The Centre for European Studies’ tellbarroso.eu survey was an innovative web-based platform which invited European citizens to participate in the political decision-formation process. This pioneer initiative was personally endorsed by José Manuel Durão Barroso. It was the latest in a line of initiatives by the Centre for European Studies (CES), the official think thank of the European People’s Party, aimed at bringing policy-making to the citizens by stimulating debate from the ground-up, proposing new ideas and providing a base for centre right political research.
TellBarroso.eu sought to engage European citizens with the question: “What areas affecting your daily life should the EU focus its energies on?” Participants named and discussed issues which really matter to them. Subsequently, participants were given the opportunity to see what issues other participants had specified thus enabling them to evaluate these issues according to their own priorities. Lastly, the survey allowed the participants to add further issues triggered in their minds by the exercise. The data is particularly valuable as it highlighted both individuals’ queries and group queries in quantifiable cross-sections of society.
By stimulating extensive interest on numerous websites and media, CES achieved both staggering participation as well as stimulating side discussions on the wider web. The format used for tellBarroso.eu encouraged wider debate in the blogosphere, as well as within online social communities, proving that Europeans do believe in the EU project and are willing to engage if presented with the proper approach and are given the right tools.
The outcome of the web survey is presented in this report. Participation was high. With 153,479 participants, 12,092 proposals, 123,980 proposal evaluations and 576,914 proposal views European citizens spoke to Mr. Barroso. On 12th May 2009, ten participants of the web survey, who were selected at random, were invited to come to Brussels to present and discuss the findings with Mr. Barroso. Tellbarroso.eu has provided excellent feedback. It is hoped that this platform will inaugurate a series of new initiatives led by CES, bridging the gap between EU politics and European citizens.
