The Social Democratic Group (S&D) in the European Parliament is suggesting that the Conference on the Future of Europe should be extended to 2023, as the Covid-19 pandemic and the inter-institutional mix-up over the choice of presidency have so far prevented this pan-European reflection exercise from getting off the ground.
The proposal to extend the work of the conference to 2023, set out in a policy paper published by the S&D group on Thursday 10 December, retains the original two-year deadline. The outcomes of the Conference would then no longer coincide with the French Presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2022, which President Macron, who initiated the Conference, wants to use to give impetus to European integration. There will also be presidential elections in France in spring 2022.
The Social Democrats stress the importance of involving all sections of the population, especially women and young people, with young people making up “a third” of the participants in citizens’ agoras that will discuss issues such as economic recovery, health, social rights, the digital transition, European democracy and the rule of law.
The S&D group also believes that the Conference should allow the European Parliament to improve its legitimacy among European citizens by presenting itself as an EU institution that understands their day-to-day concerns.
With regard to the outcomes of the Conference, the S&D group believes that the three co-legislative institutions will need to work together to “turn the Conference’s conclusions into concrete actions and legislative proposals and, if a clear position should emerge, suggest the Treaty changes necessary to implement them”. “We cannot take seriously Council’s insistence on its decisive role on the outcome” of the Conference, the S&D group states.
The guidance document can be found at: https://bit.ly/39ZFxqW (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)