About the conference

The conference will focus on two important topics relevant for all citizens of Europe as well as all European policy makers:

1. Social rights and social reality in the European Union
2. Active citizenship and governance.

Under the auspices of Mr. Vladimír Špidla, EC Commissioner of Social Affairs and Employment, the conference will be jointly organized by Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark, and Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.

Conference content

The CINEFOGO Network of Excellence has been involved in deepening the understanding of the role of civil society and new forms of governance in Europe and the making of European citizenship.

The conference will present CINEFOGO Network findings on the relationships among citizens, NGOs, civil servants and politicians at the European and national levels. It will identify different roles of various actors and institutions, the ways they are (or are not) involved in the decision making processes, and how their actions influence the changing human living conditions – including accessibility of social rights to European citizens.

Governance at the EU level has a big impact the on daily life and working conditions of the Europeans. However, the citizens of Europe mostly do not understand the complexities of EU policy making. Their active participation at various levels of governance differs from one country to another and from agenda to agenda, depending on uneven strengths of particular civil societies, different civic cultures, and emerging new modes of cooperation between private and public actors. There is an important role of intermediate organizations, such as NGOs and the media in nurturing conditions for the activation of European citizens. In general, active citizens’ participation is still a feeble resource in the EU decision making processes.

Social rights of citizens (as reflected in various European legal and political documents) will be compared with their real accessibility, including the conditions created for families, balancing the work and family responsibilities, gender division of labour, and the social inclusion of immigrants. The changing role of Welfare States as organizers, contractors, and delivering agents of social protection and support will be analyzed, as well as the specific tasks of NGOs in the delivery of social services. The causes of discrepancies between the norms and the living and working conditions of Europeans, seen both in terms of objective indicators and subjective reflections, will be identified, and appropriate public policies narrowing the gap between the two will be discussed.

The conference will create an ideal platform for a productive discussion between European researchers, EP members, EU officials, NGOs representatives, and the media. Thus, the core aim of the conference, to spread the CINEFOGO research excellence at the European and national level of policy making among the European and national policy makers, will be hopefully achieved.