With the conclusion of the Conference on the Future of Europe on 9 May, how will the EU proceed with what has been achieved and what impact will the conference ultimately have? In our discussion series "Conference Conversations", we discuss these and other questions regarding the future of the Conference on the Future of Europe with European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica and MEP Daniel Freund on 24 May 2022.

The world as we face it today, is not a pretty sight – shaken by a number of crises, ranging from war, an ongoing pandemic to economic turbulences and an increasingly threatening scenario due to climate change. It is a torn world, with strained or shattered relations, enormous challenges of high complexity. Where do we go from here?

How is the EU developing? How do we strengthen democracy in Europe? In the face of the war in Ukraine, these questions are more urgent than ever. For just over a year now, it has been the task of the Conference on the Future of Europe to find answers together with citizens. In our video talk show "Conference Conversations" we discuss new forms of citizen participation in Europe with the former President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the German Minister of State for Europe, Anna Lührmann.

You can find more than 30 items of practical material—such as guidelines, templates and examples—for good citizen participation here. This material was used in the project “From local to European”, which is run jointly by the European Committee of the Regions and Bertelsmann Stiftung. The material ensured that quality principles were upheld in 38 Citizens’ Dialogues with around 2,000 citizens from 67 European cities and regions.

The EU’s Conference on the Future of Europe has gained momentum. Four citizens' panels with randomly selected EU citizens were held. More than 14,000 ideas were collected on a digital platform. But what are these achievements worth? How can the innovations of the conference ensure a better, more participatory EU in the long term? A report by the High-Level Advisory Group of our Conference Observatory provides answers to these questions.

Citizens from Spain, civil society from Poland, politicians, and members of public administrations from Croatia, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Greece, Romania, France, Hungary, Portugal, and Ireland: Over 100 participants from all over Europe discussed the results of the common project of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the European Committee of the Regions “From local to European”. Our stock-taking event on the 15.02.2022 shows: The genie is out of the bottle. The project gave European citizens a voice in shaping the future of Europe. Regional Citizens’ Dialogues for the future of Europe are here to stay.  

How do Greek citizens want to enhance the sustainability of tourism together with their European neighbours? What are the shared priorities of citizens of Pforzheim in Germany and Györ-Moson-Sopron in Hungary when it comes to European values and democracy? What support do citizens from EU border regions want—for example in Lower Silesia, Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic?  In our live discussion “From local to European – success stories and the main findings from local, cross-border and transnational citizens´ dialogues” we will reflect the common project “From local to European” together with the Committee of the Regions.  

The Ostbelgien Model

Europe is when citizens from six border regions in France, the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland meet, learn from each other and develop ideas together. On December 10 – 11, 70 citizens met digitally in multilingual groups for the first time and tabled proposals for strengthening border regions and the future of Europe. They discussed their proposals with politicians from the regions and the European Commission.

What do young Spaniards from Castilla-La-Mancha think about the future of the EU? How do citizens of the twin cities Munich and Bordeaux envisage the digital future of their home towns? What are the shared priorities of citizens of Pforzheim in Germany and Györ-Moson-Sopran in Hungary when it comes to European values and democracy? What support do citizens from EU border regions want—for example in Lower Silesia, Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany? The Conference on the Future of Europe is a platform for European citizens to discuss the future of Europe at local, regional and transnational level. We support these dialogues.