This overview was prepared by the European Centre for Not-for-profit Law for the European Committee on Democracy and Governance (CDDG) with a view to preparing guidelines on civil participation in political decision-making processes. The scope of the civil participation covered in the overview encompasses participation in decision-making processes by individuals and by their organisations. It describes the policy cycle in which participation occurs and describes the standards and practices from the perspective of the three main levels of participation: access to information, consultation and active partnership. The overview also provides examples of mechanisms and models which promote broader dialogue as the overarching form of engagement that applies to all levels and phases. The document includes the existing standards and principles of participation by referring to key documents adopted by United Nations (UN) bodies as well as international conventions and documents adopted by the Council of Europe, the European Union and the OSCE. The overview provides country examples of mechanisms and models from national level (parliament, government, ministries), as well as regional and local levels, and provides practical examples from Council of Europe member states. A part of the document is devoted to young people where descriptions of various policy recommendations and documents dealing with youth participation can be found.
Youth specific: Partially
