-
.
- Ελληνικά
Asked by Cypriots whether there is an obligation on the part of the three institutions to elaborate the proposals that citizens come up with on the whole spectrum of EU policies, Ms. Suica, who represents the Commission in the Executive Board of the Conference, underlined that the Presidents of the three EU institutions have signed a joint declaration in which they "commit themselves to follow up the proposals", as she said.
In response to a clarifying question on what the next steps are regarding the Conference, Suica pointed out that no final decisions have been taken but that discussions are taking place on the creation of a permanent mechanism.
"As you know, the main part of the Conference is the citizens' groups, but the multilingual digital platform is its central hub," she noted, referring to the possibility of maintaining the platform on a more permanent basis.
She added that thoughts are also underway to establish the citizens' conference, for example on an annual or biennial basis. "It is too late to wait four to always years to hear what citizens have to say" only through elections, he noted.
"Participatory democracy should strengthen representative democracy," he noted.
The 4th European Citizens' Group meets in Maastricht where it will come up with final recommendations on issues relating to migration and the EU's place in the world, ahead of the next plenary session of the Conference to be held in Strasbourg on 11-12 March.
Speaking to journalists, Suica stressed the importance of strengthening democracy in the European Union, noting that "democracy is not static, we must protect it and not take it for granted", recalling what is happening at the EU's borders and within Member States.
"We have to make democracy fit for the future", he added, noting that for this we need to involve citizens in the shaping of policies at European level.
"We want citizens to feel that they can influence policy-making in Europe" and "that the so-called Brussels microcosm does not exist", he stressed.
Explaining the next steps of the process, the Vice-President of the Commission said that all the proposals developed by this European Citizens' Group and the other three will be forwarded to the Presidents of the institutions (European Commission, European Council, European Parliament), who will have to promote them as concrete policies within the competences of each institution.
She made it clear that the aim of the Conference is not to replace the institutions elected by citizens
She said she was optimistic that a large number of the proposals would be adopted, noting that "it would not be smart to disappoint citizens". However, she clarified that unanimity among the three institutions is needed to take forward proposals resulting from the Conference.
Source: CNA
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
