With Plan D created, the White Paper on Communication debated and most recently the Green Paper on the European Transparency Initiative launched one has the feeling that the EU is getting serious about bridging the gap to its 450 million citizens. A European institution has a number of options to put in practice these different policies and the European Economic and Social Committee thought the best step would be to hold a Regional Stakeholders’ Forum in Budapest. And so it did.

Stakeholders’ Forum at first sight seems yet another expression impossible to translate to other languages (let alone „bridging the gap”) but is thought of in the EESC as a practical way to involve the meeting participants composed of “receptors”, “multipliers” and other stakeholders. The first of its kind was organised in Brussels in November 2005 and the current one was organised in a regional setting (with participants from Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia) on 9-10 June, 2006 in Budapest, Hungary  under the title “Bridging the Gap: how to bring Europe and its citizens closer together?” hosted by the European House, a Hungarian NGO working in the field of European partnerships.

Keynote speakers EU Commissioner László Kovács and EESC President Anne-Marie Sigmund made introductory remarks to about 50 international and 100 Hungarian – mostly civil society – participants. President Sigmund appealed to Europeans to break free from their current apathy and depression. She stressed that new instruments like the Stakeholder Forum are needed in order to bring about a real civil dialogue, which is an important means to bridge the gap between Europe and its citizens. Commissioner Kovács identified a clear need for people to be associated with Europe and highlighted the crucial role of civil society. He called for a continuous dialogue between citizens, organised civil society and politics. „People have to associate themselves with Europe” he declared.

In his speech Pál Vastagh, Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of the Hungarian Parliament stated that the EU is now the main regulator of citizens’ everyday life, with up to 80% of legislation coming from the EU level. It is absolutely vital for citizens to realise this fact.

After the introductory remarks and using an “open space” approach, the two-day conference organised itself into 25 workshops, based on the proposals of the participants themselves. The three main topics, as subsequently voted by the participants, were a. effective cooperation between civil society organisations and the EU; b. EU financial support for civil society projects; and c. the meaning of European citizenship.

The recommendations from the working groups will contribute to the consultation processes envisaged in the European Commission's October 2005 Communication on Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate and its February 2006 White Paper on a Communication Policy.

 Official EESC site of the programme: http://eesc.europa.eu/stakeholders_forum/09_06_2006/index_en.asp