This vast citizen reflection launched a year ago resulted in more than 300 proposals which were approved this Saturday, April 30 during a final plenary session in the European Parliament.
“Directing subsidies towards organic farming”, “establishing common minimum standards of care at EU level”, “periodically holding citizens’ assemblies”, “voting in European elections from the age of 16″… These are some of the 325 proposals around 49 objectives selected at the end of the seventh and final plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe, extensive consultation launched in spring 2021.
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” This plenary reached consensus on the proposals said Dubravka Suica, Vice-President of the European Commission and co-chair of the conference, to the applause of the Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg. ” This conference will be historic from the moment we implement what has been decided However, warned Belgian liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt, co-president of this conference.
Ignition delay
Proposals from more than 50,000 participants were also submitted on the online platform available in 24 languages (www.futureu.europa.eu), still open until 9 May. At the same time, France organized its own citizens’ consultations.
Launched in the spring of 2021, the implementation of this vast citizen consultation had been laborious, firstly because of bickering between the three European institutions – Commission, Council, Parliament – on the role of each and the follow-up to be given to the exercise, then the health crisis. It is only in the fall that 800 European citizens were able to start their reflection work, surrounded by elected officials and representatives of civil society. Despite this late start, Conference managed to complete its work within the expected timeframe: that of the French presidency of the European Council.
Exactly one year after the launch ceremony in Strasbourg, it is also at the European Parliament that the exercise will officially end on 9 May, Europe Day. The final report, which is expected to change little from the recommendations approved on Saturday, will be delivered to the presidents of the three European institutions, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron.
An uncertain future
However, the future of these proposals is still uncertain and the ball is now in the court of the European institutions. ” The European Parliament will inevitably want to take up many of these ideas, the Council will probably want to put the brakes on a lot of subjects and that will also depend on the presidencies rotating roles of the Board, analyzes Éric Maurice of the Robert Schuman Foundation.
Claiming an increased political role, the European Parliament intends to put pressure on the Member States and the Commission as of next week with the vote of a call to trigger a procedure for revising the European treaties. A change necessary to concretize certain citizens’ proposals, such as that of putting an end to the unanimous decisions of the Twenty-Seven, a regular brake on European action. According to Guy Verhofstadt, “ this will be the next big discussion “.
(With AFP)