The Conference on the Future of Europe: What to expect?
by CEPS
Date and Time: Tuesday, 04 May 2021 / 09:30 - 10:45 Central European Time (CET)
Register here
The conference on the future of Europe is intended to give citizens the chance to voice their opinions about the EU’s fields of action. It should also address key institutional improvements, most notably the appointment of the Commission president and the issue of transnational lists, ahead of the European Parliament elections in 2024.
Despite the hype, numerous postponements and the lack of clarity around the goals of the conference have harmed its reputation. The pandemic certainly played a part, but so did the institutional turf-battle among Council, Commission and European Parliament over the leadership question. And this dispute has revealed very substantial differences in what each institution expects from this conference.
The European institutions agreed on the conference’s duration, from May 2021 until Spring 2022, the general set up and the launch of a multilingual digital platform for citizens to participate. Yet key questions remain unanswered, for instance how European citizens will be panels be organised, and how, barring treaty change, the recommendations generated by the conference will be put into practice and followed up. The lack of buy-in and political support by most Member States is particularly problematic.
With the conference scheduled to start on 9 May, this webinar will be an opportunity to bring together representatives from all three institutions to discuss the conference’s opportunities, chances and risks.
Sophia Russack, Researcher at CEPS, will moderate this session.
Speakers include:
- Karoline Edtstadler, Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution at the Federal Chancellery, Austria
- Ilke Toygur, Analyst of European Affairs, Elcano Royal Institute and Adjunct Professor, UC3M
- Daniel Freund, Member of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, European Parliament
- Dubravka Šuica, Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography
Organizer: Anne-Marie Boudou, Conference & Membership Coordinator | +32 (0)2 229 39 12 |
This session will be run in Zoom, you must register in advance to gain access to the meeting and the details to join will be sent one hour prior of the event.
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