The Open European Dialogue (OED) spoke to Lolita Čigāne, who joined the network in 2016 and who has served as chair of the European Affairs Committee in the parliament of Latvia (2014-2018), on her experience with the OED and why a more open and free-flowing dialogue matters in politics.

Our recently launched OED 120 workshop series provides parliamentarians from across Europe the opportunity to engage in 120 minutes of online dialogue to explore core implications of the Covid-19 crisis and discuss crucial policy responses with specialized experts. On 5. May 2020, ten parliamentarians from seven EU member states convened to exchange perspectives on European initiatives in response to the pandemic.

These OED120 Emergency Dialogues took place in the “Advance Politics” framework, a OED collaboration with the Institute for Integrated Economic Research. They consisted of three calls, taking place on 9 April, 17 April, and 4 May 2020, that enabled 18 parliamentarians from 14 countries to explore the critical economic, financial, and social implications of the Covid-19 crisis, as well as looking at the decisive national and pan-European actions that may be required in response to the pandemic.

The Open European Dialogue brought into being the MP-Call series “Parliaments in times of Corona” to offer Parliamentarians a space for informal, inter-parliamentary exchanges amidst this unprecedented crisis.

Over the past three weeks, the Open European Dialogue has monitored and informed its members on measures and responses to COVID-19 taken by national parliaments in Europe. Thirteen parliamentarians from eight countries used this opportunity to exchange national perspectives, best-practices and concerns in an online dialogue hosted by the Open European Dialogue.

Members of parliament from across Europe share their perspectives on a question of European policy.

On the 6-7 December 2019, the Mercator European Dialogue brought together 23 Members of National Parliaments from 13 different EU countries in Vienna to discuss the relations between the EU and the Western Balkans.

Members of parliament from across Europe share their perspectives on a question of European policy.

On the sidelines of the Political and Legal Symposia of the European Forum Alpbach 2019, 14 members of the Mercator European Dialogue gathered to discuss value conflicts in policymaking with a focus on systematic data collection and use by governments through new technologies and algorithms.

New MED publication sheds light on the rocky relationship between Italy and the European Union.