(Brussels) “People should be at the heart of all our policies. I want all Europeans to actively contribute to the Conference on the Future of Europe and play a leading role in setting out the priorities of the European Union. Only together can we build the future of our Union”. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is currently in Davos attending the World Economic Forum, made these remarks about today’s release of the Commission’s Guidelines in preparation for the Conference on the Future of Europe. The document – which confirms the advance information provided by SIR news agency on 20 January – specifies that the Conference should be launched on 9 May 2020, to mark Europe Day, in Dubrovnik (Croatia holds the presidency of the Council of the EU) and run for two years. The chosen date marks 70 years since the Schuman Declaration, which started the process of European integration, and 75 years after the end of the Second World War. “The Communication adopted is the Commission’s contribution to the already lively debate around the Conference on the Future of Europe – a statement reads -, a project announced by President Ursula von der Leyen in her Political Guidelines, to give Europeans a greater say on what the European Union does and how it works for them”.