Several hundred European citizens participating in a series of conferences on the future of the European Union are disappointed by the lack of interest from Members of the European Parliament. More than half of the MEPs either fail to show up or leave the meeting immediately after delivering predetermined statements.
The CoFoE conference is a democracy experiment where citizens take part in discussions on modernizing the European Union. The plenary assembly consists of citizens, representatives of civil society, and numerous national and European politicians.
In a letter, citizens state that it is impossible “to hold a constructive debate if the members are not in the room.” They also indicated that politicians need to be more involved in the conference process, as “the room is becoming increasingly empty.”
The letter notes that nearly all 108 participating citizens were usually present. Many of them had to take time off from their work, school, or university in order to attend. “And we estimated that of the 341 professional politicians involved in the CoFoE process, about 90 were present.”
Citizens urged politicians to be more present at the next upcoming meeting session, which will be held this weekend in Strasbourg.
This is not the first time citizens have complained about the behavior of EU politicians. During a meeting in early March, some citizens noted that EU politicians often gave their own twist and interpretation to the
On Friday, the penultimate plenary meeting of the Conference on the Future of Europe takes place. Dutch Minister Wopke Hoekstra will present the results of the Dutch citizen dialogue there. The Netherlands is one of the few EU countries that has held its own conference with citizens on EU modernization.
Just as with EU politicians, the Dutch government will not adopt the citizens’ recommendations outright but will incorporate them in their own contribution. Hoekstra will also speak with the Dutch youth representative, and with one of the Dutch participants in the citizen panels.
The results of the European and national citizen panels are discussed in plenary meetings of the Conference on the Future of Europe. On “Europe Day,” May 9, a final report will be presented to the presidium: the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, and the European Commission.
Based on the final report, the EU institutions will then consider how to incorporate the input from EU citizens.