The Executive Committee of the Conference on the Future of Europe will hold its constitutive meeting on Wednesday 24 March starting at 5pm.
On the agenda are the working methods of the body responsible for the day-to-day management of the conference and the participation of citizens in this consultation exercise, notably through a digital platform, the visual identity of the conference.
“We need to make sure that the conference starts as soon as possible, even before the launch event on 9 May”, said Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias, on Tuesday 23 March after the General Affairs Council. During the Ministerial meeting, Member States were informed of the progress made since the signing of the interinstitutional declaration that laid the foundations for the Conference (see EUROPE 12675/6).
In a letter of invitation to the constituent meeting of the Executive Committee, the Presidents of the institutional trio ask to be kept informed of the work after each meeting of the Committee.
In the margins of the General Affairs Council, twelve Member States (Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden) developed a common approach to the Conference in which they underlined that the legitimacy of the European Union and the support of citizens for the European project are intrinsically linked to the EU’s ability to deliver concrete results and act democratically.
These countries insist on a European Union based on respect for fundamental rules and values both inside and outside the Union.
The Conference “should not create legal obligations, nor should it duplicate or unduly interfere with the established legislative processes”, stress the twelve Member States, for whom the existing treaties constitute a timely framework to address the challenges that will be identified.
See the position of the twelve Member States: http://bit.ly/3lKbdUI (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)