Boosting citizen engagement to strengthen EU democracy
Democracy cannot be taken for granted - it must be promoted and reinforced continuously. In the 2024-2029 Commission, ‘protecting our democracy’ has become one of the seven core priorities, with every Commissioner charged in their mission letter with creating “a true and lasting legacy of participative democracy”.
Thanks to its solid knowledge base and network of experts and practitioners, the JRC has helped guide policymakers and public administrations in delivering more citizen engagement and participatory democracy within the EU.
Support at national level
Assists six Member States in their capacity building efforts to increase citizen participation.
To create truly effective and targeted policies it is crucial to integrate both scientific knowledge and citizen engagement into the process. The invaluable guidance provided by the JRC in the field of participation to our newly established Participatory Unit strengthens our efforts to promote more inclusive and efficient governance.
Guided regulatory action
The EU has taken significant steps to strengthen its democratic foundations, including a renewed focus on citizen engagement and participatory democracy. In this context, the Commission adopted the ‘Defence of Democracy’ package in December 2023, aiming to harmonise approaches across the EU for addressing threats to democracy.
The package included a Recommendation to Member States on promoting civic engagement and effective participation in the public policy-making process.
The JRC helped develop the section concerning citizen participation, provided the scientific underpinning, and set out the conditions necessary for Member States to conduct high-quality processes of citizen participation.
Empowered Member States on participatory democracy
To facilitate the implementation of this Recommendation in Member States, the Commission’s Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy, led by JRC, developed a comprehensive training package for public administrations in 2024. This training package enables national administrations to design and utilise the results of citizen engagement exercises effectively. It was successfully piloted in two Member States and is now being rolled out through the EU Academy.
The JRC has also helped public administrations develop projects for the Commission's Technical Support Instrument (TSI), the EU programme that provides tailor-made technical expertise to Member States to design and implement reforms. In 2024, with the support of the JRC, six Member States - Portugal, Slovakia, Ireland, Romania, Finland and Czechia – submitted a TSI on building capacity to increase the impact of citizen participation in EU Member countries.
This is in line with the EU goal of enhancing the European Administrative Space. In her quote, Simona Zacharová explains how the Slovak government has benefitted from the JRC’s invaluable guidance on participatory policymaking.
Supported several policy DGs on citizen engagement
The JRC’s expertise regarding citizen engagement has also benefitted several Commission Policy DGs. It advised DG Environment (ENV) regarding the Pollinators initiative, helping to set up a Youth Citizen Assembly on Pollinators Decline, funded by the European Parliament as a Pilot Project.
The JRC also co-drafted with DG Communication (COMM) the Corporate Guidance on Citizen Engagement. This serves as a reference document for the European Commission in terms of principles, methods and practical implementation of citizen engagement exercises, and was made publicly available in 2024.
Advised about innovative online deliberation
Building on its experience supporting citizen engagement for the Conference on the Future of Europe (2021-2022), the JRC helped the Commission with its new online deliberative platform that was launched in February 2024.
The platform allows citizens to voice their ideas and concerns, in the context for example of EU Citizens’ Panels. The JRC contributed to the platform’s design and overall online citizen engagement features, ensuring that citizens’ ideas are translated into concrete policy actions at the EU level.