How can public administrations, ombudsmen and others better involve citizens in decision-making was the main topic of the annual European Network of Ombudsmen (ENO) conference, which discussed measures to improve participatory democracy in the EU, held on 8-9 April 2019 at the European parliament in Brussels.
Deputy Ombudswoman Lidija Lukina Kezić, participating in WG for Health and Demography, spoke about the need for equal accessibility of health services for all on the entire area of Croatia and for health system to better respond to the elderly needs, especially in the context of expanding digitalisation. Significant presentation with this respect was that of the Estonian Ombudswoman who argued for return of the traditional way of ordering medicaments and medical examination since the country’s complete digitalisation has made health services inaccessible to old people.
The plenary conclusions focused on better citizens’ involvement in democratic processes, improvements in access to information for all, transparent communication between the political elite and citizens, more public dialogue an cooperation with the media and CSO and more inquiries on own initiative.
Ombudsmen met for the first time with the SOLVIT representatives, a service for swift resolving the EU citizens’ problems. Exchange of experience showed that there were plenty of room for better cooperation with ombudsman’s institutions at national level. SOLVIT unit is active in Croatia as well at the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts.