The EuroPolis project employs the Deliberative Polling® method, an approach invented by Professor James Fishkin at Stanford University that tries to put into practice the principle that democratic legitimacy rests on informed opinion, open deliberation, and equal participation of citizens.

Deliberative Polling is designed to show what the public would think about the issues, if it thought more earnestly and with more information about them. Deliberative Polls are a very innovative public opinion technique that provides the unique opportunity to examine the process of collective opinion formation, and allows generalisation of findings as they are based on statistical random samples.

EuroPolis methodology supply valuable indications of what happens when EU citizens become more informed about EU institutional arrangements, decision-making processes, and policy issues, and more aware of the policy preferences of other European citizens. It will offer new answers to vital questions such as:

• Would people make policy choices more in line with their own basic values and beliefs?
• Would policy preferences change, and would people vote more closely in line with their policy preferences?
• Would people give more weight to EU considerations when they vote?
• Would talking with citizens from other member states highlight shared interests and issues?
• Would stronger bonds develop with fellow EU citizens, and increase a sense of belonging to the EU?