European Commission, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT), 2024.

A study commissioned by the European Commission highlights the significant potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve public sector services across the EU. The report emphasizes that AI can enhance citizen-government interactions, boost analytical capabilities, and increase efficiency in key areas such as healthcare, mobility, e-Government, and education. These sectors are identified as among the most ready for large-scale AI deployment, with applications ranging from autonomous vehicles and smart traffic systems to AI-driven healthcare solutions and education technologies.

European University Institute and Glušac, L., At (en)large – Capturing the voice of citizens through citizens' assemblies on the EU level, European University Institute, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2870/343673

This policy brief discusses citizens' assemblies (CA) as a way of deepening and improving public engagement in political decision-making at the EU level. While commending the EU for using citizens' assemblies in an unparalleled way during the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), it demonstrates that the first CAs held on the EU level after CoFoE indicate that the EU institutions are still keen to keep strong control over the process and results of citizens' assemblies. The brief argues the EU needs time to develop more confidence and a better understanding of the potential of CAs to further democratise EU institutions and their decision-making process.

European Committee of the Regions, Background note on fostering participatory democracy at local and regional level, European Committee of the Regions, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2863/667813

Cities and regions are at the heart of the so-called ''deliberative wave'', with many of them developing initiatives aiming at engaging citizens in participatory and deliberative practices. Since March 2016, the CoR has been active in the Reflecting on Europe/Future of Europe campaign, providing a platform for regions, cities and citizens to engage in the debate on the future of Europe. Over 210 local events have been organised in 117 regions and 182 cities, involving 198 CoR members and 21 500 participants and collecting over 23 000 replies to a special online survey. In the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe (COFE) and in the run-up to it, the CoR held more than 150 events – local, regional, trans-national and cross-border citizens' dialogues – reaching out to more than 10 000 citizens.

European University Institute and Kösem Cinay, M., Bottom-up and top-down – Promoting women's political participation through participatory democracy, European University Institute, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2870/930325

Women’s political participation is essential for robust democratic governance. Despite significant historical progress, women around the world continue to be marginalized in politics and decision-making processes due to persistent structural, cultural, and institutional inequalities. In times of democratic backsliding, gender equality and women’s fundamental rights face significant threats from antigender politics, a phenomenon observed in many countries around the world, including in Europe. In Turkey, the authoritarian regime has undermined many democratic institutions, leading to violations of basic human rights and the right to a decent livelihood. Nonetheless, women demonstrate some of the most authentic and powerful forms of democratic participation, challenging anti-gender and authoritarian policies. This policy brief aims to address the advancement of women’s political participation, with a particular focus on women’s collective actions and voices in creating inclusive democracies across all spheres of public life.

European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, Bywater, M., Jefferies, I., Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.

Publication metadata
The EU civil society landscape is rich and diverse, reflecting a diversity of national traditions. It employs more than 5% of the active population.1 Culture, history, legislation/regulation and politics shape this sector, with significant differences in the role civil society plays, the type of entity through which it plays that role, and the level of establishment and development of the sector in each Member State. This research brings together results of an analysis on behalf of the European Commission to gain a better understanding of the civil society landscape in the area of protection and promotion of EU rights and values.

Publications Office of the European Union, 2024

In 2024, citizens go to the polls for the European Parliament elections. In the face of reduced trust in governance, increased political polarisation, and growing external threats to democracy, this Results Pack highlights 15 Horizon-funded projects exploring the current challenges to democracy, and testing innovative solutions that support better engagement with the democratic process.

European Commission: Directorate-General for Communication, Corporate guidance – Citizen engagement, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2775/677239

This Guidebook is an internal document of the European Commission. However, its content may be of interest for external readers who would like to know more about principles and formats for citizen participation. Please note that for optimal viewing and functionality, we recommend using Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, or Adobe Acrobat, as they support the interactive features and layout of this guidebook.

European Parliament: Directorate-General for Citizens’ Rights, Justice and Institutional Affairs and Vanyskova, Z., Critical approach to EU law-making – French Senate’s report on EU legislation – Policy Hub on Better Law-Making, European Parliament, 2025, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/7936163

The Policy Hub on Better Law-Making hold on 18 February, 2025 focused on challenges to EU law making. The French Senate’s report was presented and perceived as a wake-up call, urging a shift towards effective, accessible law-making in the EU. Academics highlighted issues of excessive legislation, the need for clearer and citizen-centered laws. They emphasized the need for simplifying legal texts, improving democratic scrutiny by the European Parliament, and fostering collaboration with academia. These proceeding are prepared by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Justice, Civil Liberties and Institutional Affairs for the JURI Committee.

European Commission: Directorate-General for Communication, European Citizens’ Panel on tackling hatred on society, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2775/6653781

On 6 December 2023, the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs adopted a Joint Communication called ‘No place for hate: a Europe united against hatred. This Communication calls for the creation of an open, pan-European space for dialogue which brings together citizens from across the EU to discuss ways to move from hatred and division to the shared enjoyment of our European values of equality, respect for human rights, and dignity. In the aftermath of this call, the European Commission took the initiative of organising a European Citizens’ Panel on the topic of Tackling Hatred in Society during the first half of 2024. This panel brought together 150 randomly selected citizens from all 27 EU Member States during three deliberative sessions, taking place on 5-7 April, 26-28 April and 17-19 May, to answer the following question: “What can we do about hate and how can we enhance mutual respect in our societies?”.

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, 2022-

The main aim of the Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy is to support the development of socially robust policy through citizen engagement.

European Economic and Social Committee, European democracy passport, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2864/671285

Welcome to the European Union (EU), the world’s first transnational and participatory democracy. As an EU citizen, you have the constitutional right to influence the rules that apply to almost 450 million people across an area of more than 4 million km2 in 27 Member States. You may well say: that sounds great, but HOW can I make my voice heard in practice? This publication by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) answers this question. This is your guide to active citizenship in the EU.

European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Giesecke, S., Mișcoiu, S., et al., Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.

This policy brief explores how social confrontations relate to science and society, and how may they affect the future of democracy in Europe. The brief presents four scenarios that chart diverging pathways on how social confrontations could evolve in the next 15 years and how they could influence democratic developments in the EU. From these scenarios we extract conclusions and implications for R&I policymaking.

European Institute for Gender Equality, Gender equality action plans for parliaments – Step-by-step tool, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2839/2043

This tool provides practical step-by-step guidance to parliaments at the EU, national and regional levels to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate a gender equality action plan. The tool describes how to: plan the process of establishing a gender equality action plan from start to finish; set up the necessary support structures and conditions that are required to successfully execute a gender equality action plan; design the contents of a gender equality action plan, including the measures that parliaments can adopt; recognise the key challenges they may encounter throughout the process, and potential solutions to prevent and address these concerns. The tool supports parliaments in achieving gender-responsive institutional transformation. If you have assessed the gender-sensitivity of your parliament, develop a gender equality action plan as a next step towards achieving a gender-sensitive parliament.

European Commission: Secretariat-General, Guide to the European citizens’ initiative – Help shape the European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2792/305873

The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is every EU citizen’s right to get involved in EU policymaking and put the issues that matter most to them on the European agenda. It is a bottomup way of starting a political debate and raising awareness of common causes which unite people across borders. There are two ways to get involved: you can choose to sign ongoing citizens’ initiatives that you support - this takes just a few minutes to do - or you can launch a citizens’ initiative with other EU citizens. By launching a citizens’ initiative, and collecting the required signatures, you invite the European Commission to propose new laws in areas where the Commission has powers to act. The tool was launched in 2012, and successful initiatives have already led to concrete results, including legislative proposals by the European Commission and a range of non-legislative actions linked to specific initiatives. To make the process even more accessible and easier to use for organisers and supporters, revised rules became applicable at the beginning of 2020. The European Citizens’ Initiative is your tool to give a voice to your ideas and help us build a better Europe.

Vecchione, E., Kluver, L., Birkenhäger, J., Burmeister, D., Jonniaux, C. et al., Introduction to co-creation and deliberative processes – A quick start for public administrations – Basic course, Vecchione, E.(editor), Burmeister, D.(editor), Bistrup, M.(editor) and Guimarães Pereira, Â.(editor), Publications Office of the European Union, 2025, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/4454337

The European Commission’s Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (CC-DEMOS) was launched in 2021 to provide services, guidance and tools, and to build capacity to support the development of socially robust policy through citizen engagement processes in the EU. The work of CC-DEMOS develops upon a strong legal basis to encourage and support Member States in their efforts to engage citizens in policymaking. In 2023 the Commission adopted a Recommendation on promoting the Engagement and Effective Participation of Citizens and Civil Society Organisations in Public Policy-making Processes (2023/2836) and published a Communication, ComPAct COM(2023)667, with both documents recognising the need to build capacity on citizen participation in Member States at all levels of Public Administration. It is within this framework that CC-DEMOS has invested in building a specific training offer on citizen engagement processes based on co-creation and deliberation for public administrations at local, regional and national level across the EU.

European Parliament: Directorate-General for Citizens’ Rights, Justice and Institutional Affairs and Vanyskova, Z., Policy hub better law-making in the European Union, European Parliament, 2025, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/1133344

These proceedings cover the Policy Hub on Better Law-Making in the European Union held on December 4, 2024. During the hub European academics indicated that European legislation is no longer fit for purpose and urgently needs modernisation. The experts recommended simplification of the structure and the drafting style of European legislation, citizen-centred approach to EU legislation, along with improving evidence base and digitisation. These proceedings are prepared by Policy Department for Justice, Civil Liberties and Institutional Affairs for the JURI Committee.

European Economic and Social Committee, Zeneli, B., Loureiro, C., Muço, F. and Ferreira, M., Structured and meaningful youth participation in policy and decision-making processes – Mapping local, national, EU and international good practices study, European Economic and Social Committee, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2864/0916102

This study explores effective practices for youth participation in policy and decision-making processes, providing a comprehensive overview of what youth participation means and its key characteristics. The aim of the study is to provide recommendations for mainstreaming structured and meaningful youth participation within the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and other EU institutions, in line with the EU Youth Strategy and the UN Youth Strategy, and based on good practices at local, national, EU, and international levels.

European Commission: Directorate-General for Climate Action, Third forum for the mission on adaptation to climate change, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2834/6146312

This report provides a summary of the Third Forum for the Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, which took place on 23rd May 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. The EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change supports European regions, cities and local authorities in their efforts to build resilience against the impacts of climate change. A total of 311 regions and local authorities have signed up to the Mission Charter. Furthermore, the Charter has been endorsed by an additional 63 private entities, research networks, and local action groups, branded as 'Friends of the Mission'. This has surpassed our original goal of assisting a minimum of 150 regions and communities across Europe in achieving climate resilience by 2030.