Europe’s Peoples’ Forum
www.europespeoplesforum.eu
In the past,
the European Union has engaged in several processes to discuss its policies and decisions with the European people, but without much success. The EU is still blamed for its lack of popular foundation and its democratic deficit in the European Council and the
European Commission that by many has been perceived to neglect people’s needs and concerns.
Europe’s People’s Forum turns the upside down of these processes by letting the people formulate its visions
and policy proposals across the 28 member states and by presenting and advocating for these proposals towards European and national politicians and civil servants.
It is the ambition that the forum will constitute Europe’s people’s counterpart
to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Goal
The aim of Europe’s People’s Forum is to strengthen European democracy and engage the people and media in Europe in a debate of strategies and visions for the future of the
EU together with other national European initiatives. This debate seeks to impact on the courseof the EU and to better align future EU political strategies with the populations’ priorities.
Who
The forum is implemented
by the international non-profit organization Europe’s People’s Forum (EPF), registered in Denmark, in collaboration with tentatively more than 50 active organisations from the 28 EU member states who will convene in 2017 to determine the activities
for the three following years.
How
Each year the project will be implemented in five phases:
Online communities and role of the Media
An easily accessible and active debate
platform on the Internet is crucial to promote the debate across member states and ensure maximum involvement of Europe’s people. The project will also engage with the European organisations for regional and national public service media as key
actors to increase participation in the project.
Research Validation Panel
The Research Validation Panel consists of recognised researchers and research institutions across Europe and covers the
broad range of thematic challenges that will be dealt with by EPF. The Research Validation Panel will ensure that the final policy proposals that the people put forward are not only easy opinions but also are well substantiated in a broader analytical and
political perspective. It is however important that the visions remain those deriving from the popular debates in the 28 countries and only are validated, adjusted and substantiated through the Research Validation Panel.
The organisation Europe’s People’s Forum
Europe’s People’s Forum is registered as an international nonprofit organization in Denmark with a professional board comprised of Danish
and European members who are legally responsible for the activities of the organization. The organization will also have an advisory committee with representative from the 28 member states.
Most activities are expected to take place across all other
European countries in which Europe’s People’s Forum expects to have one or two national partners as connected by an online platform. The organisation actively raises funds from private foundations and companies but might in a later phase also receive
funding through the EU Institutions in Bruxelles.
The Board of the organisation is awaiting additional members but currently includes the following persons:
Chairperson: Niels Jørgen Thøgersen (BE) – former Director of Communication,
the European Union niels4europe@gmail.com
Deputy Chairperson: Roger Casale (UK), CEO New Europeans
Member: Ylva Tiveus (SE), former Director of Communication, the European Union ylva@tiveus.eu
Member: Jakob Erle (DK), former director Danish-Egyptian
Dialogue Institute and IAED jakob@erle.dk
Member: Per Frimann (DK), former football player and EC press officer, now football expert commentator
Member: Povl Christian Henningsen (DK), owner Henningsen Global, earlier interpreter in EU mail@henningsenglobal.com
Member and Secretary General: Bent Nørby Bonde (BE), Director Media Progress, earlier director Baltic Media Centre and TV 2 Bornholm bnb@media-progress.net
Address: Ryvangs Allé 18, 2100 Copenhagen Oe, Denmark, VAT 38364367