Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands - St Antony's College ...

safeguards and direct citizen participation
Constitution and related themes. However, active participation in Internet
forums also demands a considerable investment of time and knowledge,
which not everyone will be able or willing to do. Another drawback of
deliberative forms of citizen participation can arise when it is unclear what
will be done with the public input. It is precisely because of the considerable
efforts that are required on the part of the participants, that it is important
to ensure that participation is real and does not become perceived as a
sham.
Box 4.3
In view of the above complications and the considerable efforts that are
expected of participants in terms of time and input, the different modes of
citizen participation discussed here should, in the view of the wrr, not be
expected to contribute very much structurally to the strengthening of the
legitimacy of European policy in the Netherlands. Thus they should not be
regarded as a substitute for a properly functioning representative parliamentary
democracy. However, this observation does not rule out the occasional
use of deliberative forms of citizen participation. Positive experiences
with such instruments have also been observed in other countries
(see box 4.3).
Deliberative forums in Ireland
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In a June 2001 referendum, the Irish voted against ratification of the Treaty of Nice. This
rejection came as a surprise to many; opinion polls, including the Eurobarometer, had
consistently suggested broad support among the Irish population for the European integration
process.
In response to this rejection, and on the basis of earlier positive experiences with deliberative
forums (‘The New Ireland Forum’ and ‘the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation’),
the ‘National Forum on Europe’ (nfoe) was set up with the purpose, in the words of its
chairman, of undertak[ing] a wide-ranging analysis of what the European Union has meant
to Ireland, to examine issues concerned with historic enlargement now in prospect, and to
inform the Government through debate, as to how the Irish people – those at the centre of the
debate – see the future development of Europe in a way which will suit Irish interests’ (nfoe
no. 1, 2002, p. 6).
The introduction of the National Forum on Europe gave the Irish an opportunity, for
the first time since Ireland’s entry to what was then the eec, to discuss their views on the
role of Ireland in Europe in a public forum. These gatherings quickly proved to be a
success; the number of citizens who actively participated increased steadily, the (local and
regional) media started to devote attention to Europe as a topic, and the number of hits on
the Forum’s website grew progressively to around a thousand per week.
The specific features of the National Forum on Europe were the following: First and
foremost, the primary issue in the public meetings was to ascertain the public’s views,