Reinforcing EU Climate and Democratic Governance: Enhancing Public Participation and Deliberation

Public participation is not only a tool for better climate policies but also a cornerstone of democracy itself. Research has demonstrated that engaging citizens meaningfully leads to more effective climate action that people can trust and rally behind. Moreover, it has also shown that public participation helps overcome political polarisation and rebuild faith in democratic institutions. Strengthening democracy prepares the ground for ambitious, fair, legitimate and enduring climate policies. This report provides a systematic assessment of the quality of public participation mechanisms for EU climate governance. It analyses 10 mechanisms of general EU governance (ranging from established mechanisms such as the European Citizens’ Initiative and public consultations by the European Commission to new mechanisms such as Strategic Dialogues and European Citizens’ Panels) and three mechanisms provided for in EU climate and environmental governance. The analysis comprises participatory mechanisms at the EU and national levels that are anchored in EU governance. Existing mechanisms at the sub-national level, hardly addressed in EU governance, are beyond the scope of this study. Drawing on the 1998 Aarhus Convention, human rights law, and academic literature, we analyse these mechanisms along nine key dimensions: the governance level they operate at (EU and/or Member States), how they are initiated (top-down or bottom-up), which stage of the policy cycle they address (agenda setting, decision-making, evaluation), who can participate (citizens, CSOs, stakeholders), the mode of participation (input, discussion, deliberation), transparency, accountability of decision-makers, the impact of participation on decision-making, and the institutionalisation of the mechanisms. Public participation mechanisms should all be as inclusive, transparent, accountable, impactful, deliberative, institutionalised and comprehensive as possible to ensure high-quality participation. Taken together, they should therefore ensure full coverage of the policy cycle, including decision-making on policy design and on implementation. In addition, a balance of top-down and bottom-up initiation, a diverse set of modes and involvement of both citizens and stakeholders, as appropriate, should be aimed for.