On Monday 24 March, the Council of Europe hosted an exchange of views on “Deliberative democracy – from ‘nice-to-have’ to essential for thriving democracies” with experts from Ireland, Germany and France. The event, which was organised by the Directorate for Democracy within the framework of the Secretary General’s New Democratic Pact and held as a satellite event of the World Forum for Democracy 2025, was opened by Björn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe and Ambassador Caitriona Doyle (Ireland), Chair of the Committee of Ministers’ Rapporteur Group on Democracy.
The discussion featured a distinguished panel of speakers – Mr Art O’Leary (Irish Electoral Commission), Mr Felix Arndt (Deutscher Bundestag) and Marie Claire Martel (CESE France) – who shared their first-hand experience in organising citizens’ assemblies, the most prominent form of deliberative democracy in their respective countries.
Their informative and practical presentations were followed by an engaging discussion with the audience, which included permanent representatives of Council of Europe member states and senior staff of the organization. The exchange explored key aspects of the citizens’ assembly process, including its benefits, challenges, costs, and outcomes. Participants also discussed the complementarity of deliberative and representative democracy and the potential of citizens assemblies to overcome seemingly intractable political issues or societal polarisation of contentious issues.
In his closing remarks, Matjaž Gruden, Director for Democracy, emphasized that deliberative democracy mechanisms are crucial for the future of democracy, as they help build and restore public trust in political processes. He stressed that for citizens’ assemblies to be truly effective, they must be properly organized in line with the deliberative principles outlined in REC(2023)6 on Deliberative Democracy, ensuring that their outcomes are meaningfully reflected in subsequent decisions. “If these conditions are met, citizens’ assemblies are not just a must-have for the Council of Europe, but for citizens and societies at large,” he concluded.
As this exchange took place within the framework of the Secretary General’s New Democratic Pact, its outcomes will contribute to shaping the Council of Europe’s action plan to strengthen democratic resilience in Europe and safeguard democratic security in the 21st century.
The event, also organized as a satellite session of the World Forum for Democracy 2025, was moderated by Angela Jain from the Bertelsmann Foundation, which is member of the Network for Citizen Participation and Deliberation in Europe.
