Both within and beyond the EU, the ways in which democratic governments have designed, funded and delivered welfare since the pandemic have led to political and institutional reconfigurations of the administrative state, as well as to changing citizen’s expectations.
In what has been presented as a political, economic and financial breakthrough, the European Union, €806.9 billion have been committed to the NextGenerationEU, a recovery plan meant to make Europe healthier, greener, and more digital. The stakes of this plan are as great as its ambitions: it is transformative in its outcomes, but also in its scale, as its fiscal and administrative implementation will reshape state institutions.
However, the geopolitical shifts entailed by the war in Ukraine pose new – and immense – challenges to which the European continent must respond and adapt. The energy crisis is calling for an immediate and long term action, which shall arguably be supported by a massive funding scheme. What are the lessons from the NextGeneration EU and other schemes for REPower EU and other possible plans? How to ensure democratic participation in this process?
This is the public event of the policy workshop organised by the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy and the SNSF Sinergia project “Reversing the Gaze”. The experts will discuss the main recommendations emerging from the workshop discussions.