ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to unpack the agenda and activities of the Portuguese unicameral parliament, Assembleia da República, in the deliberative process of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE). Through the direct involvement in the process of the CoFoE given the author’s strategic position within the COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union), and by analysing multiple institutional and parliamentary documents, this chapter casts light on the way in which the Portuguese parliament positioned itself within this transnational participatory experiment vis-à-vis the citizens, EU institutions, and its counterparts – national parliaments. The primary focus of the study is devoted to the effects of the Portuguese parliament’s presiding over COSAC and reveals how the dynamics of inter-parliamentary relations evolved and shaped the parliamentary standing in the structure of the CoFoE. Overall, the findings of the chapter indicate that the Portuguese parliament has successfully fulfilled its objectives, regarding both its own engagement in the process and external coordination.
