The Library Dialogue: An inquiry into effective consultation with citizens in the EU

This seminar, delivered in Amsterdam on 24th March by Volonteurope and our Dutch partner Humanitas, was a very successful and highly dynamic event that looked at how consultation with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and citizens are organised across EU Member States.

We discussed what works and what does not, what makes meaningful consultation effective and leads to strengthening the role and voice of the civil society across the EU.

Contributors to the seminar included: Maureen O’Neill, Member of Group III, European Economic & Social Committee; David Lopez, European Civic Forum; Quinta Ansem, European Anti-Poverty Network in the Netherlands; Claus Larsen-Jense, representing FIC in Denmark; and Tony Beckwith, Senior Consultant at Haring Woods Studio in the UK; and Joanna Legg, PhD Student at Bath University / ESRC who presented her report into consultation methods in the EU.

Joanna’s report will be distributed widely to relevant EU and Member State institutions, CSOs and across our partner networks, including the outcomes of the research and conclusions resulting from the study, and drawing on the important input from the participants of the Library Dialogue in Amsterdam, will be distributed widely to relevant EU and Member State institutions, CSOs and across our partner networks.

Volonteurope will continue to focus on the all-important issue of consultations with CSOs and citizens further, as it is one of the crucial elements and obligations of Article 11 of the Lisbon Treaty. In the coming months we will deliver a series of further seminars on the topic, involving our partners and relevant agencies. Proposed locations for seminars are currenty London, Paris, Antwerp and Bucharest.

For more information, please contact Piotr Sadowski, Volonteurope’s General Secretary, on psadowski@csv.org.uk or +44 (0) 20 7643 1329.