In June 2024, during the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, the Assembly reiterated its support towards participatory democracy and adopted a Resolution calling on “Strengthening democracy through participatory and deliberative processes”.
Based on a report submitted by General Rapporteur on Democracy in the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, George Papandreou, the Resolution acknowledges the risk posed by democratic backsliding, both in Europe and in the world, at a time when European societies are confronted with unprecedented challenges of global magnitude. Citizens’ growing mistrust towards public authorities and political parties, together with a political discourse becoming increasingly divisive and aggressive, is affecting voter turnout and leading to a need for new innovative participatory methods that allow citizens to voice their needs and preferences beside the elections.
To address this phenomenon, the Assembly calls on member States and observer States to adopt participatory and deliberative democracy processes at national, regional and local levels in accordance with the principles established by the Committee of Ministers. Furthermore, member States are invited to institutionalise participatory and deliberative democracy mechanism and adopt the necessary legislation or regulations. The resolution also addresses the need to allocate the appropriate financial and human resources, in order to ensure an effective, transparent and inclusive engagement of citizens in decision making.
To this end, PACE encourages the public authorities from Council of Europe member States to benefit from the Council of Europe’s support and to make use of its expertise in the practical implementation of participatory and deliberative democracy processes.
To support the development of a participatory culture among citizens and civil servants, PACE calls on the implementation of Schools on participatory democracy based on the model of the Council of Europe Schools on Participatory Democracy, before highlighting the need to include democratic citizenship and human rights education in school curricula. With the broad vision for a peaceful European future, the Resolution also encourages the idea of participatory initiatives at a transnational level.
The Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe has been taking position in favour of participatory democracy since 2010, with the adoption of a Recommendation on “Democracy in Europe: crisis and perspectives”. In 2021, with a Recommendation on “More participatory democracy to tackle climate change”, the Assembly previously underlined the added value brought by innovative democratic practices and enhanced citizen participation and deliberation in strengthening democracy and tackling current challenges. With further concrete recommendations for action, the new Resolution 2552 is certainly the most ambitious stand in favour of participatory democracy taken by the Parliamentary Assembly, and a clear signal towards a participatory future in Europe.
>> More about the Resolution is available on PACE’s website.
