The Conference on the Future of Europe looks at what reforms should be made to EU's policies and institutions and how we best make that happen. Ensuring that the Conference reaches wide and far will be one of the most important keys to its overall success.
How can we voice civil society's concerns to the Conference?
It is vital to ensure that next to a bottom up involvement of citizens and CSOs at local and national levels, there is also a direct link between European CSOs and the Conference. This can be done through engagement with the Conference's interinstitutional Plenary, which is supposed to debate proposals and organise a follow up to the Conference. It is critical that organised European civil society is also engaged in this exercise, in line with Article 11 of the Treaties according to which EU institutions must maintain an open, transparent and structured dialogue with civil society.
It is for this reason that ECNL joined the Civil Society Convention, established and coordinated by Civil Society Europe.
What will the Civil Society Convention do?
- Regularly invite Members of the Conference from EU Institutions to its meetings (whether physical or online) to exchange views with European civil society networks.
- Work to have an agreement to ensure that representatives of the Convention are invited to each session of the Conference Plenary with speaking rights.
- Send comments to the draft agenda in advance of the plenary sessions.
Participation builds trust in institutions and decisions that influence public life
We believe that one of the crucial issues to be debated at the Conference is how to reconnect people with the European Union and its institutions. EU must create fit for purpose legal instruments in order to implement real civil dialogue regarding issues that affect all citizens, and ensure that decision-making processes of all institutions and all stages are transparent. With this approach both EU institutions and Member States governments can be held accountable: we can move away from an intergovernmental approach, which is no longer fit to respond to current societal challenges, to a culture of openness, and participation.
For more details, join the online launch event on February 3 and sign up to the Joint Declaration to be part of the Convention:
https://civilsocietyeurope.eu/join-the-civil-society-convention-on-the-future-of-europe/