ECC: Agenda-Setting Event 2006

The Agenda-Setting Event, the first stage of the ECC process, took place in Brussels on October 7^th and 8^th. Participants from all Member States of the European Union were invited to present their opinions on the influence Europe has had on their lives, and what direction they would like to see Europe take in the future. In identifying common ground on the central question of ?what Europe do we want??, they set the agenda for the following national consultations.

Citizens were selected randomly from all walks of life reflecting the diversity of the population. From each Member State, eight different participants were selected by an opinion research agency. Selection criteria included gender, age, and socio-economic background. Further criteria were added as appropriate in each country. A pre-event survey served as the basis for the discussions at the event.

Once in Brussels, the participants were organised into small discussion groups and supported by facilitators, interpreters, and resource persons. Over two days, they discussed their experiences within and between the groups. The first stage was to identify shared topics by sharing perspectives and thinking about the future role of Europe. Then, by discussing these topics with each other, some of the topics were selected as being the most important. The discussions used a combination of techniques and technology to make sure that all the topics were clear, and everyone?s point of view was considered.

The voices of participants shaped the event and its outcomes in several ways, ranging from electronic simultaneous voting to wireless laptops on each table and flip-charts in the market place (open space discussion and speaker corners). An editing team worked to incorporate the inputs into the ongoing development of the topics. There were also some less formal games and exercises encouraging participants to put their imagination to use through graffiti, role-playing, and other situations. To allow people to develop their own ideas, most of the activities involved mixing with others from all over the EU. People from different Member States have more in common than they might think, and some thought-provoking questions were asked. For instance, if you could live in anywhere in Europe for one day, where would it be?

At the end of the first day, citizens selected the topics they found most important for a debate on the future of Europe. During the second day, they worked on enriching the topics. A report was made available to citizens right at the end of the event.

The "European Citizens' Agenda", the outcome document of the Agenda-Setting Event, is now available at "Topics and Outcomes".