Conference on Future of Europe: main parliamentary groups call into question proposed governance. “Citizens ask for less complex EU”.

“Dear President in office, we write to you as the presidents of the three main pro-European Groups in the European Parliament in order to express our worries regarding the proposed governance system for the Conference on the Future of Europe”. Manfred Weber, Iratxe García Pérez and Dacian Cioloș, respectively presidents of the European People’s Party, of the Socialists and Democrats, and of Renew Europe, have today addressed a letter to the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU about the long-awaited Conference that was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “We accept that the Conference is to be jointly presided over by the Presidents of the three institutions”: Parliament, Commission and Council. Such collective presidency “will provide leadership at the highest level and ensure serious follow up of the Conference’s work”. “The role and competences of the Executive Board, on the other hand, are quite different. We support the proposal of the Executive Board taking decisions by consensus, with equal representation and equal weight in decision-making of the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission”. The letter, however, criticises some technical and political aspects of the Conference’s organisation. “Our citizens find the institutional set up of our Union complex. With the Conference on the Future of Europe, we can show them we want things to be done differently. As you know, the Conference of Presidents is set to assess the draft Joint Declaration next Thursday and we hope that it can be adjusted ahead of this meeting”.
Valentina Bombelli