Siena vision conference on the Europe of the future – 2024

The EU has been navigating unprecedented challenges that question its very foundation. Recent technological advancements that increase complexity have made it difficult to manage pressing big questions of our time, such as peace, the ecological and digital transformation of Europe’s productive capacity, and affordable housing. Moreover, the EU elections resulted in a seat distribution beyond the ideological left-right party divide, forcing politicians to engage in negotiations beyond traditional party lines to reach majorities.

Thus, the Vision Think Tank, in partnership with the University of Siena and the European University Institute (EUI), organised the fifth Siena Vision Conference on the Europe of the Future from 12 to 15 September in Certosa di Pontignano (Siena), Italy, in collaboration with the think tanks of the five largest European political parties; besides FEPS, the other political foundations were represented by the Martens Institute, the European Liberal Forum, New Direction, and the Green European Foundation. Therefore, the conference aimed to provide a multi-partisan problem-solving hub of ideas at a time crucial to Europe’s future.

Under the motto ‘Agenda Setting for a Union at a Crossroad‘, around 80 intellectuals, policymakers, entrepreneurs, managers, journalists, economists, and students gathered in Siena to join a more informal conversation on the European future and its most recent challenges.

In five plenary sessions co-organised with the European think tanks and four problem-solving groups, they discussed topics such as peace, democracy, transatlantic relationships, EU enlargement, protecting workers’ rights, just and sustainable economic growth, and AI and the digital transition.

The conference culminated in the Pontignano Paper, outlining proposals that could shape future EU policies.

FEPS President Maria João Rodrigues participated in the opening panel:

12 September 2024, 10:45 – 11:45: Time for agenda-setting feedback to the conference concept paper

Introduction by: Francesco Grillo, Director at Vision Think Tank, Professor at Bocconi University and Visiting Fellow at the EUI

Speakers: 

• Maria João Rodrigues, FEPS President and former Portuguese Minister of Employment
• Romano Prodi, Former Italian Prime Minister and President of the European Commission
• Raffaele Fitto, Italy’s Minister for European Policies

Chair: Pilita Clark, Associate Editor and Business Columnist, Financial Times

FEPS also organised one of the five-panel discussions:

14 September 2024, 10:10 – 11:10: A full-capacity Europe: Industrial renewal and investment strategy – How can competitiveness and competition benefit all member states?

Introduction by: David Rinaldi, Director of Studies and Policy, FEPS

Discussants: 

• Irene Agnolucci, Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor, Bocconi University, School of Law
• George Papaconstantinou, Director, School of Transnational Governance, EUI and former Greek Minister of Finance and of Energy

Chair: Anne-Élisabeth Moutet, The Telegraph

For more information about the Siena Vision Conference on the Europe of the Future, including the Pontignano Paper, please refer here.

Should you have any questions regarding the conference, please do not hesitate to contact David Rinaldi, FEPS Director of Studies and Policy (david.rinaldi@feps-europe.eu).