Transnational European Public Spaces and EU Democracy

Abstract

This paper aims to develop some considerations on transnational European public spaces and their contribution to the refinement and development of democratic principles within the European supranational legal order. The notion of transnational European public space adopted in this paper, which it is distinguished from the idea of a European Public sphere, is that of a mainly virtual space (although EU Panels have been included) created by EU Commission and Parliament where citizens from all EU Member States have the opportunity to engage in activities that are mostly related to EU decision-making. These spaces are of particular interest when they give EU citizens the opportunity to make their voices heard and publicly exchange views on all areas of EU action, and when they contribute, albeit in a limited way, to strengthening principles such as transparency, participation and control that are crucial in the democratic life of a polity.

Keywords

• public sphere
• participatory democracy
• european citizens ‘initiative
• petitions
• conference on the future of europe