Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.
I had the pleasure of meeting @V_Andriukaitis at #democracydrinks last week and his reaction to the UK Conservative leadership election is as direct and passionate as you would expect: ec.europa.eu/commission/com…
This article rests on the premise that the EU will do something that is fundamentally damaging for it, that it has said it won’t do, and that the UK has already agreed it won’t ask it to do. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Today I’m at a conference on 21st century democracy (#SoU2019) in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, specifically in the Salone del 500. I love the historical continuities and discontinuities of talking about that here.
The room was first constructed under religious fanatic Savonarola, decorated by Leonardo to glorify the Florentine Republic then repainted by the Medici dukes when the palace became their principal residence after they destroyed the Republic.
It feels like civic and local democracy, and some of those civic republican traditions, are a better starting point for the reconstruction of European democracy than the narrative of nation-states.
Going back to David Runciman on @TPpodcast_ the other week, this feels like a day where the long-story, medium-story and short-story democracy are close together.
It’s also positive (says this eternal optimist) that the conversations in the last two days have not been “we’re doomed” but “we’ve got to do things differently”. Yes. The momentum is building, but institutions like the EU, and organisations like ours, still aren’t ready.
We need sustained action and support to grow skills and capacity, to open civic space, and to ensure that the offer to citizens isn’t just about the what Europe is going to do for them, but how Europe is going to do it. #sou2019
Today I’m at a conference on 21st century democracy (#SoU2019) in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, specifically in the Salone del 500. I love the historical continuities and discontinuities of talking about that here.
The room was first constructed under religious fanatic Savonarola, decorated by Leonardo to glorify the Florentine Republic then repainted by the Medici dukes when the palace became their principal residence after they destroyed the Republic.
It feels like civic and local democracy, and some of those civic republican traditions, are a better starting point for the reconstruction of European democracy than the narrative of nation-states.
Going back to David Runciman on @TPpodcast_ the other week, this feels like a day where the long-story, medium-story and short-story democracy are close together.
It’s also positive (says this eternal optimist) that the conversations in the last two days have not been “we’re doomed” but “we’ve got to do things differently”. Yes. The momentum is building, but institutions like the EU, and organisations like ours, still aren’t ready.
We need sustained action and support to grow skills and capacity, to open civic space, and to ensure that the offer to citizens isn’t just about the what Europe is going to do for them, but how Europe is going to do it. #sou2019
“Redemocratising Europe” question from the floor at #florencedebate
Weber: as commission president will put all proposals from the Parlt in a quasi-automatic process that gives effective legislative initiative to the EP.
Verhofstadt: transnational lists, Parliament needs legislative initiative but also tax-raising powers.
Keller: all of the above plus European council transparency and rule of law in member states. #Florencedebate
“Redemocratising Europe” question from the floor at #florencedebate
Weber: as commission president will put all proposals from the Parlt in a quasi-automatic process that gives effective legislative initiative to the EP.
Verhofstadt: transnational lists, Parliament needs legislative initiative but also tax-raising powers.
Keller: all of the above plus European council transparency and rule of law in member states. #Florencedebate
Now @ManfredWeber – why do I want this job in a crisis. I’m 46 and the first generation who can said they’ve lived their whole lives in peace and freedom. We have to defend that.
We must practice democracy – parliamentary democracy, which I can do all the better by being a President who has emerged from the Parliament.
And finally @guyverhofstadt – explaining he’s not a #Spitzenkandidat and that ALDE is going to change. Arguing for direct election of Commission president via transnational list. [this feels quite inside baseball compared to the others]
“Ever since Brexit everyone is saying ‘we’re not as stupid as the Brits’” says @guyverhofstadt #Florencedebate #diplomacymasterclass
Now @ManfredWeber – why do I want this job in a crisis. I’m 46 and the first generation who can said they’ve lived their whole lives in peace and freedom. We have to defend that.
We must practice democracy – parliamentary democracy, which I can do all the better by being a President who has emerged from the Parliament.
And finally @guyverhofstadt – explaining he’s not a #Spitzenkandidat and that ALDE is going to change. Arguing for direct election of Commission president via transnational list. [this feels quite inside baseball compared to the others]
“Ever since Brexit everyone is saying ‘we’re not as stupid as the Brits’” says @guyverhofstadt #Florencedebate #diplomacymasterclass
Jim Cloos (answering my question on the role of participatory democracy at EU level) says it has to be local and regional first, and based on deliberation that comes from expert evidence. Again, don’t agree – or at least not entirely – but a clear position. #SOU2019
Why don’t I agree? Because elements of participation can be done on European issues at local and regional levels as part of the European policy conversation. There aren’t rigid levels any more.
Moreover that participation at whatever levels depends on the openness and information that have to come from every level of government.
Finally, the multiple levels of delegation that démocratise the European level just don’t work in the modern democratic mindset to give legitimacy. There is a need for more directness (in the sense of participation not referendums) – otherwise the current popularity won’t last.
@AnnMettler and Anthony from @EP_ThinkTank positive about experimentation and most importantly openness.
Jim Cloos (answering my question on the role of participatory democracy at EU level) says it has to be local and regional first, and based on deliberation that comes from expert evidence. Again, don’t agree – or at least not entirely – but a clear position. #SOU2019
Why don’t I agree? Because elements of participation can be done on European issues at local and regional levels as part of the European policy conversation. There aren’t rigid levels any more.
Moreover that participation at whatever levels depends on the openness and information that have to come from every level of government.
Finally, the multiple levels of delegation that démocratise the European level just don’t work in the modern democratic mindset to give legitimacy. There is a need for more directness (in the sense of participation not referendums) – otherwise the current popularity won’t last.
@AnnMettler and Anthony from @EP_ThinkTank positive about experimentation and most importantly openness.
Jim Cloos from @EUCouncil arguing that direct democracy is bad for the EU and it’s not the Commission’s job to be close to the citizen. Don’t agree but it’s interesting to have the view set out. #SOU2019
Fair criticisms of #spitzenkandidaten system: the President has no power to select his team, and Commission can only propose not do [though this is true in a way in the US as well]
Risking the old legitimacy of long-term expertise and the general interest for new legitimacy of direct election is a bad bet, says Jim Cloos. Nation states are where solutions to the crisis are to be found.
(This is an eloquent defence of the past and a criticism of the incompleteness of the present, but it’s not a plan for the future if all you’re doing is going back).
It’s not undemocratic to use codecision. It works and brings all The European political forces together. [yes, but…]
And then an eloquent defence of using citizen assemblies and more participative democracy at EU level. So I don’t understand where he’s coming from.
