In the last years, the European Union has issued a large number of deliberative mini-publics. For the literature on deliberative as well as participatory democratic innovations this development is of upmost importance, since this development has led to an unprecedented field of transnational citizens'' deliberation within the EU. Against this backdrop, this paper analyses the underlying reform strategy of the EU that has lead to the introduction of these deliberative mini-publics. The relevant key official documents reveal in this regard an ambivalent picture. Staging transnational deliberation among European citzens was only one among other goals. However, this paper concludes with a preliminary overview of 22 transnational deliberative mini-publics, that the European Union has issued so far.
