Programme

The European Citizens’ Initiative 10 years on: ready for the future?

Venue: EESC, JDE building, Rue Belliard 99, Brussels and online (hybrid edition)

9.00 - 9.30 Registration and welcome coffee

9.30 - 9.45 Welcoming

Room JDE 52 – Interpretation EN/FR

  • Welcome address by Christa Schweng, President of the European Economic and Social Committee
  • Opening remarks by Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography

9.45 - 10.50 Opening session: 10 years of the ECI, what's next?

Room JDE 52 – Interpretation EN/FR

We are celebrating this milestone with a high-level debate. Looking back on the past 10 years of the ECI, we will hear about its successes, challenges and what its future will look like. How have the ECI and other similar participatory tools contributed to the evolution of democracy, particularly in a context of threats to democracy? How can the ECI be further improved to make it fit for the future?

This session will also examine how the ECI has been a source of inspiration at local and global level and to what extent the Conference on the Future of Europe and its follow-up could act as a fresh impetus both to the ECI and, more generally, to participatory democracy in Europe.

  • Moderator: Christophe Lefèvre, member and former chair of the EESC ECI ad hoc group
  • Setting the scene by Stefan Roch, Bertelsmann Stiftung, based on the book "Under Construction: Citizen Participation in the European Union" 
    • Christa Schweng, President of the European Economic and Social Committee
    • Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography
    • Helmut Scholz, Member of the European Parliament, rapporteur for the EP Report on Citizens' dialogues and Citizens' participation in the EU decision-making
    • Carsten Berg, The ECI Campaign,Transnational Democracy Observatory at EUI Florence

with contribution from Bruno Kaufmann, Global Democracy Correspondent at the Swiss Broadcasting Company and author of the "European Democracy Passport"

11.00 - 12.15 Break-out sessions

Workshop 1: Successful initiatives: when NGOs across the EU unite for a common cause

Room JDE 52 – Interpretation EN/FR

Several initiatives, supported by coalitions of NGOs, have recently managed to gather an impressive number of signatures in a record time of only a few weeks. What is the secret to their success? What leads a CSO/NGO to support/promote an ECI?

Moderator: Daniela Vancic, European Programme Manager, Democracy International and ECI Forum

  • Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, organiser of the initiative "Save bees and farmers"
  • Katharina Loupal, organiser of the initiative "Stop finning – Stop the trade"
  • Elise Fleury, supporter of the initiatives "End the Cage Age" and "Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics", and organiser of the initiative "Fur Free Europe"
  • Alvaro Oleart, post-doctoral researcher at Studio Europa Maastricht
  • Luis Morago, Campaign Director, Avaaz.org

Workshop 2: Online collection: towards the central system as a unique tool

Room JDE 63 – Interpretation EN/FR

As individual online collection systems are planned to be phased out by the end of this year, the aim of this session is to collect feedback and recommendations on the current central Online Collection System provided by the European Commission while also sharing what its (new) features are and what it provides.

Moderator: Silvia Kersemakers, ECI team leader, Secretariat-General, European Commission

  • Jérôme Stefanini, Lead of IT Team on ECI, DIGIT, European Commission
  • Nils Kluger, organiser of the initiative "Stop finning – Stop the trade"
  • Andreea Belu, organiser of the initiative "Reclaim your face"

12.20 - 12.30 Showcase of ongoing initiatives

Atrium 5 – English only

  • Speech by Kinga Joó, chair of the EESC ECI ad hoc group

Participants are invited to visit the stands of the ongoing initiatives and of the ECI Day partners during the lunch break.

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch offered by the European Economic and Social Committee

14.00 - 15.30 An ECI for the next generation

Room JDE 52 – Interpretation EN/FR

Over the past 10 years, many young people have been active as organisers of European Citizens' Initiatives. What can they say about their experience? Did it meet their expectations? What kind of support have they received/missed?

The session aims at exploring and discussing the growing use of the European Citizens' Initiative by young activists, how this changed over time and with what result.

In the context of the European Year of Youth, we will discuss what can be done so that more young people embrace this opportunity for participation in EU policy-making.

Moderator: Elisa Lironi, Programme Director – European Democracy, European Citizen Action Service

  • Michael Mcloughlin, EESC member, rapporteur for the EESC opinion on the European Year of Youth 2022, Head of advocacy and communications at Youth Work Ireland
  • Biliana Sirakova, EU Youth Coordinator
  • Yilly Pacheco, Research Fellow, Institute of International and European Law, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Erasmus+ project 'ECI: From A to Z'
  • Elsa Kraemer, organiser of the ECI "European Ecoscore"
  • Saga Smith, organiser of the initiative "Voters Without Borders, Full Political Rights for EU Citizens"

15.30 - 15.45 Closing remarks by Kinga Joó, chair of the EESC ECI ad hoc group

Room JDE 52 – Interpretation EN/FR

With the participation of the following initiatives: