The Pontignano Manifesto, emerging from the Seventh Siena Conference on the Europe of the Future, brings together the results of four Problem Setting and Solving Groups and five plenary sessions addressing some of Europe’s most pressing strategic challenges.
Luca Verzichelli, Principal Investigator of REDIRECT, contributed, together with a European University Institute team coordinated by Kalypso Nicolaidis, to the drafting of the section developed by the Problem Setting and Solving Group on Democracy, entitled “Is There a Choice Between Democracy and Efficiency?”
The contribution examines whether democratic participation and effective decision-making should be regarded as competing objectives. It argues that participation can strengthen governance by fostering public ownership, trust and the long-term sustainability of policy outcomes. The discussion also considers democracy as a system connecting local, national and European communities, rather than as a process operating exclusively at the level of EU institutions.
Among the issues addressed are the role of citizens’ assemblies, digital participation, decentralisation, civic education and stronger cross-border connections among local communities. The section concludes that democracy should not be viewed as an obstacle to efficiency, but as a means of producing more legitimate, resilient and durable public decisions.
The wider Pontignano Manifesto addresses democracy and institutional reform alongside defence, energy security, digital autonomy, competitiveness, cohesion policy and the future of the European Union.
The Pontignano Manifesto is available on the Vision think tank website: https://www.thinktank.vision/en/
Date: 11–13 June 2026
Location: Certosa di Pontignano, Siena, Italy
Publication: Pontignano Manifesto – Seventh Siena Conference on the Europe of the Future
REDIRECT participant: Luca Verzichelli
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