Conference on the Future of Europe: Executive Board meeting. Citizens’ participation: 4 panels with 200 people, a third young people

The so-called Executive Board of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the “control room” of the process, comprising two delegates for each institution involved - Parliament, Commission and Council - will meet today for the third time. The agenda for today’s meeting includes the drafting of the programme for the 9 May event that will kick-start the Conference process. The “internal rules” of the Conference are also to be defined, both as regards citizens’ participation and the functioning of the Plenaries. The last point is about the “practical arrangements for the organization the European citizens’ panels”, which will be a “key element” of the Conference. According to a proposal that has been circulated, four panels are expected to be held. They will be made up of 200 people each, a third of them young people (aged 16 to 25), chosen with a rigorous methodology to guarantee broad representation according to criteria such as nationality, urban/rural context, gender, socio-economic background. The panels will interact with the Plenaries of the Conference and will have to take on board the contributions of citizens on the digital platform. Their task will be to draw up recommendations around the key topics of the Conference, which will be included in the final report of the Conference to be submitted to the European institutions. The panels will hold plenary meetings to discuss and decide, but they will also exchange views in subgroups. Some of the meetings will be held remotely and at least two deliberative meetings will be held in person, but the transparency of the work will be guaranteed according to plan.

Valentina Bombelli