Parliamentary Dimension of the Conference on the Future of Europe

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.

• Introduction 1. When parliamentary representation meets citizen participation: Analysing the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) 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 3. The European Parliament and the Conference on the Future of Europe: Between ownership and diverging political visions 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 5. Building consensus among national parliaments: Ambitions and challenges of the French parliament during CoFoE 6. The Czech parliament and the Conference on the Future of Europe: Observers, facilitators, and absentees 7. The Swedish Riksdag and the Future of Europe: Defending the status quo 8. The Spanish parliamentary involvement in the CoFoE: Between European political entrepreneurs and depoliticised domestic politics 9. The German Bundestag in the CoFoE: Comfortable guest with strong ownership 10. Translating reluctance into activism: The Dutch parliament in the Conference on the Future of Europe 11. The Conference on the Future of Europe as an opportunity structure: An analysis of activities in the 27 German-speaking regional parliaments. Conclusion

“Whether you have long been asking or whether you are asking anew about the state of European democracy, whether you foolishly still believe – against all odds – that parliaments can make a crucial difference for the health of our democracies against the unrelenting assault by executives and bureaucracies, whether you take sides or not in the rivalry between the European Parliament (EP) and its national counterparts, or whether you count yourself as a sceptic or a fan of people power – this is the book you must read, especially in the aftermath of the 2024 European Parliament elections meant to herald a new mandate for an enlarged and geopolitical Europe.”Kalypso Nicolaidis, European University Institute, Italy“This book provides an incisive and timely analysis of the Conference on the Future of Europe, illuminating the vital interplay between parliamentary and citizen participation in the EU. Offering valuable insights for revitalizing parliamentary functions and strengthening democratic engagement in the EU, it is a must-read for scholars, policymakers, and anyone passionate about the future of EU democracy.”Davor Jancic, Queen Mary University of London, UK"Despite failing to capture the public imagination, the Conference on the Future of Europe has set free multiple, powerful new dynamics set to transcend this unprecedented transnational and multi-level deliberative exercise. This edited volume laser-focuses on one of the most fundamental yet neglected aspects of the EU imperfect democratic model, that is the role played by national parliaments in the EU project and vice versa. At a time in which the imperative of deepening and widening the Union knocks at its door, this book perspective may soon reveal prescient". Alberto Alemanno, HEC Paris and College of Europe, France"This volume presents a comprehensive overview of the role of national (and regional) parliaments in the CoFoE highlighting the inputs that they brought to bear on this innovative process of consultation that, for the first time, combined representative and deliberative modes of consultation to discuss the future of Europe. It singles out the different stances of the various parliaments - and, within them, of the different parties as well as of individual political "entrepreneurs" - towards a process that was meant to bring EU citizens closer to EU institutions. Importantly, the volume puts in relief the difficulties encountered into truly involving European citizens in this "deliberative" exercise and the reservation of some national parliaments against the legitimacy of combining representative and deliberative democracy. A must read for anyone interested in the role of representative assemblies in shaping the future of Europe."Simona Piattoni, University of Trento, Italy