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In 2024, as part of the European Commission’s priority to build a European Democracy Fit for the Future, the new European Citizens’ Panels were introduced as an innovative tool to enhance democratic life at the European level. These Panels invite a group of citizens, representative of the socio-demographic composition of the European population, to reflect on key topics. Over the course of three sessions, citizens collaborate to formulate recommendations for the European Commission.
A unique feature of these Panels is their collaboration with the Citizens’ Engagement Platform, where all European citizens can contribute to the discussion. The platform runs in parallel to the panels, allowing a broader audience to also participate in the panel process, as well as the engagement initiative more generally. Make.org is proud to support this new form of citizen participation. Since the inaugural Panel on Energy Efficiency (second and last session) and continuing with the current Panel on Tackling Hatred in Society, Make.org’s citizens' insights team has been leading the analysis of the online discussions from the Citizens’ Engagement Platform. We work very closely with Open Source Politics and the European Commission, who are managing the online platform and are in charge of the Communication strategy around it.
As experts in digital democracy processes, Make.org’s role involves the analysis of data from online citizen contributions. Our mission encompasses creating reports on these online discussions. By analysing proposals and reactions, we identify the ideas that resonate most with citizens. A crucial aspect of our work is to foster a dialogue between the online platform results and the Citizens’ Panel. During the Plenary sessions of the panels, we present these results in an interactive, intuitive and informative manner, ensuring that the most significant topics identified by European citizens contribute meaningfully to the Panel's debates.
