We, the Citizens
How to Let Europeans Participate in Future Treaty Changes
- Registration is now closed
Description:
Europe has still not managed to tackle the roots of the economic crisis looming about the continent for over 5 years now. EU leaders and institutions have done even less to tackle the crisis of confidence towards the Union’s common policies and institutions. Without the support of the citizens, however, it is impossible to build a functioning and sustainable economic government for the EU that is capable to ensure lasting prosperity for all. The only proper way out of this deadlock would be a new Treaty prepared in an intensive public deliberation to gain the broadest possible acceptance by Europe's citizens.
The best way to do this would be to organise a European Convention which would discuss proposals for a treaty revision and a pan-European Referendum on its outcome. However, bad memories of the failed first attempt to create an EU-Constitution warn us to plan and prepare this process carefully. The goal is to ensure a maximum legitimacy and support for the new Treaty through a democratic, transparent and inclusive process.
During this conference, we want to look at different models for citizens’ participation in a future European Convention and the related broad political/constitutional debates and will discuss the best ways of successfully organising a European Referendum for the approval of the suggested Treaty changes. We want to analyse these issues with the help of legal experts, democracy campaigners and green activists, based on experience gained with citizen participation on regional and national level in Europe.
Programme
9:30 - Conference opening:
Rebecca Harms, MEP (Co-president of the Greens/EFA group)
9:45 - Session 1: Citizen participation in the European Convention
Chair: Amelia Andersdotter, MEP
- François Lafond (EuropaNova)
- Anna Lodeserto (European Alternatives)
- Roderick Parkes (Polish Institute for International Affairs)
11:15 - Session 2: Organising a pan-European Referendum
Chair: Gerald Häfner, MEP
- Ben J. Crum (Univ. Amsterdam)
- John-Eric Fossum (ARENA Oslo)
- Ulrike Liebert (Univ. Bremen)
- Paolo Ponzano (EUI Florence)
13:00 - Sandwich buffet
Note: The conference will be fully interpreted in English, German and French, as well as by International Sign (IS) interpreters. Live Speech to Text will be available in the room and on the livestream.
