EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/401

(2004/C 78 E/0423)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2212/03

by Piia-Noora Kauppi (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(2 July 2003)

Subject: Increasing EU citizens' opportunities for influence and participation through interactive information technology

During its Presidency, the Greek government has successfully promoted interactive eDemocracy by means of its eVote initiative. 170 000 citizens expressed their views by eVote on how they thought the European Union should develop. One particularly positive feature of this eVote initiative was that the Greek government, current holders of the Presidency, are incorporating feedback from citizens into their everyday business. Citizens' opinions and suggestions will flow directly and immediately to EU-level meetings, negotiations and decision-making.

It would be a pity if the eVote initiative did not continue in one form or another in years to come. Hence my question to the Commission:

Has the Commission considered how the eVote initiative could become a regular way of collecting citizens' opinions on EU issues, thus giving decision-makers direct knowledge of EU citizens' hopes and initiatives?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(1 August 2003)

The eVote initiative of the Greek Presidency reflects a common endeavour to involve citizens in shaping European decisions which impact them, by making full use of new communication technologies. The Commission has actively pursued such involvement, for example, through ‘Your Voice in Europe’ (1) which is a ‘single access point’ for European citizens for consultations, discussions and other participation tools such as Citizen Signpost Service. This portal was developed under the Interactive Policy Making (IPM) initiative and launched on the 16 January 2003, further to the White Paper on Governance (2) and as part of the e-Commission initiative. It also contributes to the implementation of the Commission's ‘General Principles and minimum standards for the consultation of interested parties’ (3).

This ‘one-stop shop’ allows citizens:

— to participate in all Commission wide open consultations (including on-line consultations);

— to participate in on-line debates on the Union, discuss issues directly with Union leaders, and exchange views (chat) with other citizens interested in the same topic;

— to contact an expert, who can provide advice on all aspects of Union citizens' rights. These networks of experts also indirectly provide the Commission with feedback on citizens' experiences.

The Parliament has participated in the promotion of the IPM initiative (e.g. during the Euro Info Centres (EIC) General conference 2002 and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) — Open Dialogue Conference in November 2002).

The multilingual Futurum (4) website offers various discussion spaces for citizens on the Future of the Union process.

The Commission is also committed to supporting Best Practices in e-democracy. The Commission has organised the 2003 eEurope Awards in eGovernment, where 65 applications representing ‘the best practices of public administrations in Europe’ — amongst which several related to ‘eDemocracy’ including eVote — have been selected for exhibition at the Union's Ministerial Conference eGovernment 2003, held on 7/8 July 2003, in Italy.

(1) http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice/index_en.htm

(2) OJ C 287, 12.10.2001.

(3) COM(2002) 704 final.

(4) http://europa.eu.int/futurum/index_en.htm