European Alternatives aims both to bring debate about Europe to London, and to promote discussion and debate around European citizenship. With this aim in mind, we teamed up with the European Commission, the NCVO, and the LSE European Society to bring together a panel of experts to talk about the evolution of EU democracy in the wake of the Lisbon Treaty.

Sarah Lambert, Head of the Commission Representation in the UK, opened the debate, underlining that EU treaties have sought to keep pace with the developing, growing Union. Lisbon sought to update the rulebook, and make who does what much clearer, with greater coherence and efficiency. Citizens' Initiatives themselves can be used for greater civil engagement, though should be developed with care to make sure they are used for good ends.

LSE Professor, Simon Hix, said the Lisbon Treaty was a missed opportunity. The European Constitution would have been a clear document explaining the EU to its citizens, but Lisbon has simply tinkered with institutions. European Parliament elections could have taken off this year had the Socialists nominated a Commission President candidate, so there was no real contest.

Former MEP Richard Corbett pointed out that the EU is already a step ahead of the intergovernmental way of doing things thanks to its democratic element and politics of perspectives rather than of countries that drives it. Citizens' Initiatives could turn out to be a bureaucratic nightmare, but Lisbon introduces many right things such as open Council meetings and greter scrutiny by national parliaments. 

Simon Burall, Director of Involve, highlighted the importance of participative democracy for the EU, and the need to ensure that the structures are in place to allow this sort of dialogue between institutions and citizens. Structures have to address issues that are relevant, such as immigration or housing. Indeed, a debate could be had on the level of governance – European, national, local - that should be activated for a particular issue. 

Niccolo Milanese, Founding Director of European Alternatives, picked up on some practical aspects of the European Citizens' Initiatives that need clarifying if civil soviety is to make use of them. Is it only EU citizens who can sign Initiatives? Or can third party nationals, can undocumented migrants? Morever, the Council President should similarly take questions from the European Parliament in a sort of Question Time, similar to what the Commission President now does. 

From Brussels we had Piotr Maciej Kaczynski, a Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies. He argued that the Commission is now much more accountable and responsible than before. President Barroso now has the power to fire Commissioners, and the European Parliament itself is more than ready to reject Commissioner candidates should they not come up to scratch. 

Speaking to members of the audience afterwards it is clear that many people enjoyed the contributions and went away with much food for thought. Articles from several of the speakers will be published soon on the subject raised in this forum, so watch this space for more, or get in touch with Rimple Gadhvi at rimple@euroalter.com.