At the CIVEX Commission meeting held on 16 November 2021, EPP-CoR members stressed that the Conference on the Future of Europe is an opportunity to strengthen European democracy and restore trust in Europe by engaging local and regional authorities (LRAs) in the EU decision making process.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and Governor of the Region of Central Macedonia in Greece said that the Conference could be the last chance for Europe, as citizens feel left out of Europe and its decision-making. "The Conference on the Future of Europe, can't be a theoretical discussion. It can't happen to have citizens heard without taking action after this process - otherwise things will get even worse. We need to use well the work of the 30 regional and local delegates to the Conference, the input of the CoR's High Level Group and the effort of the entire team of politicians and academics, in order to achieve results. This is our last chance to make Europe a stronger and a more democratic union."
Herman Van Rompuy, President Emeritus of the European Council, Chair of the CoR High Level Group on European Democracy said that the future of European democracy should be the main theme of the Conference, especially since democracy is threatened from within – both in the member states and in the functioning of the EU institutions. "Democracy must once again become a conversation in which people listen to each other and where moderation and respect prevail. Dialogue must take place between citizens and elected political as well as between local, national and European leaders." He stressed that the Conference on the Future of Europe itself must become permanent consultation otherwise it will lack credibility. "Conversation must be held regularly". He concluded that the CoR could play a much bigger role in EU decisions under the existing EU treaties.
Yordanka Fandakova, Mayor of Sofia, CEMR Executive President and Delegate to the Conference on the Future of Europe spoke on the need of transforming cities and communities using a bottom up approach through multi-level governance. "Europe needs all levels of governance to ensure sustainable transformational change. This implies a governance in partnership model, since all of us - citizens, local, regional, national and European authorities are individual elements in one common process. We need to be aware of our interconnectedness if we are to build sustainable, resilient and modern cities and communities, knowing that transformation starts from the bottom up."
Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdańsk emphasised the need of continuous dialogue and also the need to prioritise civic education as a prerequisite for well-informed citizens. "It is important not to stop the dialogue on how we see the future of European democracy, and our meeting and the conference are part of this dialogue."
Alin Nica, President of Timis County Council expressed his believe in implementing participatory budgets and other mechanisms of permanent contribution and consultation with citizens as a key to empower citizens and bring Europe closer to them. "We implemented the participatory budget in Timiș county for the first time and it has generated a huge amount of interest and proposals from people, so this is a good example to scale-up to EU level." he concluded.
Mark Speich, Secretary of State for Federal, European and International Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia and CIVEX Chair spoke on the active role that the CoR is taking in the Conference. He recalled that the CIVEX Commission started debating the Conference on the Future of Europe soon after the proposal was launched in late 2019 and that the Conference has been on the agenda of all its meetings since then. He said "Today’s debate is the culmination of CIVEX's work over the last two years. We have examined the broad implications of the deliberations undertaken in the Conference on local and regional democracy and shaped the contribution of the Committee of the Regions. For a more democratic EU, LRAs have to be more involved in the EU legislative process. The Conference on the Future of Europe could be a great opportunity to achieve this goal".
The next plenary session if the Conference will be held on 17 and 18 December 2021. You cna watch the highlights of the last session and the contribution of EPP Local and Regional Leaders here. Members interested to organise EPP Local Dialogues in the context of the conference are invited to get in touch on epp@cor.europa.eu.