9 May
The “Conference on the Future of Europe” plenary adopted 49 proposals with more than 300 measures for change at its final session on 29-30 April. The proposals draw on recommendations from European citizens’ panels, national citizens’ panels and events as well as ideas submitted on the online platform of the Conference.
They were formulated in nine working groups including citizens, members of the European Parliament, the Council, the European Commission and national parliaments as well as representatives of other EU bodies, regional and local authorities, social partners and civil society.
The document, adopted on 30 April, was presented at a closing event for the Conference on 9 May – Europe Day – in Strasbourg . Speaking at the ceremony, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament; Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; and French president Emmanuel Macron, representing the Council, acknowledged that some of the most ambitious proposals would require changes to the EU treaties.
MEPs already called for the procedure for treaty change to be in a resolution adopted on 4 May. The process might require forming a convention bringing together representatives of the European Parliament, Council and the Commission as well as national parliaments to propose treaty change.
“There is a gap between what people expect and what Europe is able to deliver at the moment. That is why we need a convention as the next step. There are issues that simply cannot wait,” Metsola added.
Macron, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council, said reforming the treaties would allow the EU to “move forward towards more simplicity” and would “provide legitimacy to the democratic control” launched by the Conference. He spoke in favour of taking decisions by qualified majority rather than unanimity in Council: “We know the way to go: to continue to generalize qualified majority voting in our decisions for our main public policies.”
Commission President von der Leyen pledged to work on new proposals based on the citizens’ recommendations and to present them in September, when she delivers her annual State of the European Union address. triggered