An international workshop will be hosted on May 5-7, by the Europe Experience in Paris and the Maison Monnet, owned by the European Parliament, as a preparatory moment for the 2023 edition of the Supranational Democracy Dialogue, which will take place in Brindisi in May 2023. The event is organized by the chairs of European Union Law at Università del Salento held by professors Susanna Cafaro and Claudia Morini who hold a Chair and a Module Jean Monnet respectively.

The French event will in particular address the topic of citizens’ participation across borders, through the popular vote for a supranational Parliament and transnational participation beyond the vote, through instruments such as the European Citizens’ Initiative and innovative experiments in deliberative democracy such as the European Citizens’ Panels – which paved the road for a possible future European Citizens’ Assembly- as well as others on which the discussion is still ongoing (from the Pan-European Referendum to Participatory Budgeting).

It will also explore how this complex ecosystem of democracy that is both transnational and supranational at the same time – and that is now attempting to combine representative elements with ‘direct’ and ‘participatory’ elements – is increasingly inspiring other areas of the world that are attempting, inspired by the European Union, similar processes of macro-regional integration (Mercosur, African Union, ASEAN…), as well as how this model can also be scaled up to the global level, in the perspective of a full global democracy of institutions and citizens, combining representative with deliberative-participatory democracy.

Students, PhD students, researchers and professors from the University of Salento will be involved in the seminar together with lecturers and experts in European affairs and deliberative democracy, mainly from Paris and Brussels.

The Maison Monnet, the historical museum-house of one of the fathers of European integration – now the training centre of the European Parliament- will host for free in its guesthouse the whole Unisalento delegation, providing an immersive experience for students and lecturers.

The Maison Jean Monnet will also partner with Unisalento in the organization of the Supranational Democracy Dialogue Vth Edition (Brindisi May 18-19), alongside the Democracy and Culture Foundation – the organizer of the famous Athens Democracy Forum – and several other think tanks in Europe and US. This event organized by the University of Salento is now firmly established as the main international event dedicated to democracy beyond borders and a crossroad where academia, civil society and international officers meet to discuss openly together the great challenges facing humanity as well as the democratic management of the global commons.

The entire team of international and European Law at Unisalento has been proudly in charge of this initiative since 2018.