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E-Consultation Works, Spam Doesn’t

A European Commissioner describes the big differences in the use of e-consultation panels and email to assess public views.

Two years ago, the European Union (EU) was looking for an effective way to gauge public sentiment on a series of policy proposals. Finland's Erkki Liikanen, the European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society, was in charge of reviewing reactions to a draft legislation on chemicals. The task seemed daunting, with 15 nations to review, each with its own unique worries, regulations and particular plans.

The process seemed a perfect match for the use of technology. The EU established two different instruments for European citizens to voice their views: a special e-consultation panel and an email address. Liikanen's team looked to review specific concerns through dialogue, and aimed to discuss possible solutions quickly and easily.

In the end, the e-consultation panel was deemed a success. "Through the Internet enabled consultation period, we discovered that the legislation had a flaw indeed, one that would have increased costs by several billions of euros, in particular for smaller companies," said Liikanen.

The results of the email solution were not as useable. Liikanen received "around 70,000 emails in my inbox in a few days. This can destroy dialogue, it is spam, and we don't like spam." Instead of bringing people together, the email address only caused problems for the Commissioner, who was unable to effectively engage the senders.

The successful experience with panel management prompted Liikanen to implement similar tools to connect with key personnel in the continental group. "I can recall a case in the past when letters were being exchanged and signed off between about 30 people. By the end, most of the names were misspelt and two of the signatories weren't even ministers any more," said Liikanen. The use of web-enabled tools allows for a quicker process, less paperwork and faster results.

Whether the group of shareholders is a 10-member commission or a continental alliance encompassing 450 million citizens, panel management has provided exemplary results for the EU. This very same ability to instantly review results, discuss ongoing projects and assess regulations is available through Vision Critical's online panel management tool, Panel+.

Posted on June 26, 2005
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