To get there, EU institutions needed to
overcome various stumbling blocks and find a compromise that takes into account each institution’s preconditions.
The
updated table below gives an overview of all institutions’ positions
and how they compare to the Draft Joint Declaration. The table shows (1)
the general issues connected to the mandate of the initiative, (2) its
structure and composition, (3) the Conference’s governance, (4) its
plans for citizens’ participation, and (5) the expected outcome.
Since
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced to hold a
Conference on the Future of Europe in June 2019, all institutions
formulated their positions on how this initiative should look like, each
with its own conditions and level of ambition. The European Parliament
was first to adopt its vision in a resolution on 15 January 2020, a week
before the Commission presented its ideas on the Conference in a
dedicated communication (22 January 2020). After much delay caused by
the COVID-19 outbreak, the Council was last to position itself on 24
June 2020, initiating the inter-institutional negotiations on the Joint
Declaration.
Building on our expertise and extensive
body of work
on citizen participation in the EU, the European Policy Centre will
continue to closely monitor and analyse the Conference, provide
recommendations to policymakers and organisers, and follow up on the
outcome.