Dominique OSTYN Senior Manager Communications & New Media FEDERATING STAKEHOLDERS FOR EUROPEAN CITIZENS INITIATIVES INITIATIVE.EU JOINT SEMINAR ON "OPEN GOVERNMENT IN THE MAKING" 4/10/12 – EU Council, Brussels

SPEAKERS BACKGROUND: POLICY MEDIA NETWORK "Warming up for the Citizens' Initiative 26/01/12 - European Commission Charlemagne Building, Brussels 2

OVERVIEW ECI PROMISING BUT NOT CATCHING LIKE (SOCIAL MEDIA) FIRE... INITIATIVES: MAIN STAGES & LOGIC OF GROWTH INITIATIVE.EU: PURPOSE & PROJECT DRIVERS INITIATIVE.EU: FEW RESOURCES YET, BUT GREAT PARTNERS! SEPARATED SPHERES? SOCIALLY NETWORKED, YES WE CAN! 3

ECI PROMISING BUT NOT CATCHING LIKE (SOCIAL MEDIA) FIRE... Great participative innovation, amazing Treaty left-over from Constitution attempt Limited communication, no help desk etc…: even experts & NGO leaders know little yet Hopefully better by 1 April, but too late to avoid initial situation 'the good, the bad, the ugly. (meeting all criteria, lacking legal basis and support, lacking even fit with EU values). High 'kill rate' at registration? risk of 'control freak' image of 'Brussels. Could liven-up EU debates: Not just euro-crisis, but civil society & indignés / indignados etc … Process can improve: 2012: first successes, 2013: policy response & political programmes, 2014: elections, and EP + new Commission mandates. EurActiv family is committed to ECI. (EurActiv.com + 15 Country Network + BlogActiv.eu + Fondation EurActiv PoliTech + EUX.TV). Social Media: great potential, but not supporting EU policy making yet: we have ideas in mind … Initiative.eu: small but unique contribution to help initiators 4

INITIATIVES: MAIN STAGES 5 COMMISSION / PARLIAMENT FOLLOW UP FEDERATING STAKEHOLDERS: INITIATORS HELPDESK? NATIONAL ePETITION PORTALS EUROPEAN COMMISSION REGISTRATION WEBSITE & OTHER MEDIA

INITIATIVES: LOGIC OF GROWTH Rough numbers: Thousands of ECIs ideas Hundreds registered ECIs? Dozens successful ECIs with 1M supports? 6

NEED FOR QUALITY BEFORE REGISTRATION: PLATFORM INITIATIVE.EU … + HELPDESK? 7

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ORGANISATION - OVERVIEW 9 PROJECT PARTNERSPARTNER EU PROJECTS ASSOCIATE PARTNERS CONTENT PARTNERS 1 EU DG ? 1 CORPORATE ? 1 CONSULTANCY ? SKILLS CREDIBILITY PROMOTION EGOV & EPARTICIPATION LEVERAGING EARLY PROJECTS RESULTS FEED BACK FROM PRACTICAL GOOD PRACTICES SUPPORT/SPONSORS SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTIONS + OFFICIAL REGISTRATION/PETITION WEBSITES

ORGANISATION FEW RESOURCES YET… BUT GREAT PARTNERS 10 Have your say in the EU Have your say in the EU Helping you be part of the EU Helping you be part of the EU Cross-border e-Petition Cross-border e-Petition Monitoring, Coordinating and Promoting EU eParticipation Projects Monitoring, Coordinating and Promoting EU eParticipation Projects Pan-European Network on eParticipation Pan-European Network on eParticipation 5 PARTNER PROJECTS 1 EU DG ?1 CORPORATE ?1 CONSULTANCY ? SUPPORT/SPONSORS SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTIONS 5 ASSOCIATE PARTNERS 3 CONTENT PARTNERS 3 PROJECT PARTNERS + OFFICIAL REGISTRATION/PETITION WEBSITES

11 Civil society: initiatives Institutions & Political parties: policies Social media: relays Media: coverage eParticipation: experts eGovernment: tools ECI: Proposals Grass-root movements: Frustrations SEPARATED SPHERES? SOCIALLY NETWORKED, YES WE CAN! 2013 PLATFORMS 2014 ELECTIONS DEBT CRISIS

BACK - UPS

13 Civil society: initiatives Institutions & Political parties: policies Social media: relays Media: coverage eParticipation: experts eGovernment: tools SEPARATED SPHERES ? SOCIALLY NETWORKED, YES WE CAN !

COMMISSION / PARLIAMENT FOLLOW UP (EDITORIAL COVERAGE) FEDERATING STAKEHOLDERS: INITIATORS HELPDESK NATIONAL ePETITION PORTALS Rough numbers: FREE (SPONSORS, EU FUNDING, CROWD- FUNDING) PROMOTION (INDIVIDUAL BUDGETS) FREE (SPONSORS, EU FUNDING) ACTIVITIE S: REVENUE S: DELIBERATION SPACE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PORTAL Thousands of ECIs ideasHundreds registered ECIs?Dozens successful ECIs with 1M supports? ECI eCAMPAIGN TOOLS INITIATIVES: MAIN STAGES & LOGIC OF GROWTH

WALKING YOU THROUGH INITIATIVE.EU 15

INITIATIVE.EU: STAKEHOLDERS FEDERATING EUROPEAN CITIZENS INITIATIVES A Neutral Online community platform open to ECI initiators and EU stakeholders: An online deliberative space for EU stakeholders to support and formulate of their initiatives; To help various stakeholders across different countries to federate their ECIs; To improve quality & effectiveness of initiatives in making, so they are more successful once officially registered. What Initiative.eu is NOT: A Help Desk paid by the EU. A mass portal (i.e ePetition) to collect signatures/petition votes. 16

THE ECI OFFICIAL PROCESS 17

SPEAKERS BACKGROUND: POLICY MEDIA NETWORK "Warming up for the Citizens' Initiative 26/01/12 - European Commission Charlemagne Building, Brussels 18