Lexmann: CoFoE Could Serve as Mirror Held Up to European Union's Work So Far

Brussels/Bratislava, December 15 (TASR) – The Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) provides EU citizens with space to formulate their ideas and concrete proposals, and such feedback could serve as a “mirror” held up before the European Union’s work so far, MEP Miriam Lexmann (KDH/EPP) has told TASR.

“The expectations and ideas of the public are key to further successful headway for this unique project, and the constructive ones must be heard,” she said, stressing that EU citizens thus have the opportunity to express themselves more fully than simply via the ballot papers that they cast in elections.

According to Lexmann, many people perceive the European Union only through EU funds. Therefore, the basic role of MEPs is to meet people and “explain the principles, ideas and benefits of EU membership to them”. She thinks that the conference itself should come closer to the regions and to people who still need to get to know the Union. MEPs, top politicians and organisations with direct experience of the European Union should work on this, and EU leaders should “really take constructive criticism to heart and summon up the courage to set out on a path of reform”.

A total of 800 representatives of EU citizens have been divided into four citizens’ panels that will each meet three times between September 2021 and January 2022. At the end of the process, the citizens’ panels will collect all the ideas and results and send them to the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament for consideration.

“The result of listening to the public must be solutions that will bring the EU as close to people’s ideas as possible. This could start to be fulfilled during the next term of the European Parliament and the Commission as of 2024,” added Lexmann.