Cycle 2
From April 20 to June 19, 2021.
The second cycle of the Brussels Citizens' Assembly was organized in spring 2021. It was of the reactive type: it positioned itself on the texts and proposals dealt with in the various committees of the Brussels parliament.
​
Given the health situation, it took place mainly online , via a platform and videoconferences.
timeline
Welcome
20 > 25/4/21
Information and exploration
28/4 > 4/5/21
Exchanges and writing
8 > 29/5/21
Validation
4 > 12/6/21
Celebration et evaluation
19/6/21
On April 20, the first meeting of this cycle took place online: welcoming, meeting & sharing ; presentation of the AGORA project and the stages of the cycle.
On April 25, the assemblists gathered for a walk in the Parc Royale where they got to know each other in real life .
On April 27, the assemblists attended a presentation on the functioning of the Brussels Parliament , its committees and the competences of Brussels.
Then, they discovered a selection of ten proposals for ordinances and resolutions which were currently being discussed in the various committees of the Brussels parliament. These texts were selected by the Parliamentary team of Agora on the basis of criteria:
Criteria for the selection of texts proposed to assemblists
-
Avoid subjects on which citizens' assemblies or panels have recently taken place (housing / mobility);
-
Favor texts where people's life experience can be useful and, on the contrary, avoid texts that are too exclusively technical;
-
Avoid subjects related to covid - because the special COVID-19 committee closed before Easter 2021, but also because it's a passionate subject with many rapid action which change all the time;
-
Favor texts that have a chance of passing ideally soon or in any case before the end of the legislature;
-
Find a balance in the available stock between texts:
-
Of the opposition and the majority;
-
Diversity of committees involved;
-
Diversity of types of text> proposals for ordinances and resolutions;
-
Diversity of the parties taking the initiative of the texts (with a particular interest for texts carried by several parties);
-
-
Avoid choosing texts between which there would be contradictions (if similar thematic);
-
Favor general rather than specific texts (example: animal protection rather than whale hunting);
-
Favor the texts considered sufficient for a deliberation (counter example: 'yes / no' for the construction of a statue);
From April 28 to 30, the assemblists prioritized the 10 proposed texts via the online platform. Then, the 5 most popular texts were selected :
-
Setting up an autonomy insurance to take care of the needs of people with loss of autonomy
-
Fight against cyberviolence with tools to raise awareness and support victims
-
Elimination of the post of an alderman and inclusion of the president of the CPAS in the municipal college
-
Make space, places and public services more accessible to people with disabilities
-
Implementation of a project for free access to hygienic protections (towels, tampons, cup, etc.)
Texts chosen by the assemblists
From May 1 to 3, each assemblist indicated his or her favorite text on which he / she wanted to work personally. Popularized versions of the texts have been created, allowing all assemblists to read the ordinance and resolution proposals.
On May 4, the assemblists met for the first time in groups composed per chosen text. Each group learned about the issues affecting its text, thanks to the insights shared by different experts, and the many questions that were put to them by the assemblists.
May 8 was an important day for this assembly cycle: the assemblists met online and started with the first group discussions on the chosen text. After sharing their personal experiences, they identified the positive and negative points of their texts and explored the points where improvements were possible or desirable. Then, they deliberated and issued a positioning proposal on their text (for example: "we propose to vote 'for'") as well as drafted any proposed amendments (adaptation of the text).
Between May 11 and 23, the assemblists were able to write comments on the positioning of other groups via the online platform. It is thanks to this stage that the assemblists, beyond the groups, together formed an assembly.
May 29 was the day to finalise the positioning: the groups incorporated the comments that their positioning proposal received via the platform.
The ordinance proposing autonomy insurance had already passed in Parliament before May 29. The Agora parliamentary team therefore acted in parliament on the basis of this group's positioning and comments on the platform.
​
Thus, the group of assemblists dedicated to this text was offered another type of work on Saturday, May 29, namely to exercise the role of parliamentary control of the government: In addition to proposing and voting on legal texts , parliamentarians are in fact also called upon to question the quality and relevance of the actions of the Brussels government. From 10 Brussels political news articles which were published in the media the 10 days before, the group therefore chose one, on which it wanted to question the government. The group chose the subject of the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, and worked on a question posed to the relevant minister. The question, starting with a series of observations, was tabled Monday 31/05 in Parliament.
Parliamentary question
The results of phase 3, ie the positioning proposals of the assembly on the 5 texts, were validated between June 4 and 9. For this, the assemblists of each group filmed a summary of their work and their intentions. Then, via the online platform, the assemblists were able to participate in the validation process.
​
It was not just a question of validating the (overall) result with a simple 'yes' / 'no' vote, but of indicating whether they felt sufficiently in agreement with the process followed and the result obtained to give their consent for to the results to used in Parliament on behalf of the whole Assembly .
On June 19, the reports were handed over to MP Pepijn Kennis, followed by a celebration and press conference.
