Success for civil dialogue in the European Parliament! 

By Alva Finn (Secretary-General of Social Platform) and Carlotta Besozzi (Director of Civil Society Europe) 

Together with Civil Society Europe (CSE), Social Platform identified the European Parliament midterms as a key opportunity to establish a more meaningful dialogue with civil society.  

Until now, there were only Vice-Presidents in charge of relations with business and trade unions, leaving civil dialogue as an afterthought. Recent events, like the crisis in Ukraine, are clear indicators of the value of organised civil society to democracy, peace, equality and social inclusion. How can we preach these principles to others when we don’t create an enabling environment for civic space and civil dialogue at EU level?  

We wrote to the newly elected European Parliament President Metsola to ask her to appoint a Vice-President in charge of civil dialogue with civil society representing citizens. And our call was heeded. We are pleased that the President has gone the extra mile and included the relationship with civil society in her own responsibilities and is to be supported by Vice-President Pedro Silva Pereira. 

Breathing new life into civil dialogue

This is the first time that the relationship with civil society has featured in the mandates of a President and Vice-President in the Parliament. This is good news for civil society who often struggled to be heard in EU decision-making, a situation that has worsened due to COVID. But there’s more to do. Other EU institutions still have a long way to go to value civil dialogue. Check out CSE’s report and my previous blog on the state of civil dialogue to see just how alarming the situation is.  

Together, our organisations are calling for proper reflections within each institution on how the EU institutions treat civil dialogue and for an interinstitutional agreement on a proper framework for EU civil dialogue. We are looking forward to more regular contacts at the highest levels in the Parliament on key issues that affect the lives of people living in Europe.