The “Roadmap for the implementation of Articles 11(1) and 11(2) of the Treaty on European Union”, result of the recent NGO Forum in Riga organised by the Society Integration Foundation in cooperation with European Movement Latvia within the framework of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU, outlines a vision, a structure and the actions needed for the implementation of better civil dialogue in the EU and the involvement of citizens and their associations.

Goal is the implementation of Articles 11(1) and 11(2) of the Treaty on European Union that focus on continuous dialogue with citizens and civil society on EU policies. The roadmap spells out specific steps for enhanced dialogue at civil society and citizen dialogue both on national and European levels and lists some best practice examples in a range of member countries. It builds on EU programmes encompassing citizen and civil society dialogue like the Europe for Citizens Programme (2014-2020), the European Migration Forum and the Structured Dialogue on Youth and refers to EU policy initatives that seek to promote citizen and civil society dialogue (Annex 3). The recently launchend initiative Civil Society Europe, that several TSI stakeholders are invloved in, is mentioned as an important development to create “an encouraging environment for horizontal exchanges between civil society organisations and movements across Europe and be influential in shaping the agenda on transversal issues of common interest for organised civil society in Europe”.

TSI researcher Karl Henrik Sivesind attended the NGO Forum and shared the views and insights gathered at the TSI EU Stakeholder meeting in October 2014.