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Cini: European Union Politics 2e

Chapter 13

The Participation of Civil Society in the European Convention

The European Convention on the Future of Europe marked a radical departure from the previous preparations of treaty reform in the EU. One of the most notable changes was the commitment to encourage 'a genuine dialogue' with civil society. To fulfil this goal, three channels of communication were set up by the Convention:
(i) Forum, a website where contributions were invited from civil society groups;
(ii) Futurum, a message posting website where everyone could post his or her views on the Convention;
(iii) a Plenary Session on civil society, which was held on 24-25 June 2002.

The rhetorical and institutional innovations created a new opportunity structure and opened up additional points of access for interest groups in the Convention. In total, more than 500 organisations registered in the Forum. They were divided into four categories: political or public authority; socio-economic organisations; academic and think-tanks; and other civil society, NGOs and schools of thought. Together these organisations submitted 1264 contributions to the Convention. At the same time, Futurum became a virtual space where lively debates on the EU were conducted on a wider scale. The Plenary Session, the most institutionalised of the three, created an even rarer opportunity for various interest groups to voice their concerns directly in front of the delegates of the Convention.

However, the participation of civil society has not been without its deficiencies and drawbacks. The web-based consultation certainly excluded interest groups with no internet access. The uneven participation of Brussels-based and nation-based interest groups was another sign of institutional biases. More problematically, as many commentators point out, the Convention was held in the shadow of the upcoming IGC. Elements of intergovernmental bargaining inevitably contaminated the deliberation of the Convention and its commitment to 'a genuine dialogue' with civil society.

Web Links

The European Commission and Civil Society
europa.eu.int/comm/civil_society/index_en.htm

A reading list on 'Interest Intermediation in the EU', compiled by Justin Greenwood
www.lib.gla.ac.uk/sjmc/reading/materialsjg.html

A research project on 'the Logic of Interest Group Formation in the EU'
www.mpp-rdg.mpg.de/bouwen4.html

The Forum website of the European Convention
europa.eu.int/constitution/futurum/forum_convention/index_en.htm

Further Learning Resources

Beyers, Jan (2004), 'Voice and Access: Political Practices of European Interest Associations', European Union Politics, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 211-240.

the Economist (2004), 'Those Crucial Clauses: How Special Interests Infiltrate the European Union Constitution', 20 May 2004.

Greenwood , Justin (2003), Interest Representation in the European Union, London: Palgrave.

Greenwood , Justin and Aspinwall, Mark (eds.) (1998), Collective Action in the European Union: Interest and the New Politics of Associability, London: Routledge.

Kohler-Koch, Beate (1997), 'Organized Interests in the EC and the European Parliament', European Integration Online Papers (EIoP), Vol. 1, No. 9
eiop.or.at/eiop/pdf/1997-009.pdf.