Conference on the Future of Europe: Citizens' Panel delivers recommendations
From 10-12 December, the European Citizens' Panel on European democracy / Values and rights, rule of law, security held its third and final session. At the session that took place at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy, and remotely, citizens of different ages and backgrounds, from all Member States, adopted 39 recommendations for the future of Europe in the fields of European democracy, values and rights, rule of law and security. Watch recordings of the Panel's plenary meetings from Friday and Sunday.
This final Panel session was held in full respect of the public health measures in place in Florence, Italy. To ensure all participants could take part, remote connection was also possible. The panellists built on their previous work from two sessions, held in Strasbourg on 24-26 September and online on 12-14 November, and focused on the following topics: ensuring rights and non-discrimination; protecting democracy and the rule of law; reforming the EU i; building European identity; and strengthening citizen participation.
Next steps
The recommendations of the European Citizens' Panels will be presented and discussed at the Conference Plenary, where the Conference's proposals will continue to be shaped. Eighty Panel representatives (20 from each of the European Citizens' Panels, of which at least one-third is aged between 16 and 25 years) are members of the Conference Plenary. There, they will present the outcomes of their respective Panel discussions, and debate them with Members of the European Parliament, national government and parliament representatives, European Commissioners, and other Plenary Members from EU bodies, regional and local authorities, social partners and civil society.
The next Conference Plenary is set to take place by the end of January in Strasbourg. In the meantime, Plenary Working Groups will meet this coming Friday 17 December in remote format. Citizens across Europe can continue to take part in the Conference through the Multilingual Digital Platform. The remaining European Citizens' Panels will also be adopting their recommendations in the near future, in the following areas:
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-Panel 1 - A stronger economy, social justice and jobs / Education, culture, youth, sport / Digital transformation (to be held in Dublin, Ireland)
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-Panel 3 - Climate change, environment / Health (to be held in Natolin, Poland)
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-Panel 4 - EU in the world / Migration (to be held in Maastricht, The Netherlands).
Background
The four European Citizens' Panels, comprising 200 panellists each, are a citizen-led process and a cornerstone of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Their deliberations take into account citizens' contributions collected from across Europe via the Multilingual Digital Platform and events held across the Member States, and supported by presentations from prominent academics and other experts. Citizens were randomly selected by specialist contractors, using methodologies to ensure that they are representative of the EU's diversity in terms of geographic origin, gender, age, socioeconomic background and level of education. Each European Citizens' Panel will come up with recommendations to be presented and discussed in the Conference Plenary that will then put forward its proposals on the Future of Europe to the Executive Board.
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