On Monday 19 July, the Conference on the Future of Europe Executive Board decided to increase the participation of territorial authorities and social partners in the plenary assembly.
The original agreement was that the plenary assembly would be composed of 433 members, including 108 national MPs, 108 MEPs, 108 EU citizens, 54 EU Council representatives, 3 European Commission representatives, 18 representatives from both the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, 8 social partners representatives and 8 civil society representatives (see EUROPE 12715/4).
The delegation of territorial authorities will be increased to 30, i.e. 6 regional representatives and 6 local entity representatives, all chosen by the Committee of the Regions. The social partners’ delegation will be increased by 4 people to 12 representatives.
“We look forward to the start of the discussions on the future of Europe’s contents phase, with the first citizens’ panels to be held in September”, said Guy Verhofstadt (Renew Europe, Belgium) in a statement.
Calendar. Four themes were selected for the citizens’ panels: fundamental values, the rule of law, security; climate change and the environment; economy, social justice, education and culture, youth, the digital transition; the EU in the world.
They will meet on the following dates: September 17-19 (panel 1) and 24-26 (panel 2); October 1-3 (panel 3) and 15-17 (panel 4); November 5-7 (panel 1), 12-13 (panel 2), 19-21 (panel 3), 26-27 (panel 4); December 4-5 (panel 1), 10-12 (panel 2); January (2022) 7-9 (panel 3) and 14-16 (panel 4).
The cities shortlisted to host these panels are Florence, Dublin, Maastricht and Natolin (Poland). A final joint event could take place on 22-24 April.
The dates for the Conference on the Future of Europe plenary sessions: 22-23 October, 17-18 December, 21-22 January, 18-19 February and potentially 11-12 March (see EUROPE 12728/27).
More information at: https://bit.ly/3iJi4gr (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)