ABSTRACT
The value of the public voice in policy making is embedded in the policy of the European Union (EU), explicitly recognized in the Rio Declaration adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit (UN, 1992), 2 and reflective of age-old democratic principles on which most modern systems of government are based. But the reasons for including public participation in the policy-making process extend beyond the principle of inclusion and into strategy, as the European Commission (EC) has stated, ‘improved participation is likely to create more confidence in the end result and in the institutions which deliver policies’ (EC, 2001). In the wake of international trade agreements, where there is a potential for cascading effects that can indirectly influence a significant portion of the populations of consenting nations, public participation is especially important both in principle and to assure a more effective and acceptable outcome.
