Participatory budgeting is a tool to rebalance the power that allows people to decide on priorities and spending for their communities. What safeguards and processes need to be in place for the successful implementation of participatory budgeting?
As discussions about the EU's forthcoming multiannual financial framework (MFF 2028-2035) intensify, it is timely to explore how it can be used to strengthen democratic processes and build trust in EU institutions. For example, the new MFF provides an opportunity to improve and standardise processes through a common framework for fiscal transparency and participatory budgeting across all programmes in the Member States. This can signal a shift towards open budgets in the EU –an approach to enhance the effectiveness of EU budget allocations, ultimately supporting a more resilient, inclusive, and democratic European economy.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) organised a public hearing on September 11, 2024 on participatory budgeting in the EU. Findings of the hearing will feed into the policy proposals of the EESC Opinion , to be adopted during the plenary session on October 23-24.
The right of every citizen to participate in the democratic life of the European Union is guaranteed by Article 10 and Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union both for citizens and organized civil society. According to this, citizens and civil society organisations (CSOs) shall have suitable mechanisms for raising their voices on the relevant issues and topics they are interested in.
If set up carefully and considering the needs of various groups, participatory budgeting has the potential to increase trust in the European, national and local institutions, better inform people and consider their needs when designing budgets.
As highlighted in our research, online tools and digital platforms, such as Decidim and Maptionnaire, can be efficiently used to run participatory budgeting processes online. Setting up such a tool is a long-term investment, so it is important for strategic priorities to be based on people's needs.
What safeguards need to be in place?
- Inclusiveness and equal participation: any new processes must be consistent with the principles of equality and non-discrimination enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. Particular attention must be paid to ensuring equality between women, men and other genders (Art 23 CFR), inclusion of marginalised and underrepresented people (Article 21 CFR), accessibility for people living with a disability and taking different cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds into consideration (Art 22 and 26 CFR). Safeguards and tools need to ensure gender equality and the engagement of those who are historically marginalised and systematically excluded from decision-making. It is also important to systematically engage youth as decisions made will ultimately influence the future generations. Organised civil society has a crucial role in ensuring effective and inclusive participation.
- Right to privacy and data protection: While efforts to ensure high degree of transparency is important, the protection of personal data and the right to privacy of users shall also be an overarching priority for those responsible for e-democracy tools. Safeguards must be in place for any potential abuses of data processing, including users’ sensitive data.
- Protecting fundamental rights when using AI and technology in general: There is a rising interest in utilising data analytics and AI to provide deeper insights into budgetary data and improve decision-making. It is important that the EU and other institutions conduct a fundamental rights impact assessment based on a clear guidance using the support and expertise of CSOs for any AI tools that are developed and deployed to enhance public participation, as it is a key fundamental right enshrined within the Treaty on European Union.
What key processes ensure successful participatory budgeting?
It is essential to translate and operationalise these rights during the development and implementation of participatory budgeting at all levels.
- Clarity: It is important to make the participatory budgeting process user-friendly and have clarity on the stages, criteria and available funding from the very beginning. People shall have freedom to both come up with new project ideas for their communities and vote on other’s proposals.
- Inclusion:
- It is essential that the newly build EU-wide digital platform is available in all EU official languages, accessible for people with disabilities and integrates the feedback of the users. We also recommend using simple and non-technical language to enable individuals and grassroots organisations to participate.
- While participation has been increasingly moving to the online space, human interaction and in-person consultation methods remain to be crucial. Particular attention needs to be paid to digital divide to make sure also people without internet access and literacy can be involved in the ways of participation. We encourage the EU institutions and Member States to continue using hybrid forms of participation in the future, too - it can be useful for the collection and deliberation of ideas.
- Awareness raising campaign and targeted outreach are key for a broader buy-in and successful implementation. As part of this, it is important to provide training to civil servants and CSOs. The use of gamification and integration into university curricula such as the examples highlighted in ECNL’s research on new dimensions for public participation could help to engage youth. It is a good practice to set up a specific inclusion team who can facilitate this and help to bring together the different voices.
- Impact: The success of any participatory tools is eventually measured by the actual impact on the decisions made. If the authorities do not take into account the recommendations and implement the projects, people will be discouraged to participate. Therefore, it is important to build the features of the platform and overall process in a way that enables collaboration and makes it clear what happens with the proposals. At the end of the initiative, it is essential to evaluate how the process was designed and implemented to learn from the mistakes and build upon the successes.
ECNL remains available to support further efforts to promote public participation through participatory budgeting and other ways.