What is the Conference on the Future of Europe?

The first expert organisation to advise the EU institutions to use an online digital platform to engage as many citizens as possible during the Conference on the Future of Europe is now calling for the creation of a permanent mechanism of citizens consultation.

Europe’s People’s Forum, a network of professional citizen’s consultation partners in every member state, works to strengthen democracy by connecting citizens to policy making at European and national levels between elections.

Bent Noerby Bonde, Secretary General of Europe’s People’s Forum said: “We know citizens are keen to be involved in decision-making throughout the electoral cycle. A permanent mechanism for consulting citizens would give them just such an opportunity.”

Following a year of delay, the Portuguese EU Council presidency has finally brokered an agreement with the Parliament and the Commission to allow the Conference to launch.

Given the focus on who would run the proceedings, not much time is left to the practical steps of involving any larger part of the Europeans in the process that needs to be done to make the conference a success.  

Engaging Europe’s citizens in a conversation about the future of Europe requires a number of steps to be taken both locally, nationally and at European level to ensure that the conversation fully reaches and involves the European public. 

Roger Casale, President of Europe’s People’s Forum and founder of New Europeans, said: “We want to help make the conference a success. My concern is that many citizens won’t access the online platform, unless a number of steps are taken, involving local social partners, CSOs and professionals to bring the citizens on board.”

The Constitutional Affairs and Petitions Committee of the European Parliament have been examining ideas for such a permanent mechanism of citizen participation. The purpose would be to increase citizens’ sense of ownership over the EU’s strategic direction and to give citizens’ a clear sense that the European project reflects their needs and aspirations.
 

Such an approach would bring together the use of citizens assemblies, and representative citizens’ dialogues, but also an improved European Citizens’ Initiative, petitions and other tools of citizen participation.

Commenting further, Bent Noerby Bonde said:

“Europe’s Peoples’ Forum has proposed an independent foundation to implement and gradually refine a range of instruments of democratic participation. The foundation could be set up by the European Parliament, include representation from organised civil society, EESC, CoR and national parliaments.”

 For further information:

Bent Noerby Bonde, + 45 30 45 45 00

Roger Casale, + 39 389 930 4862

  One week ago on the 18th of March, the EP and the EC expected an agreement on a mandate for the structure, governance and engagement of citizens in the Conference. However, a week ago the Corona virus crisis already had made its impact and the Council postponed its conclusions as they did not find it realistic to have many people brought together in meetings, agora and conferences at European or local levels.

25/03/2020

    The Conference was due to be launched on 9 May  but, with EU institutions now having to conduct all but the most essential meetings remotely due to the Coronavirus, the planned launch in May is now looking difficult unless it will be online. 

The Parliament Magazine 23/03/2020

The crisis is not just a threat to the lives and livelihoods of people across the globe but serves also as a severe stress test for democracy. 

The Brussels Times 19/03/2020

The crisis is not just a threat to the lives and livelihoods of people across the globe but serves also as a severe stress test for democracy. 

The Brussels Times 19/03/2020

One year ago, nobody could have imagined that the European Commission would ever stress that citizens must guide EU’s policy-making as it did yesterday in its communication to the European Parliament and the Council – Shaping the Conference on the Future of Europe.

23/01/2020

Today, the first important step was taken towards the construction of a modern and democratic EU that integrates civic participatory engagement between elections in the policymaking of its three institutions.Today, a large majority in the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution that specified the form, content and process of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

15/01/2020

The Civil Society Organizations, indicated in this document, have signed the following Declaration on the Rule of Law, the Multiannual Financial Framework, the European Conference on the Future of Europe and an Empower Roadmap. Since the Conference on the Future of Europe is one of our tops priorities, we have renewed calls for a bottom-up, building-site and free-standing and spontaneously organized events.

07/01/2020

The President for the European Commission, Ms. Ursula Von den Leyen has tasked the Vice President for Democracy and Demography Ms. Dubravka Suica with a conference on the Future of Europe. It will start in 2020 and run for two years and will “bring together citizens, including a significant role for young people, civil society and European institutions as equal partners”.

01/12/2019