THE RESULTS OF THE FOURTH SIENA CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE
Certosa di Pontignano, 8th - 9th - 10th June 2023
One year before the upcoming elections for the European Parliament, scheduled for June 2024, Vision has organized the fourth edition of the Siena Conference on the Future of Europe in the charming location of Certosa di Pontignano (SI).
The Siena Conference is an attempt to go beyond ideological stereotypes and individual national agendas, in order to bring forth visionary yet pragmatic ideas and find common ground.
Over 70 guests with different backgrounds (scientists, economists, policymakers, journalists, academics, researchers, activists, students) gathered for three days, from 8th to 10th June 2023, to discuss some of the major challenges that Europe is facing in the 21st century: democracy, digital revolution, banking crises, inflation, war in Ukraine, and climate change.
The conference followed the same format that Vision had successfully experimented with in previous editions and its "sister" conference, the Dolomites Conference on Climate Change (2nd edition, 5th-7th October 2023).
Plenary sessions open to all participants alternated with the work of "Problem-Solving groups," small working groups that gathered to discuss specific topics (democracy, ESG, fiscal, digital).
This year, the Conference had the participation of Intesa Sanpaolo as the main sponsor, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena as a corporate partner, and Rai Radio 1 as a media partner.
This year, four foundations affiliated to the major European political groups (FEPS, Foundation of European Progressive Studies, for the Party of European Socialists; ELF, European Liberal Forum, for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party; ND, New Direction, for the European Conservatives and Reformists Party; GEF, Green European Foundation, for the European Green Party) organized four respective plenary sessions.
The conference's content was also shaped by students from the University of Siena and the European University Institute (EUI) in Fiesole. They prepared the discussions for the four Problem-Solving groups prior to the Conference and, participating in the group work, acted as rapporteurs, presenting the conclusions of the working groups on the final day of the Conference.
The outcome of the Siena Conference is the Pontignano Manifesto, a document that brings together the proposals developed by the working groups and the ideas that emerged during the plenary sessions and discussions of the Conference.
The Manifesto will be disseminated with the aim of influencing political decisions at both national and European levels, one year before the upcoming elections for the European Parliament (June 2024).
Among the key participants: Romano Prodi (former Italian Prime Minister and former President of the European Commission), Bill Emmott (former Editor of The Economist), Barbara Kolm (Vice President of the Austrian Central Bank), Sandro Gozi (MEP, Renew Europe), Maria Joao Rodrigues (President of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies and former Portugal's Minister of Employment), John Hooper (Italy and Vatican correspondent for The Economist), Kalypso Nicolaïdis (Professor at St Antony's College, University of Oxford, and Professor at the School of Transnational Governance - EUI), Fabrizia Lapecorella (Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD), Jan Piotrowski (Business Editor of The Economist), Dr. Gerlinde Niehus (Deputy Director of the Defense and Security Cooperation Directorate OPS), Mario Nava (Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support), Hilde Vautmans (MEP, Renew Europe Group), Dragos Tudorache (MEP, Renew Europe), Rob Roos (MEP - Vice-Chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group), Luca Mezzomo (Head of Macroeconomic Analysis at Intesa Sanpaolo), Andrea Maffezzoni (CFO of Banca Monte Paschi di Siena), Jan Kickert (Austrian Ambassador in Italy), Antonio Parenti (Head of the European Commission Representation in Italy), Erik Jones (Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute) and many others.
Background Papers
Here you can find some papers, articles and projects that Vision used to support research for the Concept Paper:
FROM THE FOUR EUROPEAN FOUNDATIONS-THINK TANK (GEF, FEPS, ND, ELF):
European Liberal Forum (ELF) - The New European Defence and Security Agenda (May 2023); Towards a European Defence in 2030 (March 2023); Designed in Brussels, Made in Ukraine: Future of EU-Ukraine Relations (2023).
New Direction (ND) - [coming soon]
Green European Foundation (GEF) - [coming soon]
Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) - Is the Digital Transition a Lever for Structural Reforms or Does it Reinforce the Divide? (May 2023), Making Next Generation EU a Permanent Tool (March 2023); Our European Future. Charting a Progressive Course in the World (2021).
ON DEMOCRACY
Should the EU make foreign policy decisions by majority voting? - by Leonard Schuette
Qualified Majority Voting in EU Foreign Policy: Make it so - by Niklas Nováky
Flexible Transnational Electoral Constituencies: A Proposal to Europeanise EU Elections - by Francesco Grillo and Raffaella Nanetti
ON DIGITAL
"Digital infrastructures": definitions, effects on consumers and industries, strategic options to maximize their value - Vision and Value with Amazon's support
Empowering digital citizens. Making humane markets work in the digital age - by Dennis J. Snower and Paul D. Twomey (GIDE, Global Initiative for Digital Empowerment), 28 March 2022
A European approach to artificial intelligence
Why lawmakers aren't rushing to police AI - New York Times
"We have to move fast": US looks to establish rules for artificial intelligence - The Guardian
AI as Agency without Intelligence: on ChatGPT, Large Language Models, and other generative models - by Luciano Floridi - University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute; University of Bologna - Department of Legal Studies
Europe and AI - by CarloAlberto Carnevale Maffè
ON ESG
Financials Threaten to Undermine the Functioning of Emissions Markets, by Quemin, S., Pahle, M. (2022)
Impact of Financial Actors on the European Carbon Market and Potential Measure to Stabilise Prices, by Roques, F., Duquesne, G., Bourcier, F. (2022)
ESG Investing: Practices, Progress and Challenges, report from the OECD (2020)
ON FISCAL
Reforming the EU Fiscal Framework: Strengthening the Fiscal Rules and Institutions, IMF Departmental Paper No 2022/014
A Central Fiscal Capacity in the EU Policy Mix, by Buti, M., Messori, M. (2022)
The Future of European Fiscal Governance: A Comprehensive Approach, by Romanelli, M., Tommasino, P., Vadalà, E., Occasional Papers No. 691, Bank of Italy
Others:
Principali sfide per l'attuazione del PNRR1 - by SDA Bocconi
Webinars Towards the Siena Conference 2023
Speakers
Media
