Reflecting on the Future of the European Union – The View from Local and Regional Authorities

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As the Committee of the Regions (CoR) is preparing to play its full part in the Europe-wide reflection on the future of the European Union, it has contracted LSE Enterprise (LSEE) and a team led by Prof. Michael Bruter, Dr Sarah 2 Harrison, and Dr Federica Bicchi to evaluate the proposals contained in the White Paper on the Future of Europe published by the European Commission on 1 March 2017. This process formally launches a period of reflection that will aim to propose future paths by the time of the May 2019 European Parliament Elections. Michael Bruter and Sarah Harrison are taking the lead for the survey component and Federica Bicchi for the analysis of the White Paper.” “Our findings lead to a few crucial thoughts on the need to reinvent European solidarity, how local and regional authorities could play a unique articulatory role between citizens and EU institutions and the shape that function could take, and how they can serve as a laboratory of innovation and progress by piloting and developing processes of collaboration between political actors, non-political resources (companies, researchers, civil society), and citizens