Conference on the future of Europe: Think Tanks papers

In this second output jointly produced by ELIAMEP and the Hanns Seidel Foundation, prominent academics and experts from leading Think Tanks with a direct participation in the Conference have been asked to provide their insights responding to a set of related questions.

As a first concrete follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), beginning as of next year, the European Commission plans to make European Citizens' Panels (ECPs) a regular form of consultation ahead of key legislative proposals. Von der Leyen’s initiative to involve citizens in policy development is a substantial and positive innovation for EU law making and democracy. It not only answers citizens’ calls expressed in the CoFoE exercise. The measure will also give a boost to EU democracy and has the potential to mitigate shortcomings in the existing institutional consultation process. Yet, to make a difference, these Panels should be integrated into the current policymaking cycle by becoming part of the Commission's better regulation toolbox.

This report synthesises the citizen-generated ideas in our online focus groups with the comments and reactions from European Young Leaders. We hope the ideas presented will help support the ongoing dialogue about new varieties of democracy. One of the ideas is ensure that the Conference on the Future of Europe delivers.

The debate over major reforms of the European Union is heating up. Now that the one-year Conference on the Future of Europe has concluded, the European Parliament has proposed a convention and treaty amendments. But many national governments would still prefer to develop the European Union within the framework of the existing treaties. Closer examination of the Conference’s outcomes reveals a more com­plex picture: citizens who expect the Union to lead the great transforma­tion projects, who demand greater transparency, and who see treaty amendments as a means to strengthen the EU. Although the Conference failed to bring supporters and opponents of treaty amendments any closer together, the newly revived debate about deepening and widening has the potential to do so.

The Conference on the Future of Europe concluded its work after a period of intensive citizens’ deliberations that resulted in a set of concrete policy proposals for the strengthening of the European integration process. This joint publication of ELIAMEP and the Hanns Seidel Foundation takes stock of the Conference and its core outputs.

The Conference on the Future of Europe closed with the adoption of 49 recommendations, many of which address EU climate policies. Now, these are supposed to be transposed into policy action, but questions remain about the extent to which they can bring new momentum to the EU’s climate agenda.

On 9 May after a year's work the Conference on the future of Europe delivered its conclusions to chart the way for a "new, effective and more democratic Europe (...) sovereign and capable of acting", to quote one of its co-chairs, Guy Verhofstadt (BE, Renew). The Conference, which was an unprecedented exercise in participatory democracy at EU level, involving citizens, experts, representatives of the institutions and politicians, will only have achieved its objective if Europe, and in particular its Member States, follow and appropriate at least part of its recommendations. A first discussion is taking place at the European Council on 23 and 24 June, whilst the Parliament has already expressed its position and expectations.

The Conference on the Future of Europe represented a positive first step in the innovation of European democracy. Policymakers will need to use the experience as a catalyst for broader change, well beyond the kind of citizen engagement pioneered during the conference.

This report is the result of exchanges within the Conference Observatory’s High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) under the co-chairmanship of Brigid Laffan and Herman Van Rompuy.
The report is divided into three sections which look at the past, present and future of the Conference:
• What worked? Were the European Citizens’ Panels successful? What flaws need to be addressed in the final sessions?
• What now? What must be done in the final ‘hot’ phase of the Conference? How can the citizens’ recommendations be translated into proposals?
• What next? How can citizens’ deliberation become part of the EU’s future participation toolbox?

The Conference on the Future of Europe had its official start on 9 May 2021 and the process has brought together citizens and politicians in the Conference plenary with the aim of discussing recommendations on the future of the EU and its policies. As the Conference comes to its conclusions, the question of what will come after is becoming all the more salient. By answering the question of why citizens’ participation matters and looking at some examples of deliberative democracy, the question on what could be the outcome of the Conference process will be dealt with, and discuss the role the 2024 Belgian Council Presidency could play in its tracks.

The Conference on the Future of Europe remains an enigma just five months before its projected end. This policy brief outlines the four main open questions that will determine the outcome of the conference and whether it will be judged a success: What level of ambition will the conference aim for? Who is calling the shots when it comes to the conference’s outcome document? What will happen next after the end of the conference? And how will the conference impact the EU’s institutional fabric in the long run?

Civil society in Europe and its attitudes towards the European project have changed dramatically in the past decade of multiple crises. This study mapped, tracked and monitored developments in European civil society over a two-year period, revealing the nature and implications of these changes.
The forthcoming Conference on the Future of Europe offers an opportunity for bringing the European Union closer to the visions of civil society. While there are likely to be widespread civil society consultations, there needs to be political pressure to translate the outcomes of these consultations into meaningful reform of the European Union.

Initially planned for 2020, the launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe has been postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. Scheduled to run for two years, this conference will bring together Europeans institutions, civil society representatives, and citizens of all ages to debate on the future of Europe. Thus, this conference has the great merit of facing the issue of citizen participation, confirming the constant desire of strengthening European democracy. Similarly to the European Convention on the Future of Europe, this conference would also include citizen consultations, supported by a digital platform allowing online debates and contributions.

Since the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Union (EU) has been struggling to implement structural reforms. New steps towards integration have only been possible under intense pressure during crises, and treaty change has become taboo. The Conference on the Future of Europe is supposed to open a new path and generate new ideas for the development of the Union through a hybrid format of interinstitutional negotiations and citizen participation. However, its launch has been delayed considerably – and not only by the Covid-19 pandemic; the aims, level of ambition, and structure of the Conference have also been the subject of controversy among the EU institutions. To create the momentum for lasting reform, the Conference must overcome four ob­stacles: the scepticism of many member states, the taboo of treaty change, interinstitutional rivalries, and past difficulties that the EU has had with citizen participation.

The Conference on the Future of Europe will not be the place where the future of the EU will be decided. For that, there are too many obstacles standing in its way: First, it comes at the wrong time. Secondly, it is too short and its governance structures are too heavy. And lastly, it lacks the necessary support at member state level to bring about concrete policy changes. But it also does not have to. The future of EU democracy will be decided in national and European parliamentary elections. Instead of overpromising on the Conference, EU institutions and national governments should ensure that their results are translated into concrete action at EU level.

The Conference is an experiment of inclusive reflection and renewal that could help our European democracies innovate, adapt and prosper. But to be successful, the Conference leadership must be mindful of 6 treacherous gaps in the Joint Declaration.

"Has the time to talk about the future of Europe finally arrived? Despite European ambassadors finally approving the format proposed by the Portuguese Presidency, we need to proceed with caution as the bottom-up form of representation that is the Conference may still end in stalemate. In fact, there is still a very real risk that the Brussels Bubble may once again leave EU citizens empty-handed if certain conditions are not met in the light of the coronavirus pandemic..."

"L’évolution sémantique est notable : le mot « participation » des citoyens au projet européen a trouvé sa place dans les documents officiels des institutions européennes, en particulier pour la préparation de la Conférence sur l’Avenir de l’Europe, afin de donner « un nouvel élan à la démocratie européenne ». L’emploi du terme « participation » à cette échelle honore et oblige les Européens. Il nous honore car l’Union européenne pourrait être le premier espace politique transnational à réinventer la pratique démocratique, en conjuguant représentation et participation d’une façon à la fois innovante et engageante. Il nous oblige car il implique de ne pas s’arrêter au milieu du gué et de prendre au sérieux les signaux faibles de nos démocraties actuelles."

The EU institutions decided to hold a two-year conference on the future of the European Union. Together with the (at the time) French State Minister for European Affairs Amélie de Montchalin, her Austrian colleague Karoline Edtstadler, 50 MEPs, and experts on EU policy from Member States and think tanks, we discussed during an online dialogue: How can citizens be involved in the conference? What topics should be addressed? And how can and must the results be implemented?

Everything that increases the interest of European citizens in the EU, independently of whether it has a critical or a supportive character, will serve to move the EU closer to its citizens.

“Is Europe sovereign?” is one of the main questions in the current political debate in the EU. In Central Europe the issue remains divisive and thus poorly understood. It is highly relevant for the 2020 conference on the future of Europe announced by the new Commission President. This paper aims to offer a new look at the very concept of sovereignty, describing the EU as double-edged political construction with a double source of legitimacy: a Union of states and a Union of citizens.

The Conference on the Future of Europe is over. It actually went well, at least when only considering the participatory element and citizens’ enthusiasm to take part. However, as anyone with at least a passing knowledge of EU institutional power games would have anticipated, cooperation between the main EU institutions has been less than stellar.