Over 250 civil society representatives participated in the Civil Society Day debates, organized yesterday by the EESC in Brussels, and decided that civil society must enhance its role and get involved in the decision-making process more actively. In addition, participants called on the EU institutions to stop putting procedures before results and to involve citizens in actions and campaigns that affect them directly.
Given the fact that civil society represents millions of Europeans, its representatives agreed during their meeting that European leaders can no longer rely solely on elected politicians to pass on messages from their citizens. To the contrary, they also need civil society to ensure that their policies address the citizens’ needs and concerns and facilitate their lives. The event also focused on the variety of forms of expression and commitment across Europe that demonstrates the true meaning of European citizenship.
In addition, the civil society representatives stressed that if the EU wants to regain the trust of its citizens during this difficult period for the economy, then all governments, EU leaders and civil society stakeholders must work together to implement an EU reform. This reform would focus on enhancing the role of the citizens and of bodies such as the European Economic and Social Council (EESC).
Moreover, on the occasion of the Civil Society Day, the President of EESC, StaffanNilsson, launched the book “Civil society and democracy – the citizens’ shortcut to the EU”, which is a guide aiming to help citizens’ organizations to fight for their causes and influence the decision-making process in Brussels. It includes examples from all over Europe, highlighting local civil society action that successfully expanded to a European level.
