Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers blog

 Europe 2007: we have a European currency, a European flag and European laws. But despite all these assets, how often is the future of Europe discussed with the actual citizens of any of the 26 other member states?

Well, this is the challenge undertaken by Tomorrow’s Europe: to bring together 400 citizens of the 27 member states for one weekend of deliberation within the European Parliament. However, European integration is also possible through the internet and with this in mind, Tomorrow’s Europe have asked the Yahoo! Answers community to take part in the project, by posting some European questions to the Answers community.

For the very first time, 400 citizens from the 27 member states will meet for three days at the European Parliament in Brussels, on 12th-14th October, to discuss the future of Europe with each other and with high-profile European political leaders.

To celebrate this occasion, Yahoo! Answers will be launching a month of dialog on, with ten or so questions being posted by Tomorrow’s Europe about the future of the European Union. The project uses an innovative method, created and framed by professors of Stanford University, called a Deliberative Poll. Initially, a traditional survey is carried out on several thousands of European citizens (in this particular case, on the future of the European Union), then they propose to 400 of them to meet and deliberate on the questions submitted.

This method already proved to be successful in particular in Bulgaria concerning the integration of the Rom populations, in Northern Ireland on education, in the area of Lazio in Italy with regards to the healthcare system, in Athens and in Great Britain who have already experienced five Deliberative Polls.

Tomorrow’s Europe will be the first experiment of Deliberative Poll on a trans-national scale, so we hope you enjoy reading and contributing to the questions posted. The future of Europe might just depend upon it.

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team

Answer Tomorrow’s Europe’s questions:

1. Should new countries join the EU? If so, which ones and why?

2. Are you in favour of a European tax? If so or not, why?

3. In the future will a European army be more useful than national armies? If so or not, why?

4. What values and political priorities make Europeans distinct from the rest of the world?

5. Do you favour a European minimum wage? Why?