This webinar series, organised by the team behind the EUI-STG Transnational Democracy Forum, is a new space, open to the public, which will situate the debates taking place in the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) in relation to the broader political conflicts of our time. At this crucial moment – as citizens begin offering their recommendations to the CoFoE – the series will bring together various stakeholders including European Parliament representatives, national and regional parliamentarians, organised civil society, as well as EU supporters and critics to interrogate the emerging cleavages this process has unveiled so far.
The series will explore themes closely linked to the STG’s Transnational Democracy Initiative, including the relationships between elected representatives and random citizen representatives, and the expression of conflicting ideologies (pro-european and euro-sceptic) both within and beyond CoFoE. Discussions will also strive to unpack the concrete political implications of the experiment, exploring, among other things, how Europeans may implement a fair and democratic green transition and how the public might be empowered to ensure the Covid-19 recovery funds are spent in the best possible manner.
During the first meeting, which is organised in association with Citizens Take Over Europe, speakers will offer an evaluation of the issues discussed in the European Citizens Panels on "democracy, values, rights, rule of law and security (concluded in Florence) and on "climate change, environment, health concluded in Natolin. This is the first time that multilingual European citizens‘ panels have provided recommendations to the EU. Establishing where MEPs and citizens disagree, and where there may be scope for them to converge, is of utmost importance to the wider success of the Conference.
This event series format and topic has changed. For any information, please see Power to the People! How Can Europe Work For Everyone?