Introduction
Consultation organized by different policy sectors
Legal framework for consultation
Coherent framework for consultation : Consultation standards
Better lawmaking
Scope of the consultation standards
Definition of civil society
Principles of openness and transparency
The Commission's Staff's relation with interested parties
EU funding (Grants and loans)
Introduction
This introduction gives an overview on the Commission's
framework of consultation and dialogue with civil society and other interested
parties.
Before making proposals, the Commission must be aware of new situations
and issues developing in Europe and it must consider whether the EU legislation
is the best way to deal with them. That is why the Commission consults
and is in constant touch with external parties when elaborating its policies.
It also consults in the framework of the legislative process, two advisory
bodies - the European Economic and Social Committee (representing various
socio-economic organisations in Member States) and the Committee of the
Regions (made up of representatives of local and regional authorities),
and seeks the opinions of national parliaments and governments.
The very objective of consultation is to ensure that interested parties
are heard properly in the policy-making process. Consultation with stakeholders
at an early stage of policy shaping helps to improve the policy outcome
and at the same time enhances the involvement of interested parties and
the public at large. Consultation of interested parties thus complements
the process of policy shaping.
In its consultation policy the Commission applies the principle of openness.
Everybody must be able to provide the Commission with input. Therefore,
there is no general accreditation system for interest groups. However,
in order to improve transparency in its relations with interest representatives,
the Commission will in Spring 2008 set up a voluntary register for interest
representatives.
• On this website you can find Commission sites related to consultation
and civil society dialogue. See the list
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Consultation organised by different
policy sectors
Almost all Commission Directorates-General have contacts
with civil society and other interested parties in their respective fields.
The Commission works in a decentralised manner and its different services
are responsible for their own mechanisms of dialogue and consultation.
This decentralised structure allows the specific nature and conditions
of different policy areas to be taken into account.
Interested parties are consulted through different tools, such as Green
and White Papers, communications, consultation documents, advisory committees,
expert groups and ad-hoc consultations. Consultation via the Internet
is common practice. Often, consultation is a combination of different
tools and takes place in several phases during the preparation of the
proposal.
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Legal framework for consultation
Wide consultation is one of the Commission's duties according
to the Treaties. Protocol No 7 on the application of the principles of
subsidiarity and proportionality, annexed to the Amsterdam
Treaty, stipulates that "the Commission should [.] consult widely
before proposing legislation, and, wherever appropriate, publish consultation
documents."
Regarding the two institutionalized advisory bodies, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, the Commission
consults them according to the specific consultation framework provided
for the Treaties.
As the so-called "social
dialogue" by which the Commission consults the social partners
at European level, it is regulated by the articles 137-139 of the Treaty.
Aarhus Convention
On the 6th of September 2006 the European Parliament
and the Council have adopted Regulation
(EC) N° 1367/2006 on the application of the provisions of the
Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making
and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community institutions
and bodies.
The Aarhus Convention
is widely recognized as the world’s foremost international instrument
promoting access to information, public participation in decision-making
and access to justice in environmental matters.
The Convention pursues its objective of a healthy environment for all
by upholding the right of every person to have access to information about
the environment. It places clear obligations on contracting parties to
ensure greater public participation in environmental decision-making.
And it promotes easy and effective access to justice if those rights are
denied, thus enabling the public to challenge more general violations
of environmental law.
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Coherent framework for consultation:
Consultation standards
In 2002 the Commission adopted a Communication
which established a coherent framework for consulting external interested
parties.
The Communication sets out principles (participation, openness, accountability,
effectiveness and coherence), that should govern the Commission when it
consults external parties.
It also establishes minimum standards for consultation. They require,
in particular, that
(1) the content of consultation is clear;
(2) relevant parties have an opportunity to express their opinions;
(3) the Commission publishes consultations widely in order to meet all
target audiences, in particular via the web portal "Your
Voice in Europe", which is the Commission's single access point
for consultation;
(4) participants are given sufficient time for responses (8 weeks for
open public consultations); and
(5) acknowledgement and adequate feedback is provided.
These consultation standards apply, at the policy-shaping
phase, to major proposals before decisions are taken.
The consultation standards ensure that consultations are carried out in
a transparent and coherent way in the Commission. However, the operational
environment in which the Commission and civil society organisations function
must be open in both ways: the organisations must also operate in transparent
manner and it must be clear which interests they represent. This is why
they are encouraged to declare their interest and be registered in the
register of interest representatives.
Better regulation
The consultation standards are part of the Better regulation
action plan, which aims at clearer and better European legislation, and
the practical follow-up of the White
Paper on European Governance of 2001.
Consultations are an essential prerequisite for quality impact assessment.
More about Impact
Assessment
The Commission reports annually on the implementation of the action plan.
The Better Lawmaking report contains, among other things, a review of
the consultation of interested parties over the past year.
• See the reports Better
lawmaking
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Scope of the consultation standards
The consultation standards apply to stakeholder consultations
in the policy-shaping phase. In particular, they apply to proposals that
undergo an impact assessment before their adoption. The impact
assessment process guides the policy-making process through an open
analysis of the options and provides a discipline to ensure that economic,
social and environmental factors are fully taken into account. Impact
assessment is a standard feature of all the proposals in the Work Programme.
• See “Impact
assessment” website
• See “The Commission's
Work Programme” site
In practice, the Commission is in touch with external parties through
out the whole legislative process including implementation. For example,
the Commission consults the Member States via the so-called comitology
procedure in the implementation phase. However, the consultation standards
do not apply to comitology consultation. You can find more information
and a register of comitology
documents on Europa.
Furthermore, the social
dialogue by which the Commission consults the social partners at European
level according to the Treaties, is excluded from the scope of application.
(see also : Employment
and Social Affairs link)
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Definition of civil society
There is no commonly accepted or legal definition of
the term 'civil society organisation'. The consultation standards provide
some clarifications on this. Have a look at the chapter "The
specific role of civil society organisations".
It should be noted that in its policy of consultation the Commission does
not make a distinction between civil society organisations or other forms
of interest groups. The Commission consults "interested parties",
which comprises all those who wish to participate in consultations run
by the Commission.
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Principles of openness and
transparency
As already mentioned, the Commission wants to maintain
a dialogue which is as open as possible. Therefore, it does not give associations
an official endorsement by granting them a consultative status, which
is a system applied by certain international organisations, such as the
Council of Europe. The Commission wants to consult interested parties
on the widest possible basis and to ensure that every interested party,
irrespective of size or financial backing, is given the opportunity of
being heard.
At the same time, however, it must be clear to the general public what
input the interest groups provide and how they seek to participate in
EU policy development. In particular, it must be clear whom they represent,
what their mission is and how they are funded.
In March 2007 the Commission adopted a Communication on the Follow-up
to the Green Paper 'European
Transparency Initiative' , to give more transparency to the framework
in which lobby groups and civil society organisations operate.
A new voluntary
register for interest representatives has been launched on 23 June
2008. Those who register certain information about themselves will be
given an opportunity to indicate their specific areas of interest and,
in return, will be alerted to consultations in those areas.
The Commission has also adopted a Code
of Conduct for interest representatives which will become an entry
requirement for the register.
In addition, the application of the Minimum
Standards for Consultation will be reinforced. In the standards emphasis
is placed on the principles of openness, transparency and accountability
.
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The Commission's staff's relations
with interested parties
Relations of the Commission's staff with interested parties
are part of relations with the public and are governed by the Staff regulations.
In addition, more detailed provisions are set out in the Code
of good administrative behavior, which the Commission adopted in 2000.
In these documents it is emphasized that the staff shall always act objectively
and impartially and in the Community interest. The staff shall act independently,
within the framework of the policy fixed by the Commission, and its conduct
shall never be guided by personal or national interest or political pressure.
The Commission's relations with interested parties must be seen in double
perspective :
- on the one hand, the Commission emphasizes the principles of openness
and transparency regarding dialogue with interested parties,
- and on the other hand there are the rules of behavior which regulate
the Commission's staff's relations with external parties.
With these two elements the Commission maintains a balanced relation:
interested parties are allowed external input to the Commission and at
the same time the Commission's staff's independence is preserved by rules
laid down in the Staff regulations and in the Code of good administrative
behavior.
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EU funding (Grants and loans)
The Commission pays direct grants to different beneficiaries,
such as universities and NGOs, in pursuance of EU policies, in such fields
as social affairs, research and development, education, environment, consumer
protection and external policies. All EU funding is channelled towards
precise objectives and priorities under the various policies, which, in
turn are based on provisions of the Treaties.
• The objective of this civil society website is not to give
extensive information on funding possibilities but to concentrate on
questions of dialogue and consultation. You will find more information
on funding on the "Grants
and Loans" website and on the Commission websites of different
policy areas.
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last
update :
17 July, 2008
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