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What should European democracy look like?

Has the time come for the EU to embrace new forms of democracy? 

The EU’s deliberative democracy experiment, embodied by the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), gave citizens from across the bloc a platform to set out proposals for how they want the EU to function and what they feel it should focus on. Could this be a unique opportunity to shed light on the fundamental importance of permanent and direct involvement of randomly selected citizens in the European policymaking process and for citizens to debate Europe’s challenges and priorities?

On 31 May 2022, Friends of Europe and Debating Europe held an online panel debate on the future of EU democracy, with European citizens as well as representatives from EU politics, academia, the private sector and civil society.

Taking part in the discussion were:

  •  Kalypso Aude Nicolaïdis, Professorial Chair of Global Affairs, European University Institute School of Transnational Governance
  •  Valentina Balzani, Citizen and Participant of CoFoE European Citizens’ Panel 2, “European democracy/Values and rights, rule of law, security”
  •  Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor in EU Law at HEC Paris, Founder of The Good Lobby and 2014 European Young Leader (EYL40)
  •  Tomáš Rákos, Co-Founder and CEO of Participation Factory
  •  Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul, Member of the Common Secretariat for the Conference on the Future of Europe
  •  Max Steuer, Citizen and Participant of CoFoE European Citizens’ Panel 2, “European democracy/Values and rights, rule of law, security”

What should European democracy look like? 

How can citizens and civil society push for a comprehensive follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe? What must be done to maintain the momentum calling for a new, inclusive and deliberative model of democratic participation, and can such model be permanently adopted? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts for their reactions!

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.