A total of 325 specific proposals, including changes to the EU Treaties, will be forwarded to the EU institutions, following the conclusion of the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe, announced the Plenary of the Conference, composed of randomly selected citizens, national MPs and MEPs as well as representatives of civil society.
On 9 May, Europe Day, the proposals will be presented to the heads of the Parliament, the Council and the Commission by the Co-Chairs of the Conference (MEP Guy Ferhofstadt on behalf of the Parliament, French Minister for European Affairs Clement Bonne on behalf of the French Presidency of the Council and Commissioner for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Suica on behalf of the Commission).
At its final meeting on Friday and Saturday at the European Parliament's headquarters in Strasbourg, the Conference Plenary reached a consensus on 325 proposals to achieve 49 objectives in 9 categories.
The proposals cover issues across the categories:
climate change and environment (safe and sustainable food production, biodiversity protection, energy security, green connectivity, circular economy),
health (strengthening resilience of health systems, holistic approach to health issues, establishing a right of access to health),
economy, social justice and employment (integrating the social dimension into the European Semester, promoting entrepreneurship, ensuring gender equality in the workplace, fighting poverty, supporting those affected by an ageing population)
the EU's place in the world (enhanced autonomy in key areas such as energy, strengthening the ethical and environmental dimension of trade relations, improving the EU's ability to take decisions on foreign policy issues),
values and rights, rule of law, security (strengthening the protection of the rule of law, more data protection, combating misinformation),
digital transition (establishing internet access as a fundamental right, developing citizens' digital skills, tackling cybercrime)
European democracy (increasing citizens' participation in decisions at Community level and between elections, better explaining the EU to citizens, support for political dialogue at Community level),
migration (increasing the EU's role in legal migration as well as in tackling irregular migration, uniform rules for first reception, reforming the asylum system, improving integration policies),
education, culture, youth and sport (creating a Single Education Area for access to education for all citizens, focusing on the needs of young people).
The proposals were based on 178 recommendations from European Citizens' Groups, what was discussed at events and panels held under the umbrella of the Conference in Member States and 43,734 proposals for 16,274 ideas submitted on the multilingual digital platform of the Conference.
On Friday, the leaders of the citizens' groups presented their proposals, and then the representatives of the four institutions represented at the Conference (European Parliament, Council of the EU, Commission, national parliaments) unanimously approved them. On Saturday, representatives of the citizens' groups discussed the final proposals and the process that led to their development.
According to the Conference co-chair, MEP Guy Ferhofstadt, the political groups supporting the proposals will table a motion for a resolution at the plenary session of the European Parliament on 2 5 May calling for a revision of the EU treaties.
Mr Ferhofstadt stressed that the process has helped him to understand the importance of having participatory mechanisms complementary to the representative process, and that MEPs should work to ensure that the Conference proposals lead to reforms.
According to a European Parliament statement, during the plenary session speakers from five political groups (European People's Party, Social Democrats, Liberals, Greens and Left) agreed that the draft proposals represent a major political achievement.
MEPs from the far-right Identity and Democracy group and the conservative Conservatives and Reformists group said their groups did not support the proposals as they said they did not reflect public opinion in the EU.
Source: CNA
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