Promoting E-Rulemaking in the EU through Deliberative Procedures

Objetivo

This project assesses the potential and limitations of ‘e-rulemaking’ in the European Union (EU). The theoretical approach
employed in this research project addresses citizen participation and e-rulemaking through the lens of deliberative
democracy theory and new media theory with specific references to legal theory. Along with the novel theoretical dimension
that this project will propose regarding law-making procedures in the EU, the researcher aims to produce outcomes that are
informed by relevant empirical analysis and are of practical value. To this end, she proposes to examine the specific erulemaking initiative at EU level, through the organization of a workshop with participants from all over Europe that will
participate in a real e-rulemaking event in order to assess the potential and possible shortcomings of an e-rulemaking
initiative in the EU. As the project aspires to provide valuable contribution to the current ‘Better Regulation” of the EC the
researcher will reach her final conclusions after formal engagement and consultation with the Secretariat General of the EU
and the newly established Regulatory Scrutiny Board (2016) which exercises a ‘quality assurance role” in the ‘Better
regulation Agenda’ of the EC. The researcher aims to organize two short study visits at the European Commission for
consultation with EU institutions and sharing of research results.
The project addresses two major topics: responsible citizenship and the prerequisites for qualitative civic participation in an
e-rulemaking initiative following-deliberative procedures.The project is in nature interdisciplinary as the research it proposes
stands at the crossroads of political science (with specific attention to deliberation theory and participatory democracy),
media studies (with specific attention to new media theory and e-participation) and certainly law as it refers to law making
procedures in the EU.