On Wednesday 26 May, the Executive Board of the Conference on the Future of Europe finalised the timetable of work and the topics to be addressed by the four citizens’ panels.
The plenary assembly of the Conference, composed of 433 members, including representatives of national parliaments, the European Parliament, Member States, and citizens (see EUROPE 12715/4), will meet six times between now and April 2022, the deadline set at this stage for finalising the work under the French Presidency of the EU Council. The dates are as follows: 18-19 June, 22-23 October, 17-18 December, 21-22 January, 18-19 February, and 11-12 March.
Four citizens’ panels will be set up, each composed of 200 people identified by the Kanter agency in a representative way, of which one third will be young people under 25 (see EUROPE 12705/21). Between mid-September 2021 and mid-January 2022, each panel will meet three times, twice in person. The cities shortlisted to host these panels are Florence, Dublin, Maastricht, and Natolin, Poland.
On Wednesday, the Executive Board decided on the topics on which the citizens’ panels will work: – fundamental values, the rule of law, security; – climate change and the environment; – economy, social justice, education and culture, youth, digital transition; and – the EU in the world.
The final event involving the participants of the citizens’ panel, where the final recommendations of the Conference could be presented and debated, would take place on 22-24 April 2022, with these dates still to be confirmed.
It should be noted that the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council will organise a launch event for European citizens on 17 June in Lisbon in a hybrid format.
On Thursday, the European Parliament delegation was due to finalise the composition of its delegation, with the ECR and Identity and Democracy groups being asked to revise their proposal so that the Parliament would respect the commitment to appoint a delegation composed of as many women as men. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)