Following months of successful campaigning, “Civil Society for EU” has been relaunched with a refreshed
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Everyone living within the EU’s borders should have their needs and wants reflected in the decisions that impact their lives.
Civil society organisations are uniquely positioned to be able to channel these diverse voices and enable people of all backgrounds to participate actively in society and political life.
By building meaningful engagement with civil society, decision makers and governments can create better informed, more effective policies that successfully target specific needs and empower communities. It also serves as an opportunity to connect with groups that are traditionally underrepresented or marginalised. This ongoing form of civil dialogue is ultimately an important – but under utilised – tool to enrich our democracies with inclusive participation.
Social Platform calls on EU institutions to formally recognise and strengthen civil dialogue as an essential element of European participatory democracy, where civil society is considered a key strategic partner in the co-creation of policies at every stage.
Social dialogue and civil dialogue are both important elements of democratic participation but should be considered as distinct and complementary processes: one cannot replace the other.
‘Social dialogue’ refers to negotiations, consultations or exchanges specifically between employers, workers and decision makers on issues relating to economic, employment and social policy.
‘Civil dialogue’ includes all civil society, representing a much broader spectrum of interests and demographic groups.
Civil dialogue in the EU is often an ad-hoc, irregular process that doesn’t allow for open and transparent exchanges between civil society and policy-makers.
Top-down approaches, inadequate information sharing or lack of structured channels through which organisations can input can hinder civil society’s ability to provide meaningful insight on behalf of those groups they represent.
Through our Civil Society for EU campaign, jointly led with Civil Society Europe, our coalition calls for a Civil DialogueSociety Agreement to harmonise and improve standards and mechanisms for civil dialogue across EU institutions and member states.
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Discover all our work areas
Read about what Social Platform is calling for across different policy areas as well as our advocacy work and activities on each issue.
