05/05/2021 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 5 May, the former President of the European Parliament, German Christian Democrat Hans-Gert Pöttering, expressed theEuropean Parliament Former Members Association’s (FMA) concern about the “possible appropriation of the reflection process by short-term political gains and the narrow time frame” of the Conference on the Future of Europe. “The Conference should be open-ended but with a clear plan for the follow-up to its conclusions”, he said in a statement. Among the topics to be discussed, the FMA mentions how the EU can be more efficient after the Covid-19 pandemic, expand its scope and respond to citizens’ expectations, “without excluding the possibility of treaty change”. He hoped that some interinstitutional issues, such as the Spitzenkandidaten, would be resolved. See the FMA’s work on the Conference: https://bit.ly/3vHJnw9 (MB)