The debates revolved around the recommendations from the two European Citizens’ Panels that have finalized their work so far, in which some 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 finalized 51 recommendations within its remit.

Democracy and Demography Vice President Dubravka Šuica said: "From the beginning, I have had full trust in this deliberative process. But, it has exceeded even those expectations: I am impressed by the high quality of the recommendations adopted by the European and National Citizens panels that have completed their work so far. It is therefore all the more important that the citizens recognise themselves in the outcome of these deliberations and later see the impact of the concrete outcome of this Conference. Our democracy deserves this lively and constructive debate.”

The two European Citizens’ Panels that have not yet delivered their recommendations are due to finalise their work in February. The meeting of the Panel on ‘EU in the world / migration’ (expected to take place 11-13 February) will be hosted by the European Institute for Public Administration in Maastricht, Netherlands. The one on ‘A stronger economy, social justice and jobs / Education, culture, youth and sport / Digital transformation’ (expected to take place 25-27 February) will be hosted by the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin, Ireland. Their recommendations will be debated at a subsequent session of the Conference Plenary. All Europeans can continue to contribute to the debate via the multilingual digital platform. A press release is online here and the timeline of the Conference on the Future of Europe here.

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