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Athens (pte014/11.02.2003/10:06) - Over the next six months, the Greek Presidency of the EU Council will be hosting a series of interactive e-democracy projects on the Internet http://evote.eu2003.gr/index_en.asp.
The project is designed to give European citizens a chance to voice their opinions on pan-European issues and European initiatives at the upper EU government level - much like Vote.com in the United States http://www.vote.com.
The initiative began yesterday with an 'e-vote' online questionnaire asking Europeans for their views on several important issues. After completing the questionnaire, users could compare their views to those of citizens of other EU countries and ten future member states.
Each month, a new vote will be launched on a topical issue. An additional section focuses on the six main priorities of the Greek Presidency: enlargement, the future of Europe, the EU's role in the world, immigration and asylum, the Lisbon process and sustainable development.
Parallel polls will ask Europeans for their views on current affairs and international developments.
But in addition to giving Europeans a sense of what their neighbours think, the site also tries to establish direct contact between European citizens and their leaders. According to the organisers, the results of each e-voting session will be presented to European leaders before issues are discussed at summits and council meetings.
The official statement issued by the Greek Presidency http://www.eu2003.gr/en/cat/0/index.asp? claims the site should give Europeans "the opportunity to actively participate in the democratic process and make their views heard at the highest level".
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