CoFoE's Second Panel to Hold Online Session over Weekend
Strasbourg, November 12 (TASR) – The second citizens’ panel of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) will hold its second session this weekend, the European Parliament has reported on its website.
The second of the CoFoE’s four panels deals with democracy in Europe, values and rights, the rule of law and security. According to EP spokesman Jaume Duch Guillot, the session will take place virtually and will continue putting forward citizens’ priorities and recommendations on European democracy,values, rights, the rule of law and security.
The first debate of the panel took place on September 24-26 on the premises of the EP in Strasbourg. Meanwhile, the third and final session has been slated for December 10-12 in Firenze, Italy.
According to the EP’s official website, the second session of the panel will address five main topics, namely safeguarding of rights and preventing discrimination, protecting democracy and the rule of law, reform of the EU, creating a European identity and empowering EU citizens.
The CoFoE is being carried out by the EP, the Council of the EU and the European Commission. The initiative provides citizens of the EU with an opportunity to express their opinion on Europe’s future direction.
A total of 800 EU citizens have been divided into four citizens’ panels, which will each hold three meetings. The first CoFoE panel focused on improving the economy, social justice, employment and education, youth, culture, sport and digital transformation. The second one is dealing with democracy in Europe, values and rights, the rule of law and security. The third panel will be dedicated to climate change, environmental issues and new health-related challenges for the EU. As for the final panel, it will tackle migration and the EU’s role in the world.
There’s an equal number of men and women and proportional representation of people from urban and rural areas in each of the panels. The participants come from all 27 EU-member states, reflecting the demographic and social diversity of the EU. At least one third of the participants in each panel are aged under 25.
The recommendations of the four panels will be included in the final report to be prepared by the conference executive board in the spring of 2022. European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen has stressed that the EC will be guided by the conclusions of the conference.
