After 3 years studying the Conference on the Future of Europe, I had the chance to directly contribute to it by meeting - as expert witness - some of the citizens who have been randomly selected to discuss EU's future.

Here’s what I've learned #CoFoE 🧵

(Spoiler: A bunch )
Despite its limitations, #CoFoE - and in particular its 800-citizen panels - are de facto creating a mini transnational conversation among citizens who would not otherwise talk about the EU.

That's pretty magic for anyone who believes in EU project papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… 2/
After 2 decades of teaching, training & civil society engagement, I’ve never experienced a more genuinely DIVERSE and committed audience before.

AND

Unlike citizens you can meet around the citizen panelists are more empowered: their recommendations will shape/transcend #cofoe
800 randomly selected people may not seem a large number when compared to EU's 446 millions. Yet by coming from different walks of lives/demographics, they're likely to better reflect Europeans' preferences than MEPs, who elected nationally think along nation states' boundaries
The conversations are framed by facilitators & invited experts (like myself). Given limited EU literacy among citizens, expert framing shapes citizens’ conversations. Hence need 2 clarify how experts are selected & what role they play (telling to be neutral doesn't help much)
5/
By gaining an exposure to the EU and, inevitably, a crash course on how it works, many of these 800 lives will be transformed.

It pays for everyone to soak herself/himself in someone’s else point of view, however much you might recoil… Europe needs greater deliberation!

6/
What Europe would look like if we had a fully fledged pan-European public sphere and a pan-European political class with competing ideas playing within the former?

#CoFoE might help us to gain a sense of how that Europe might look like. That's its main value.

7/ (more to come)

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More from @alemannoEU

16 Feb
El nombramiento de Mario Draghi - técnico y alto funcionario italiano - merece ser entendida a partir del espíritu de la Constitución como una expresión puramente política

Mi opinión con @GillesGressani en @el_pais

elpais.com/opinion/2021-0… #Draghi #draghiPremier #italia
La urgencia del nombramiento de #Draghi no debe vincularse únicamente a la pandemia. La profunda crisis del sistema político italiano es anterior y duradera, aunque ha sido fuertemente agravada por la covid-19.
En la convulsión de la crisis sanitaria, económica, política e institucional que atraviesa la República italiana, nadie puede dudar ya de que existe un riesgo real de que una fuerza de extrema derecha con ascendencia fascista pueda determinar el Gobierno del país
Read 4 tweets
13 Feb
Will a Draghi-led government affect the EU?

Despite all the buzz, #Draghi’s mandate - by finding its legitimacy in multiple sanitary, economic & democratic emergencies affecting the country - is set to confine his action to Italy (spoiler)

A thread 🧵 Image
Contrary to conventional wisdom, #Draghi’s government is not technocratic but hybrid in nature with a surprisingly low-profile team, made of 2nd/3rd tier politicians and few technocrats without EU experience

This won’t help Mario in Brussels. Image
To see Draghi play some role in #euco need to wait few months, with Italian action plan submitted &validated, Covid-19 brought under control...

Ultimately, #draghi’s projection into EU conditional on his ability to make his incompatible supporting parties speak with 1 voice Image
Read 7 tweets
5 Feb
A group of academics denounced the lack of transparency regarding appointments to the European Public Prosecutor's Office @EUProsecutor

Very few noticed it then

The Council failed to motivate why it chose some candidates over others in 🇧🇪 🇵🇹 🇧🇬 THREAD

euractiv.com/section/justic…
@ProfPech and I filed a request to Council to gain access to those docs

No response

NOW the EU Parliament @EPPGroup @RenewEurope GUE @TheProgressives @GreensEFA made same request and likely to get the docs

agenceurope.eu/en/bulletin/ar… 2/
In the meantime the council appointment decision has been challenged before the @EUCourtPress by Belgian (excluded) candidate

Will the EP follow suit? 60-delay expired 3/
Read 4 tweets
5 Feb
Mario Draghi’s influence on the EU project - as a PM sitting in #EUCO - might potentially be consequential

This will however highly contingent on the NATURE of his government

THREAD #Draghi
The first round of consultations suggests that a Draghi’s government might be:

1. Technocratic (made of independent experts of his will): LEAST likely

2. Hybrid (experts + political figures): MORE likely

3. Political (political figures picked by supporting parties)
By kicking off on a narrow initial majority, Draghi’s government set to rely on ‘variable majorities’:

on each file it will have to find a different constellation of support 3/
Read 6 tweets
3 Feb
How a Draghi's government would look like and entail for Italy?

Already depicted a major vindication by Matteo Renzi, the 4th technocratic government of Italy is set to produce major consequences for the Italian political system

A THREAD Image
1. A Draghi's government marks a major failure of the Italian political system and its class incapable to work meaningfully work in the country's interests

It's motivated by FEAR, and DISTRUST in the electoral democratic process.
2. Mario Draghi is the man who saved Europe during the Eurozone crisis, and today might be the only man able to save Italy having advocated for / inspired the formula underpinning Next Generation EU ft.com/content/c6d2de…
Read 8 tweets
30 Jan
The Council eventually agreed on its position on the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Despite being more conservative, it essentially confirms the nature of the blueprint put forward by the EP (12/19) and Comm (01/20)

#CoFoE’s launch IMMINENT via Joint Declaration THREAD ImageImage
When compared with the EP/Comm templates, the Council differs as:

1. No commitment to revise EU Treaties (EP did)

2. No reference to institutional reform (electoral law, SpitzenK)

3. Tripartite management (Sassoli+vdl+Michel) 2/ Image
When compared with the EP/Comm templates, the Council confirms :

1 EU-led consultation exercised jointly by 3 institutions

2 List of issues, but open to ‘other topics’

3 No direct involvement of civil society, but

-multilingual digital platform(s)
-citizens’ panels MS+pan-EU Image
Read 7 tweets

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