Europe in One Room
Imagine all Europeans in the same room—to what degree can they talk to each other? Will they understand each other’s concerns? In the Fall of 2007, for the first time ever, Tomorrow’s Europe will bring together a representative microcosm of 400 citizens from all of Europe for a weekend of deliberation within the European Parliament.
They will discuss the future of the EU. Because they will be truly representative, all of Europe in a sense will be in that room. Tomorrow’s Europe will be the first Europe-wide Deliberative Poll®, a process of balanced information, deliberation and opinion gauging. It occurs in parallel to institutional EU discussions, a fitting time to see what Europeans would think if they had time to meet and share opinions across borders.

Citizens’ Voices, Europe’s Choices

Now that, following the Berlin Declaration, the European Union is preparing for its future, Tomorrow’s Europe will provide a direct link between European citizens and political leaders. Thanks to the Deliberative Polling® methodology, this initiative will:

 Poll a sample of 3500 citizens, representative of the population of the 27 countries of the Union as a whole, on key matters for the future of the EU, in particular Europe’s economic and social dimension.
 Bring together a subsample around 400 randomly selected ordinary citizens from all walks of life to deliberate. The participants will have received information on the issues discussed, vetted as representing the full range of political views by an independent panel of politicians.
 A final poll will measure what citizens opinions are, once they have had the chance to meet, think, gain balanced information, and put questions to experts.

Deliberative Polling® is a tested methodology. But for the first time, citizens from different countries will come together. Therefore, it should be held during a whole weekend inside the European Parliament in Brussels and should be broadcast by various national televisions.

Citizens and experts

Associating citizens to the European construction remains a fundamental issue; debates during the referendum campaign in 2005 in France and the Netherlands demonstrated citizens’ desire to get involved, as well as the difficulty to discuss fundamental European issues in a balanced way.

The participants in Tomorrow’s Europe will be selected through a poll taken in the 27 Member States, with Europe being considered as a whole. Experts and high-ranking political leaders will be answer citizens’ questions, so that the people can form a better informed opinion - because debating under good conditions guarantees a real added value for decision-makers and for the media. And above all for democracy.

A rigorous methodology

Deliberative Polling® has proved to be efficient on more than 20 occasions. It uses the latest discoveries in social science and conforms to a precise methodology. The process is followed by a scientific committee, which includes high-ranking international experts responsible for ensuring the quality of the deliberation.

Prestigious European partners

As a project giving priority to the citizens, Tomorrow’s Europe is rich with contributions from personalities and organisations with various backgrounds, which illustrate European diversity: public and private institutions, NGOs, European companies are brought together to offer their support regarding scientific, logistical and financial matters.

Coordinated by Notre Europe, Tomorrow’s Europe brings together the following partners:

 Most of the European institutions, as a project selected for the European Commission’s “Plan D” initiative. Together with the German presidency, the European Parliament, who gave agreement in principle to host the deliberation, should bring an essential contribution. The European economic and social Committee also decided to associate with the project.
 23 think tanks, research institutes, and NGOs: the Open Society Institute, the European University Institute, the EurActiv Foundation, the Centre for European Policy Studies, Europeum, the Initiative and Referendum Institute, Europa-Nova, Providus, the Institute for Public Affairs, the Centre for Liberal Strategies, and Nyt Europa.
 A Sponsoring Committee, chaired by Jacques Delors, it includes Giuliano Amato, Theo Angelopoulos, Felix de Azua, Bill Emmott, Bronislaw Geremek, John Hume, Sandra Kalniete, Lord Paddy Ashdown, Claudio Magris, Fernando Savater, Simone Veil.
 A network of more than 30 researchers, spread all across the European Union, as well as other European countries and the United States
 TNS Sofres, the internationally renowned polling institute, responsible for the Eurobarometer among other international polling operations.
 Organisational partner and sponsor: Allianz
 Sponsors: Thalys, Hippocrene Foundation

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8 May 2007