking and could meaningfully contribute towards empowering citizens and civil society to play a more active, integral role in shaping our collective future.
