The German debate on prioritisation in medicine is getting well under way. This development has raised the question of which substantial and procedural criteria should be used to guide fair and legitimate prioritisation. It seems to be obvious that in a pluralist, democratic society citizens should be involved in such a discussion. But which is the adequate method, and what is the potential of citizen participation? In this paper we compare the results of a regional citizens' conference on prioritisation in medicine with various European reports on principles and criteria for prioritisation, and thereby aim to identify the conference members'contributions to the German debate on prioritisation criteria. The results of this exemplary deliberative event can provide hints towards the general potential of discursive participation. (As supplied by publisher).