Smart public policymaking in the EU . Making better choices together

This page is also available in:

Webstreaming 07/62  .  Back to Agenda

Draft Agenda

10:00-10:10: Introductory remarks by Gabriella Civico, Director, Centre for European Volunteer (CEV)

10:10-11:05: Panel discussion on the state of play of policymaking processes in the EU, and the links between high-quality public policymaking, democracy and the meaningful involvement of non-governmental stakeholders or academia.

  • Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA)  
  • Martin Wolf, journalist, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, London. 
  • Lejla Šehić Relić, President of the Centre for European Volunteering (CEV) 
  • Cristian Pîrvulescu, member of the EESC's Ad hoc group on Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law (FRRL)
  • Christian Lahusen, professor of Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences at the Faculty of Arts at Siegen University

  • Moderator: Gabriella Civico, Director, European Volunteer Centre (CEV)

10:05-11:25: Discussion with the audience

11:25-11:30: Final remarks by Gabriella Civico

Concept Note

Due to globalisation and digitalisation, countries have lost power in relation to international markets and businesses. This strongly limits governments' capabilities at all levels, particularly at the local level, to deliver policies and measures that address the societal challenges and inequalities that people are facing. 

In turn, the inability to deliver is one of the reasons for people's distrust of policymakers, policymaking and our democratic processes and systems. To enhance democracy and the quality of public policies, we need to widen the currently narrow margins of policymaking processes by including civil dialogue mechanisms. These mechanisms would enable governments at all levels to develop higher quality, more evidence-based policymaking. 

Enhancing the quality of public policy also requires independent knowledge provided by experts from civil society organisations that are on the ground and have hands-on knowledge, as well as by experts from academia. Both these groups form a necessary counterbalance to current major policy influencers that are mainly from the for-profit sphere. The session will discuss and make proposals about how this can be best achieved.

This workshop aims to discuss the state of play of policymaking processes in the EU, as well as the links between high-quality public policymaking, democracy and the meaningful involvement of non-governmental stakeholders or academia.

Discussion questions:

  • What is the state of play of public policymaking processes in the EU, especially in terms of the quality of public policies? To what extent does the for-profit sphere influence public policymakers at the expense of independent expertise from civil society organisations and academia?
  • What are the links between high-quality public policymaking, democracy and the meaningful involvement of non-governmental stakeholders or academia?
  • What is needed for higher quality and more evidence-based public policymaking in the EU?

Contact

Nastassia Maes, Policy and Membership Officer, Civil Society Europe, nastassia.maes@civilsocietyeurope.eu

Work organisation