EU & Civil Society
As indicated in the introduction, this heading covers a wide menu of activity:
- EU relations with civil society
- The European transparency initiative
- EU Information and communication policy
Following up its earlier work on the governance white paper, ECAS organised a seminar "three C's for participatory democracy" which resulted in a report and three policy research papers:
The European Commission and Consultation of NGOs (download here  ). This paper reviews the minimum standards of consultation and argues for a compact with NGO's.
The Financial Relationship between the Commission and NGOs (download here ). This paper argues for simpler funding arrangements to improve access to EU funding for all NGO's. In response to this and more recent research by the social platform some change in the financial regulation and simpler arrangements for making grants have been made, but not enough.
Citizens Initiatives (download here ). This report contains proposals on framing legislation for 1million citizens to propose a European law.
Whether or not such initiatives will see the light of day depends on the fate of the constitutional treaty.
EU Information and Communication Policy
Connecting with Citizens (download here ) - "Does the EU have the will to tackle its information deficit?" is the title of the ECAS publication by Richard Upson on this theme. The report follows two conferences organised by ECAS with MEP's and Margot Wallstrom on 1 February and 7 June 2006.
ECAS has pioneered the idea of a citizens right to know as a binding Treaty right. It works closely in this area with journalists at your service , Friends of Europe and Euractiv.
ECAS is also a partner in a project led by the Fondation Roi Baudouin to organise a 25 country citizen consultation.
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