Debate Europe! Commissioners in new online discussion forum

On 29th January 2008 Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström and Commissioners Stavros Dimas (Environment) and Andris Piebalgs (Energy), as well as other Commission staff, will be online between 16:00 and 18:00 (CY time) to take part in discussions with European citizens.

The ‘Debate Europe’ forum was originally part of the European Commission’s Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate and was conceived as an online discussion space where EU citizens could exchange their views and opinions on a variety of EU-related subjects. Since its launch in March 2006, the forum has had thousands of contributions and over 1.3 million views.

The new-look “Debate Europe” will be easier to use and will, for the time being, focus on three main topics: the Future of Europe, Energy and Climate Change and Intercultural Dialogue. There will also be a “Miscellaneous” channel for people to talk about any other EU-related issue.

The forum will be in all 23 official languages of the EU and, as with the previous forum, there will also be a channel in the Catalan language.

The new forum hopes to re-launch debate and help the Commission and the European citizen to engage in a constructive dialogue, with the Commission listening to citizens’ concerns and giving feedback. The re-launch is also set to contribute to the development of a European public space on the internet, raising awareness about the Commission’s new Internet strategy: “Being Global, Going Local”.

The re-launch promises an afternoon of animated online interaction between the general public and Commission representatives. Commission officials will continue to join in the debate on a regular basis to ensure there is a follow-up of all discussions and a real exchange between the Commission and the general public.

Further information: http://europa.eu/debateeurope/