On Monday 9 May in Strasbourg, at the feedback event for the proposals from the Conference on the Future of Europe, the three co-chairs of this unprecedented citizens’ consultation exercise - Roberta Metsola for the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen for the European Commission, and Emmanuel Macron for the Council of the EU - which began a year ago at the seat of the European Parliament, will assure the citizens who participated in the adventure that they will do their utmost to ensure that these proposals do not become a dead letter.
Next Monday, on Europe Day, the three co-presidents will react on behalf of the institution they represent, as no joint written statement is expected at that time.
The hardest part is beginning for the institutional trio. The challenge is to analyse the proposals listed in nine areas of activity and to respond to them as quickly as possible and in a way that does not disappoint the expectations expressed.
The joint declaration adopted on 9 May 2021 as a basis for the work of the Conference includes a report on the work done. “The three institutions will examine swiftly how to follow up effectively to this report, each within their own sphere of competences and in accordance with the Treaties”, it says.
On Friday 6 May, during a public debate on Twitter, Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul, member of the joint secretariat of the Conference, hoped that the restitution event would be “the beginning of a new phase”, an operational one. Hoping that the follow-up to the Conference would not focus exclusively on institutional reform, she noted that “70% of the Conference proposals do not require treaty change”.
Eager to be at the forefront, the European Parliament has already officially reacted even before the closing event of the Conference. On Wednesday, it called for the convening of a Convention to reform the European Union (see EUROPE 12945/7). In June, it is expected to detail its request, indicating which policies are targeted and how they should evolve. In addition, MEPs will be preparing a comprehensive response to all the Conference proposals in the coming weeks.
The Parliament hopes that the Member States will thus be invited to take a position, by a simple majority, on the convening of a Convention, perhaps by the end of June, still under the French Presidency of the EU Council.
In the EU Council, caution prevails. A source from the EU institution simply recalled the content of the joint declaration on Friday, without commenting on any initiative by the Member States.
In February, a note from the French Presidency mentioned a possible political sequence after 9 May. In particular, the General Affairs Council could prepare conclusions that the European Council would adopt at the end of June (see EUROPE 12890/17).
The European Commission is not venturing to say at this stage that Mrs von der Leyen will make any specific announcements on the initiatives the EU institution intends to undertake during the annual State of the Union address in September.
One thing is certain: the citizens who participated in the conference panels intend to participate in the follow-up of the proposals on the table. They have already been invited to a review event in 6 months’ time.
“If we want to take the process seriously, we need time. This is why we are planning a follow-up event, more likely this autumn, to provide a substantial response”, said Mrs Ricard-Nihoul.
See the programme of the conference feedback event: https://aeur.eu/f/1jf
See the proposals of the Conference on the Future of Europe (in French): https://aeur.eu/f/1GH (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)