Antonella Valmorbida

Secretary General

Brussels

Biography

Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of ALDA since 1999, has a senior experience in promoting local democracy, empowerment and participation of civil society, and good governance in Europe, in the Balkans, in Eastern Europe, and in the Mediterranean area. She is a European senior consultant on local development with a focus on the implementation of participatory processes for urban regeneration. She manages a network of 350 members mainly composed of local authorities and civil society groups, in over 40 countries in Europe and beyond. Antonella Valmorbida is Board member of the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) and Member of the Advisory Board of Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development, Armenia. She has been Chair of the EPAN working group of CONCORD until 2016, Chair of the Committee on Democracy and Civil Society of the Conference of the INGO of the Council of Europe from 2008 to 2011, and she was the coordinator of the subgroup on local government and public administration reform of the Civil Society Forum for Eastern Partnership. In 2012-13, she was board Member of CIVICUS - the World Alliance for Citizens Participation. Antonella Valmorbida has an academic career at the university of Padova, Italy, and published two books on the involvement of citizens at the local level to promote democracy as well as various articles. Antonella Valmorbida is a French and Italian native speaker and she is fluent in English and Russian.

Organisation

ALDA, European Association for Local Democracy

Speaker session

(UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris

24/10 - Day 2

11:30 - 12:30

Session 8 : European dimension of elections

Closed session

Closed

Closed session

TOPIC: European elections continue to be dominated by debates over national issues. Voters are not always clearly aware to which EU party a national political party is affiliated. Different measures are implemented to reinforce the European dimension of EU elections, including measures to reinforce the voting rights of EU mobile citizens. Exchanges will address elements fostering the European dimension of the elections including in the context of electoral processes and explore measures bringing EU citizens closer to EU decision-makers, contributing to an engaged citizenship.

SPEAKERS:

Gabriele Bischoff, Member of the European Parliament
Maarten Vink, Chair in Citizenship Studies at the European University Institute (EUI)
Assya Kavrakova, Executive Director at the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)

MODERATOR: Enrico Forti, Director for Interinstitutional Relations at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission

Interventions by Members of the European Cooperation Network on Elections

Enrico Forti

Director

Gabriele Bischoff

Member of the European Parliament

Assya Kavrakova

Executive Director

Maarten Vink

Chair in Citizenship Studies

Maarten Vink

Chair in Citizenship Studies

Florence

Biography

Maarten Vink is Chair in Citizenship Studies and Director of the Global Citizenship research area within the Global Governance Programme at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. He is also Co-Director of the Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT). Vink led the research project "Migrant Life Course and Legal Status Transition (MiLifeStatus)" funded by a Consolidator Grant of the European Research Council (2016-2021). He co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Citizenship (OUP, 2017) and has published on immigrant naturalisation, comparative citizenship regimes, dual citizenship, and Europeanization, among others. Maarten Vink is on leave from Maastricht University where he is Professor of Political Sociology and was one of the founders of the Maastricht Center for Citizenship, Migration and Development (MACIMIDE). He holds a PhD in Political Science from Leiden University (2003).

Organisation

European University Institute

Speaker session

(UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris

24/10 - Day 2

11:30 - 12:30

Session 8 : European dimension of elections

Closed session

Closed

Closed session

TOPIC: European elections continue to be dominated by debates over national issues. Voters are not always clearly aware to which EU party a national political party is affiliated. Different measures are implemented to reinforce the European dimension of EU elections, including measures to reinforce the voting rights of EU mobile citizens. Exchanges will address elements fostering the European dimension of the elections including in the context of electoral processes and explore measures bringing EU citizens closer to EU decision-makers, contributing to an engaged citizenship.

SPEAKERS:

Gabriele Bischoff, Member of the European Parliament
Maarten Vink, Chair in Citizenship Studies at the European University Institute (EUI)
Assya Kavrakova, Executive Director at the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)

MODERATOR: Enrico Forti, Director for Interinstitutional Relations at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission

Interventions by Members of the European Cooperation Network on Elections

Enrico Forti

Director

Gabriele Bischoff

Member of the European Parliament

Assya Kavrakova

Executive Director

Maarten Vink

Chair in Citizenship Studies

Ursula von der Leyen

President of the European Commission

Biography

Ursula von der Leyen was elected as President of the European Commission in 2019. As the head of the European executive, she has defined six headline ambitions for Europe for her mandate: a European Green Deal, a Europe fit for the digital age, an economy that works for people, a stronger Europe in the world, promoting our European way of life, and a new push for European democracy. Before 2019, Ursula von der Leyen was Minister at federal level in Germany for more than 14 years and responsible for family, then labour and social affairs, and later defence.

Speaker session

(UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris

24/10 - Day 2

11:30 - 12:30

Session 8 : European dimension of elections

Closed session

Closed

Closed session

TOPIC: European elections continue to be dominated by debates over national issues. Voters are not always clearly aware to which EU party a national political party is affiliated. Different measures are implemented to reinforce the European dimension of EU elections, including measures to reinforce the voting rights of EU mobile citizens. Exchanges will address elements fostering the European dimension of the elections including in the context of electoral processes and explore measures bringing EU citizens closer to EU decision-makers, contributing to an engaged citizenship.

SPEAKERS:

Gabriele Bischoff, Member of the European Parliament
Maarten Vink, Chair in Citizenship Studies at the European University Institute (EUI)
Assya Kavrakova, Executive Director at the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)

MODERATOR: Enrico Forti, Director for Interinstitutional Relations at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission

Interventions by Members of the European Cooperation Network on Elections

Enrico Forti

Director

Gabriele Bischoff

Member of the European Parliament

Assya Kavrakova

Executive Director

Maarten Vink

Chair in Citizenship Studies