THE ROLE OF CIVIL DIALOGUE IN THE EU POLICY MAKING PROCESS[editar]

One particular feature of the European Union is its well developed and influential civil society. In many Member States third sector organisations participate actively in the delivery of essential social services and in the promotion of fundamental rights of vulnerable groups at local, national and European level.  In some countries, civil society organisations are consulted by policy makers just like trade unions or employers’ organisations. In other countries however, civil society organisations struggle to make their voice heard in policy debates.

During the Lisbon Summit of 2000, it was highlighted that the EU needed to modernise and strengthen the European Social Model. EU Member States and the European Commission agreed to take the ‘necessary steps to make a decisive impact on the eradiation of poverty by 2010’.

The Lisbon European Council also agreed that Member States' policies for combating social exclusion should be based on the Open Method of Coordination which had been successfully used in the European employment policy, a method which implies a strong participation of civil society stakeholders in all stages of the policy making process.