The European Commission's President, Ursula von der Leyen, called for
the establishment of a Conference on the Future of Europe in July 2019
when she set out her priorities as President. The conference, which
should start in spring 2020 and last two years, is intended to give a
new impulse to European construction and to strengthen European
democracy. It will involve dialogues with citizens.
Members of the commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional
and External Affairs - CIVEX – worked on a draft opinion on 'Local and
Regional Authorities in the permanent dialogue with citizens' . This is the key contribution of the CoR to the
Conference on the Future of Europe. The final recommendations are
scheduled for adoption at the CoR May 2020 Plenary.
The rapporteur – Mireia Borrell Porta (ES/EA),
Secretary for External Action and the European Union of the Government
of Catalonia – said during the debate: "Establishing a permanent and
structured dialogue with citizens, coordinated by local and regional
authorities, is not only an exercise in communication and participation
but primarily in democratic governance. It should re-establish the
currently damaged communication lines between the citizens and the EU
and lead to an evolution of administrative structures."
Pia-Ahrenkilde-Hansen
, the European Commission's Director-General for Communication, also
spoke at the CIVEX meeting. She said that the involvement of the CoR
and its members would be important, to create the conditions for
success, to increase the outreach of the Conference, and to reach
citizens.
MEP Daniel Freund
(DE/Green-EFA), who is a member of the European Parliament's Working
Group on the Conference on the Future of Europe, said: "We are still in
the drafting phase of how exactly the European Committee of Regions
will be represented in the Conference on the Future of the EU. In the
overall planning of the conference, representatives of European,
national, regional and local levels should be heard. We are open for
debate and for integration of local and regional politicians in the
debate."
Later that day, the European Parliament's AFCO committee adopted a report
on how to shape the Conference on the Future of Europe, including
recommendations for the CoR to be involved in the process and in favour of
a permanent mechanism of dialogue with citizens.