6.5. Commissions

Ideas

• Temporary committees may be appointed to prepare for votings in international citizen votings.
• They can also be convened by the offices to study a particular topic and provide a recommendation.

Temporary Committees

Just like at the national level, Temporary Committees are established to prepare a voting. Their operation is inspired by citizen initiative reviews: a randomly selected group of citizens studies a particular topic and presents its findings in a report for other citizens.

At the international level, organizing these committees obviously presents additional language and representation challenges. However, the rarity of legislative procedures at the international level should allow for smooth operation.

Organization

Several elements are variable, at the discretion of the Representative Council:

• The size of the group (typically 20 to 30 people).
• The duration of the study (from one to three months).
• The resources allocated to this Committee.
• The composition of the group:
  • A simple random draw can be made among volunteer citizens, or a sampling aimed at improving the group's representativeness can be integrated, in relation to the question to be studied and the most affected countries.
  • It is also possible to favor citizens who have already had national experience within a temporary committee.
  • It is possible to include technical specialists in the group, with a limit of 50% of the total members. These specialists must also be drawn randomly.

Within the limits defined by the Representative Council, Temporary Committees have all the necessary powers to carry out their study, such as soliciting external opinions or organizing a visit to a location related to the topic.

The result of their work is a report for the citizens or the office that requested it. This report is presented in the form of a one-page summary highlighting the main arguments and the Committee's recommendation, as well as a more detailed supplementary dossier, including the documentary sources used to produce the analysis.

Representation

Temporary Committees elect a representative and a deputy who represent the Committee for the duration of its existence.

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