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Well...leaving to one side the trials and tribulations of travelling on public transport in the Metropolis, I did indeed after an hour or so arrive at Victoria en route to Smith Square...
It may be of interest to you that while walking through the warren that is Westminster I did notice many empty retail spaces and closed-up shops bearing notices of 'repossession'.
And so to Europe House, 32 Smith Square SW1.
The meeting was quite well attended, not chock-a-block, but people from all over Europe were there in useful numbers.
The room as laid out with eight tables, each assigned for the discussion of one particular topic:
1/Your rights - who is the best protector of them?
-What are the rights that the EU grants to it's citizens and what are the responsibilities attached to these rights?
-How could citizens know better about them?
-What are the obstacles to the full enjoyment of these rights and how could they be overcome?
2/The EU, it's citizens, it's denizens:discussing migrants' rights in the European Union.
-Faced with the risk of identitarian closure that a possible withdrawal of the UK from the EU could provoke, how can migrants be prevented from becoming the scapegoats in this crisis?
-What should be the basic rights guaranteed for migrants everywhere in Europe?
-To what extent can Europe, with it's commitment to 'unity in diversity' and it's variable geographies, offer an alternative model for integration in the community?
-How can the securitarian discourse be de-constructed in relation to the migration issue?
-How does the institutional framework of the migration and asylum policy, linked to security issues rather than human rights, affect people's perception of the matter?
3/What do we want from Europe?
-Is a single market enough?
-Can a new shared vision for the European project emerge from the current economic, social and political crisis?
4/A more Democratic EU
-What are some creative and ambitious reforms to EU institutions that could help make it more Democratic? What is the current balance between the legislative, executive and judiciary powers? Can this balance be improved?
-What could be done to ensure more transparency of decision-making processes? Should there be a stronger relationship between the EU and national parliaments?
-Should the EU include more 'direct democracy' approaches to decision making?
-Additionally, what can the EU do to protect democracy in member states and prevent 'backsliding' on democratic commitments?
5/Elections and accountability
-How could democratic governance at the EU level be improved?
-Could the voting system be changed to ensure better representation of EU citizens?
-Finally, as the principle behind representative democracy is that elected representatives are held accountable by their electorate, what are the mechanisms in place to hold MEPs accountable?
How can they be approved?
6/More bottom-up citizens' participation in EU decision-making processes
-Could and should we design innovations to engage the disengaged rather than the 'usual suspects'? What new tools could we imagine?
-What initiatives taken at the local level could be scaled up at EU level, perhaps to shape a new model for EU decision-making structures?
-What needs to be done to make sure innovative approaches are successful and can be sustained over time?
7/European Citizens' Initiative
-How much of a boost really is this new instrument for democracy and citizens' participation?
-Is the new instrument concretely available as a tool for grass-roots groups or mainly for large well-funded organisations only?
-How can European citizens themselves participate in the decision-making process also in order to overcome these problems experienced by pioneer ECIs organisers?
8/Mobilising and uniting the civil society
-How can we mobilize the civil society and increase democratic participation?
-How can we unite the many civil society and pan-European organizations to work towards common projects and campaigns?
-We are rightfully lobbying the EU to introduce further opportunities for democratic participation, however when they are implemented how can we motivate the citizens outside of the "Brussels bubble" to participate in them?
As the discussions were arranged before and after refreshments we all had a maximum of two topic-discussions to participate in. I participated in the discussions on tables 4 & 5.
This process as a whole began in Dublin and moves on to Venice next.
