Dialogue and communication with Europe must be improved if the sector is to take full advantage of the opportunities it offers – and should be based on a Compact-Style agreement in order to ensure best practice.

This was the outcome of the Labour Party Conference fringe meeting Connecting Europe and the Citizen, Civil Society as the Driver for Change, held jointly by the NCVO, BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development) and Solidar, an international alliance of social and economic justice non-governmental organisations.

The call was made by Richard Bennett, chair of MakePovertyHistory and chief executive of BOND, who said that such a system was necessary to ensure a consistent standard of debate and engagement with the sector. He said that campaigns such as MPH showed that people across the UK and Europe did care and that the public engagement was due to the accessible nature of the message which enabled people to learn more about the cause

The call was backed by the NCVO, whose head of campaigns and communications, Chris Stalker, said that a European Compact would be an important step in helping the EU engage with civil society. “An EU-wide Compact style agreement is an aim supported by NCVO. We believe that it will help ensure a full engagement with the sector. It is clear that improved communications across the EU and the EU institutions are seen as a key part of re-engaging the EU with civil society.”

However, former European Minister Denis MacShane MP said that there was a problem in the UK on how to connect with Europe and that there was a need for people in the UK to learn how to “speak European”.