1st Edition
The Parliamentary Dimension of the Conference on the Future of Europe Synergies and Legitimacy Clashes
This book offers a comprehensive and timely analysis of the parliamentary dimension of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) – an unprecedented experiment in which parliamentary representation met transnational citizen participation in the European Union (EU).
Across twelve chapters, the book investigates the CoFoE as an opportunity structure for both the European Parliament (EP) as the “host” of the process, and national as well as regional parliaments, as the “guests” in this process, to fulfil and revitalise their key functions in EU multi-level democracy. The book also provides a valuable source of insights for representatives in national parliaments and the newly elected European Parliament (2024-2029), to hopefully prompt them to rethink their relationship with citizens in the ever-evolving transnational democratic space of the EU.
Bringing together both academics and practitioners, this book will be of key interest to anyone interested in parliamentary representation, citizen participation, and democratic legitimacy in the EU and beyond.
Foreword: A Democratic Journey for 21st century Europe
Kalypso Nicolaïdis
Introduction
Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka and Lucy Kinski
1. When parliamentary representation meets citizen participation: Analysing the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE)
Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka and Lucy Kinski
Part 1: The “host” perspective
2. Driving democratic change? The European Parliament’s reform agenda in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe
Gilles Pittoors and Silvia Kotanidis
3. The European Parliament and the Conference on the Future of Europe: Between ownership and diverging political visions
Jan Kotynek Krotký
Part 2: The “guest” perspective
4. The Portuguese Assembleia da República in the Conference on the Future of Europe: Setting the scene for inter-parliamentary cooperation
Bruno Dias Pinheiro
5. Building consensus among national parliaments: Ambitions and challenges of the French parliament during CoFoE
Guillaume Sacriste and Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka
6. The Czech parliament and the Conference on the Future of Europe: Observers, facilitators, and absentees
Jan Grinc
7. The Swedish Riksdag and the Future of Europe: Defending the status quo
Petr Kaniok
8. The Spanish parliamentary involvement in the CoFoE: Between European political entrepreneurs and depoliticised domestic politics
Alvaro Oleart
9. The German Bundestag in the CoFoE: Comfortable guest with strong ownership
Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka and Monika Sus
10. Translating reluctance into activism: The Dutch parliament in the Conference on the Future of Europe
Mendeltje van Keulen
11. The Conference on the Future of Europe as an opportunity structure: An analysis of activities in the 27 German-speaking regional parliaments
Gabriele Abels
Conclusion
Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka and Lucy Kinski
Biography
Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka is Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Science and a member of the Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Wrocław, Poland. She is also an Associate Researcher at the CESSP of the Université Paris 1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, France.
Lucy Kinski is Postdoc in European Union Politics at the Salzburg Centre of European Union Studies (SCEUS) and the Political Science Department at the University of Salzburg, Austria.
