In his contribution Ingmar von Homeyer examines the level of participatory governance in three issue areas: biotechnology regulation/the revision of the Deliberate Release Directive, European political values/the ‘sanctions’ against Austria/revision of Article 7 TEU, and employment policy/the European Employment Strategy.

The process of European integration has given rise to a new object of study – European society. Several old questions concerning citizenship, democracy, government and institutions must be raised anew, this time at the European level. These are not only academic issues, but also major political concerns at European and member state level.

How democratic is Europe? Is it getting worse? Is it getting better? Should we care? Do we care? The European Public Space Observatory project (EUROPUB) will assemble information that allows the monitoring of European democracy in the 21st century in the context of the emerging institutional constellations and socio-political practices of the European Union and the process of European integration.

Giorgi, Liana et al. 2004: The European Public Space Observatory. Assembling Information That Allows the Monitoring of the European Public Space, EUROPUB research project. The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, Austria and partners, Vienna.

Klasing, Anneke and Markus Knigge 2004: Testing the EUROPUB Democracy Indicators: The Case of EU Trade Policy, EUROPUB research project, Deliverable 5, Case Study. Ecologic, Vienna.

Homeyer, Ingmar von 2004: The Revision of the Directive on the Deliberate Release of Genetically Modified Organisms into the Environment. Institutional Opportunity Structures for Effective Contestation of Policy-Making, EUROPUB research project, Deliverable 2, Case Study. Ecologic, Vienna.

Homeyer, Ingmar von 2003: Institutional Opportunity Structures for Effective Contestation of Policy-Making, EUROPUB research project, Deliverable 2, Synthesis Report. Ecologic, Berlin.