Bringing together liberals, ideas, people, for the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Democracy and Rule of Law as a topic, has been high on Europe’s agenda these last years, both internally and externally. Internally, one would have hoped the issue would have been settled. Democracy and respect for the rule of law are among the EU’s founding principles. They are non-negotiable and must be upheld everywhere on the continent. Externally, democratic backsliding is taking place around the world. A growing number of countries have gone backwards to a more authoritarian and populist style of governing. In such times, the European Union should be the torchbearer of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. It should devise concrete and effective procedures so that these values can be adequately protected at home.

The event will focus on a topic of European relevance in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe’s citizens’ platform. The event will take place in a hybrid format and will be organised with an expert panel and a roundtable session, where experts can exchange ideas with policy makers and citizens. After the conference, major takeaways will be used to build a concrete policy proposal to address questions concerning our European future.

Speakers include:

- Sandro Gozi, MEP Renew Group, representative of EP at conference plenary;
- Massimo Tommasoli, Director of Global Programmes, IDEA;
- Marco Mariani, Member of the Board of directors of ELF;
- Francesco Grillo, Director of VISION Think Thank;
- Pier Francesco Lotito, Professor, University of Florence.