Stronger EU regulation of financial institutions and sharing information on best practice in healthcare and labour laws across Europe are among the top ten recommendations from the Irish participants in a Europe-wide citizens consultation on how the Union should best address current challenges. (See full report and recommendations below in attached files)
The Irish consultation, organised by the National Forum On Europe, was held in Dublin Castle over the weekend and was webcast on RTÉ.ie/Live. Similar consultations have been taking place in all twenty seven EU countries.
Fifty Irish citizens, selected by an independent polling company to reflect a cross-section of Irish society, deliberated all weekend on the topical question: “What do you think the EU can – and should - do to shape our economic and social future in a globalised world?”
With the help of facilitators, experts and special polling technology, the citizens arrived at recommendations which they tested with a panel of Irish MEPs at the end of the consultation today. There to respond to their proposals were Dublin MEPs Eoin Ryan, Gay Mitchell and Proinsias De Rossa as well as East MEP Mairead McGuinness.
Delegates from the Irish event will join citizens from all over Europe at an EU citizens' summit in Brussels in May where the top ten recommendations to have emerged from all the national consultations will be put to EU leaders in advance of the European Parliament elections in June.
See a report of the event on RTE television's Week in Politics (Sunday 22nd March 2009) http://www.rte.ie/news/weekinpolitics/
Follow all or part of the two-day event, webcast on the RTE website.
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The European Citizens' Consultations are run by a consortium of more than 40 European partner organisations, led by the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF), and is co-funded by foundations including the KBF, Compagnia di San Paolo and the Robert Bosch Foundation, and funders at national level, with co-funding by the European Commission under its “Debate Europe” programme.
National Forum On Europe, Fóram Náisiúnta um an Eoraip © 2010