*** modified Friday 7 May 4 om ***
Tensions rose in informal negotiations between EU institutions on the governance of the Conference on the Future of Europe on Thursday 6 May, three days before the launch event of this pan-European consultation exercise at the European Parliament’s headquarters in Strasbourg.
Due to the blockage on the role of the plenary session of the Conference (see EUROPE 12711/21), the Executive Committee has not met since 22 April. But discussions continue at the level of co-presidents Dubravka Šuica for the European Commission, Ana Paula Zacarias for the Council of the EU, and Guy Verhofstadt for the European Parliament.
At the heart of the issue is the possibility for the plenary to endorse the first recommendations that will be sent to EU leaders in spring 2022. In the view of the Parliament, the Executive Committee would prepare a report with recommendations based on the deliberations in the citizens’ panels and the plenary session. The report should be supported by the four main categories of the plenary (national MPs, MEPs, Member States, the European Commission) before being forwarded to the EU-27.
For the Portuguese Presidency of the Council, the final say should instead be given to the Executive Committee of the Conference. The Parliament fears a political hijacking as the Slovenian Presidency of the Council looms...
On Thursday afternoon, Mr Verhofstadt reported that his positions were still very clear-cut and difficult to reconcile. He sounded out his counterparts on the way forward: would the other political groups agree to wait until Friday 7 May (9am), while Zacarias consults the Member States, before “deciding whether the launch event should take place”?
The EPP, S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left groups voted in favour of granting this delay, with a meeting of the co-chairs of the executive committee scheduled for Friday morning, rather than unilaterally withdrawing from the negotiations. In short, the Parliament does not want to take responsibility for a stillborn conference.
However, there is no legal obligation to reach a final agreement on the composition and role of the Conference plenary session by 9 May. But the Parliament argues that unfinished discussions over institutional wrangling would send a very bad political signal to the public.
In Paris, the Elysée accused MEPs of “holding hostage” the launch event of the conference, which is already a year late. “I would like us to give an image of a Europe that is less attached to mechanisms, less tied up in the role of each other and that, above all, we can deliver on 9 May the message of the launch of this exercise in collective democratic breathing, of projection towards the European model that we want in 10 or 15 years’ time”, said a source.
It confirmed the “symbolic” visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, who initiated the conference, to the Parliament’s headquarters in Strasbourg after MEPs had not met there for a year. Confirming that negotiations had not yet been concluded, the source called for “substantial” citizen participation in the plenary.
Composition of plenary session finalised
The Council is said to have sent a counter-proposal to the Parliament on Wednesday evening, allowing 108 citizens to participate in the plenary session as full members. However, MEPs were initially reluctant to do so, with some questioning the conflict between representative and participatory democracy.
However, according to our information, the composition of the plenary session was agreed on Thursday. The plenary session should be composed as follows: 108 national MPs, 108 MEPs, 54 Council representatives, 3 Commission representatives, 18 representatives of the Economic and Social Committee & 18 of the Committee of the Regions, 8 representatives of the social partners and 8 of the civil society. A place would be reserved for citizens: 80 people from citizens’ panels, 27 from national events, 1 from the European Youth Parliament. That is 433 members in total.
In France, in parallel to the Conference, a national consultation process over several weekends will be launched in September in 18 regions, with 50 citizens drawn by lot per region. At the end of these regional consultations, a report containing proposals would constitute the French contribution to the Conference. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion, with Véronique Leblanc)