The study carried out by the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) aims to provide an analysis of the current consultation practices at the European Commission as well as to examine the potential of an intermediary body, such as the EESC, and organised civil society, in improving this tool for participatory democracy in the EU. The objectives are to identify the main challenges of EU online public consultations, analyse the current role of the EESC and CSOs in these processes and propose recommendations to the EESC on how it could play a more substantial part in overcoming the primary weaknesses of EU online public consultations.