Conference on the Future of Europe: how to follow the inaugural plenary session

The inaugural plenary session will take place in Strasbourg on Saturday morning 19 June, preceded by meetings of the representatives in their political caucuses the day before.

Inaugural plenary session

When: Saturday 19 June 2021, 9:00 - 13:30 (CEST)

Where: European Parliament in Strasbourg, with physical and remote participation

The inaugural plenary session agenda includes presentations and discussions on:

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  the purpose and expectations of the Conference, including European Citizens' Panels and National Panels/events;
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  the Multilingual Digital Platform;
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  the calendar of Conference Plenaries, European Citizens’ Panels, and the European Citizens’ Event; and
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  the proposal on the organisation of thematic working groups.

The Conference Plenary will be composed of 108 representatives from the European Parliament, 54 from the Council (two per Member State) and 3 from the European Commission, as well as 108 representatives from all national Parliaments on an equal footing, and citizens. 108 Europeans will participate to discuss ideas stemming from the Citizens' Panels and the Multilingual Digital Platform: 80 representatives from the European Citizens’ Panels, of which at least one third will be younger than 25, and 27 from national Citizens’ Panels or Conference events (one per Member State), as well as the President of the European Youth Forum. The selection process for citizen representatives will be completed in the near future.

18 representatives from both the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee, and another eight from both social partners and civil society will also take part, while the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy will be invited for discussions relating to the international role of the EU i. Representatives of key stakeholders may also be invited. The Conference Plenary will be gender balanced.

COVID-19 prevention measures

Journalists can attend, provided they strictly follow the health restrictions and measures put in place by the French authorities and the European Parliament. Any media physically present at the event are requested to respect social distancing of 1.5 m while on EP premises and to wear a medical face mask at all times. Entrance to Parliament wearing so-called ‘community masks’ or other masks made of textiles won’t be allowed.

Audio-visual coverage

The inaugural plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe will be broadcast live on EbS+. Extracts will also be available on EbS after the closing of the session. All video, audio and photo coverage will be available to download.

Accreditation

Annual press badges (either inter-institutional badges or EP badges) are valid.

Journalists without an access badge need to request accreditation before 18 June (18.00) via the journalist registration website.

Badges can then be collected at the main entrance of the Louise Weiss building as of 7:00 on the 19th of June. For any question linked to the accreditation procedure please contact:

Media Accreditation

Access

Media access will be facilitated through the main entrance to the Louise Weiss building. The doors will open at 15:00 on Friday 18 June. The separate press entrance will be closed.

Working areas

The following areas will be accessible for journalists:

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  Working space and access to the video feed inside the press room
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  Press gallery of the chamber (the chamber itself will not be accessible to journalists and camera crews)
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  Media space outside the Hemicycle for video recording (booking required)

Wi-Fi will be available in all parts of the building. The login and password will be communicated on the day.

Audiovisual facilities for the plenary session (booking required)

The following audiovisual services will be provided:

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  Live camera positions in self-service near the chamber. Each media is to bring its own equipment and cabling; power and internet broadband connection will be available
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  Multimedia studio

To allow us to best facilitate your work, please send in your requests before Friday 18 June 13:00 to avplanning@europarl.europa.eu. Please note that the usual range of audio-visual facilities (TV and radio studios, crews, editing ...) will not be available.

Photo Opportunities (limited access, registration required)

Photo and video pools will be organised for the:

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  Official arrival (access exclusively reserved for camera crews and photographers on the podium at the protocol arrival area upon registration - see contact below)
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  Photo opportunity in the hemicycle (access exclusively reserved for photographers upon registration - see contact below)
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  Chamber (access exclusively reserved for photo agencies)

All journalists will be able to follow the Live coverage from the Press Room screens.

AV Planning

For any questions linked to the programme or the facilities, please contact the EP audio-visual press team:

Assistance for audio-visual journalists | News | European Parliament (europa.eu)