NordenBladet —
Members of the European Union Affairs Committee Oudekki Loone, Anti Poolamets, and Riina Sikkut are attending the Conference on the Future of Europe, which is held today and tomorrow in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Chairman of the Committee Siim Kallas is attending remotely.
The goal of the plenary sitting is to approve the proposals that have been discussed in depth in the Working Groups. This time, the emphasis is on the meetings of the component groups, i.e., the groups of the European Parliament, national parliaments, the European Commission, and the Council of the European Union, to achieve consensus on all the proposals of the Working Groups.
The proposals on nine topics are based on suggestions from the citizens: stronger economy, social justice and jobs; education, culture, youth and sport; digital transformation; European democracy; values and rights, rule of law and security; climate change and the environment; health; EU in the world; and migration.
After the sitting, the plan is to draft the conclusions report which should also include the approved proposals. The intention is to present the final report to the Presidents of the Council, the Commission, and the European Parliament during the formal final event of the Conference on 9 May in Strasbourg. After this, the three institutions must decide the steps to be taken to implement the proposals.
The Conference on the Future of Europe is a citizens-led series of debates and discussions that enable people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common future. This takes place on a multilingual digital platform where every European citizen can share their ideas through national as well as European citizens’ panels. The conclusions of the discussions are explored at the Plenary Session of the Conference. The Conference as a public forum offers an opportunity to engage in an open, inclusive, and transparent discussion with the citizens on a variety of priorities and problems.
Source: Parliament of Estonia