The Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which would have liked to have started the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe on 9 May in Dubrovnik, is working hard to reach an agreement before the end of June on the objectives and arrangements for the consultation exercise with European citizens.
On Monday 22 June, following a request from the Croatian Presidency, the majority of the Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper II) responded positively to the latest compromise proposal made on Friday 19 June, with just a few suggestions for changes to wording. A consensus was not reached on Monday, but is more likely on Wednesday 24 or Friday 26 June at the next Coreper meeting. Portugal was not able to take a position on Monday.
On Friday, the Croatian Presidency submitted a new compromise proposal to delegations; this is largely based on the previous document, which was drawn up in February (see EUROPE 12426/3), but also takes into account the situation created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The compromise proposal stresses the importance of using the Conference to “assess the EU’s response to the crisis”, which constitutes “an unprecedented challenge for Europe and the whole world”, with the aim of strengthening “European solidarity”. The five main themes for discussion - environmental sustainability, societal challenges, digital transformation, fundamental values, the international role of the EU - are the same as before, but public health is now explicitly referred to as a societal challenge.
Social distancing requirements created by the pandemic are delaying the possibility of holding public debates with individuals physically present. It is reported that Member States will support the Commission's move towards a multilingual online platform to facilitate the launch of discussions.
There has been no change to the Council of the EU's position regarding governance: the European institutions and the Member States, including their national parliaments, will have shared ownership as equal partners with regard to responsibility for the Conference.
Prominent European figure. Member States believe that an “independent” President, in the shape of a “prominent European figure” who represents “the common interests of the three EU institutions”, should be placed in charge of the Conference.
It is reported that the European Parliament welcomes the involvement of Guy Verhofstadt (Renew Europe, Belgium) in steering the day-to-day work of the Conference, but the former Belgian Prime Minister is too openly federalist for a number of Member States. The Presidency issue will ultimately need to be decided as part of the upcoming interinstitutional negotiations on the joint declaration that will conclusively set up the Conference on the Future of Europe.
As well as the Presidency, Member States are calling for a steering board to be set up, and for it to be made up of the European institutions, Member States, and representatives of COSAC, which includes the European affairs committees of the national parliaments, all on equal terms.
Lastly, there is no change in Croatia’s compromise proposal to the wording on following up the 2 years’ work entailed by the conference. The process will be open-ended, but will not be able to constitute a process that leads to revision of the Treaties (Article 48 TEU). In 2022, a report will be made to the European Council, which will decide on the way forward.
To read the compromise proposal, go to: https://bit.ly/2CwpORp (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)