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Consultations
For certain areas of policy, the European Commission (EC) opens public consultations, giving citizens the opporuntity to have their say and contribute to the policy debate. This is particularly important for the third sector, to ensure that citizens' voices are represented and to ensure that the third sector perspective is at the heart of policymaking at the European level.
Euclid Network (EN)
- Encourages members to contribute to consultations
- provides information and briefings on upcoming consultations
- Submits reponses from EN, on behalf of its members
EN works on consultation responses that impact civil society as a whole and policy areas that affect the majority of our members. To take part in other consultations, Your Voice in Europe provides details and discussions on policy at the European level.
Current consultations
Consultation on late payments from the European Commission
Deadline: 31 March
Closely related to the review of the Financial Regulation, the civil society working group on EU financial support will develop a response to the consultation on late payments from the EC.
In 2007 the European Ombudsman found that 20% of all the EC's payments were late. The EC announced new measures to improve the situation, such as stricter time limits and an increased use of lump sum payments. The Ombudsman welcomes these additional measures and invites interested parties in civil society to express their views on this important issue.
Link to consultation (external site)
Past Consultations
European Citizens' Initiative
Deadline: 30 January
Under the new Lisbon Treaty, individual citizens and organisations will have the opportunity to put initiatives to the EC directly as part of the European citizens' initiative designed to give citizens a stronger voice.
The EC has opened a public consultation in order to seek the views of all interested parties on how the citizens' initiative should work in practice.
Summary of the European Citizens Initiative
EN's response to the consultation
Europe 2020 Strategy
Deadline: 15 January
In presenting his programme for the new Commission, President Barroso set out his vision for where the European Union should be in 2020. He believes that the exit from the current crisis should be the point of entry into a new sustainable social market economy, a smarter, greener economy where our prosperity will result from innovation and from using resources better, and where knowledge will be the key input. To make this transformation happen, Europe needs a common agenda: the EU 2020 strategy.
The EC has launched a consultation on its draft strategy, Europe 2020. This is the successor to the Lisbon Strategy which has been the EU's reform strategy for the last decade, and will be approved at the spring meeting of the European Council. Full details of the consultation can be found here.
This consultation is crucial because it will influence the strategy of the EU for the coming years. Euclid Network asked members for input in December 2009, and produced the following draft response. We would like to hear from members again before the consultation deadline on 15 January, in order to ensure that their views are reflected accurately.
Europe 2020 consultation: Euclid Network's draft response
Review of the Financial regulation
The EC ran a consultation on the review of its financial regulation - the stringent rules that governs all grants and contracts awarded worldwide.
EN submitted a response which was the result of an internal consultation with its members. As the chair of DG Education and Culture's (DG EAC) civil society working group on European funding, the results that we produced from our own consultation featured prominently in a final report produced by the working group that was also submitted to the consultation.
Both reports feautred 10 recommendations on how to make European funding work for civil society. The recommendations were the result of several months of meetings and discussions, as well as EN's own consultation.
Euclid Network's recommendations based on the internal consultation
Final report submitted by the DG EAC civil society working group
The European Foundation Statute
The European Foundation Statute (EFS) has been proposed as a legal tool designed to help foundations and funders who conduct trans-national activities and have assets across Europe. The EFS would complement existing national legislations, would mainly be governed by European law and would only ‘apply to foundations pursuing a public benefit purpose'. The Statute would not only help existing foundations expand, it would also encourage the creation of new foundations at a European level.
Letter of support for the European Foundation Statute consultation