Meaisínaistriúchán
 
Cliceáil anseo chun leagan meaisínaistrithe den téacs a fháil.
Regions and cities will be involved in the Conference on the Future of Europe  
Members of the European Committee of the Regions debated the Conference on the Future of Europe on 9 December, voicing support for a process of active listening to citizens - a permanent mechanism of dialogue - and a broad shift towards a more transparent and open way of governance. They also called for cities and regions to be involved in the Conference, an argument supported by MEP Daniel Freund, coordinator of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO), who said that the involvement of regions and cities would be critical to the success of the Conference. Later that day, the AFCO committee adopted a report on how to shape the Conference, supporting the CoR call to be involved in the process and in favour of a permanent mechanism of dialogue with citizens.

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.

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