In the two European Citizens’ Panels that have finalised their recommendations so far, each of them with 200 Europeans of different ages and backgrounds, from all Member States, met (in person and remotely) to discuss and adopt recommendations on the challenges facing Europe now and in the future. The Panel on ‘European democracy / Values and rights, rule of law, security’ adopted 39 recommendations at its final session hosted by the European University Institute in Florence (Italy) in December. The Panel on ‘Climate change, environment / Health’ was hosted by the College of Europe in Natolin and the City of Warsaw (Poland) in January, where it finalised 51 recommendations within its remit. These 90 recommendations will now be presented and discussed in the upcoming Conference Plenary from 21-22 January in the European Parliament in Strasbourg (France).

When: Friday 21 January - Saturday 22 January 2022 (including preparatory meetings, working groups and political caucus meetings)

Where: European Parliament in Strasbourg, with physical and remote participation

The Opening of the Conference Plenary will also include a tribute to the late European Parliament President, David Sassoli, who passed away on 11 January. The complete agenda is available here.

Background

The Conference Plenary debates the recommendations from both national and European Citizens’ Panels, and the input gathered from the Multilingual Digital Platform, grouped by themes, without a pre-determined outcome. The Plenary will, based on consensus, put forward its proposals to the Executive Board. The latter will draw up a report in full collaboration and full transparency with the Plenary. The Panels have selected 80 citizens (20 for each Panel) to represent them in the Conference Plenary. These representatives took their seats during the second session of the Plenary on 23 October in Strasbourg. Find out more information on the Plenary’s composition, purpose and work, and download all relevant documents for the coming weekend, on the Conference Plenary webpage.

The four European Citizens’ Panels are a citizen-led process and a cornerstone of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Their deliberations take into account citizens’ contributions collected from across Europe via the Multilingual Digital Platform and events held across the Member States, and supported by presentations from prominent academics and other experts.

All Europeans can continue to contribute to the debate via the multilingual digital platform.