Our Petition to the European Parliament

Our Petition to the European Parliament: For a transparent and participatory citizens-centered Conference on the Future of Europe

We are writing to you with the negotiations on the Conference on the Future of Europe currently underway. The Conference, announced by President Ursula von der Leyen prior to her appointment as Commission President, promised that Europeans will build the future of the Union and that citizens should play a leading role in setting the priorities and level of ambitions of the EU.

The expectations of the Conference are high, as they must be for the Conference to address and meet the challenges facing the European project at this critical moment in time. However, the way in which the Conference is currently being prepared is highly problematic: the three EU institutions are meeting behind closed doors to agree on a joint declaration and citizens are left completely in the dark. There is no attempt at involving citizens in designing the Conference, and citizens are not in any structured way updated on what is proceeding in the negotiations, let alone are they given the opportunity to contribute and co-create. This is against the spirit of Article 1 of the Treaty on the European Union, which states that decisions should be “taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen,” as well as against the spirit of Article 15(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which states: “In order to promote good governance and ensure the participation of civil society, the Union’s institutions, bodies, offices and agencies shall conduct their work as openly as possible.”

Therefore, we call on the European Parliament to update citizens immediately on the interinstitutional negotiations, and to do so regularly, and to ensure that the joint declaration shows the necessary room and mechanisms for citizens and civil society to further co-create the Conference in the spirit of ‘equal partnership’ promised by Ursula von der Leyen (see political guidelines for the European Commission 2019-2024). In order to achieve this, we call upon you to:

• Organise a public consultation on how to design and organise the Conference as soon as the joint declaration is published;
• Ensure that citizens will be involved in setting the agenda of the Conference
• Facilitate the establishment of an independent EU Civil Society Forum to monitor the Conference and the follow-up process
• Establish a special European Parliament Working Group on the Conference on the Future of Europe that engages in dialogue with citizens and the EU Civil Society Forum regularly throughout the duration of the Conference
• Ensure that the joint declaration contains a clear follow-up mechanism and commitment in order to guarantee that citizens’ inputs are adequately and promptly followed up, and that a process of treaty change is launched, if so recommended by the Conference.

You may wish to read for more details the 10 principles for a citizen-centered Conference on the Future of Europe for the full Conference guide prepared by the Citizens Take Over Europe coalition.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light the fragilities of the European Union and made clear that a participatory and transparent Conference on the Future of Europe is needed more than ever. At the same time, the pandemic enabled a stronger cooperation between civil society and the European Parliament, where other Petitions had been brought to your attention on the topic of a democratic and transparent response to COVID-19 (329-2020). We call on you to demonstrate your democratic courage to support the design and implementation of the Conference that the EU and its citizens need.

Citizens Take Over Europe alliance

1. AEGEE-Europe
2. Alliance4Europe
3. Another Europe is Possible
4. CitizensLab
5. CIVICO Europa
6. Co-Creating Europe
7. Democracy International e.V.
8. EUmans
9. European Alternatives
10. European Civic Forum
11. European Democracy Lab
12. European House
13. EuropeanConstitution.eu
14. Europe, a patient
15. Eurotopia
16. Fórum dos Cidadãos
17. Mehr Demokratie e.V.
18. mehr demokratie! Österreich
19. Music Theater International
20. New Europeans
21. Pulse of Europe
22. Take a Break from Brexit
23. The ECI Campaign
24. The Good Lobby
25. WeMove Europe

Supporting Partners

1. ACI – Centro InterCulturaCidade
2. AlterEuropa
3. Association of Certified Commercial Diplomats
4. Associazione Luca Coscioni per la libertà di ricercar scientifica
5. Basisdemokratie jetzt
6. Bridging Europe
7. Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschafliches Engagement (BBE)
8. Christians for Future Berlin
9. Christians for Future Germany
10. Citizens for Europe
11. CROSOL – Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity
12. CUBE. Your Take on Europe e.V.
13. Cultural Diversity Coalition
14. Culture Solutions Europe
15. European Citizens’ Rights, Involvement and Trust Foundation (ECIT Foundation)
16. eCivis, asociacion para la promocion de la ciudadania active
17. EFF – European Future Forum
18. Engage Liverpool
19. Europa Repubblica
20. Europa-Union Hochtaunus e.V.
21. Europa-Zentrum Potsdam
22. Europe Direct Informationszentrum
23. European Movement Italy
24. European Partnership for Democracy
25. EuroPeers Maastricht
26. Foundation Open Society Macedonia
27. Friends of the European Republic
28. Friends of the Homeless, Dublin
29. Fundació Aroa
30. Imagine Europe
31. Institute of Public Affairs Poland
32. Italissyme
33. LIMA-Theater
34. Lodzkie Dziewuchy Dziewuchom
35. Mediation Hub BG Association
36. Parents for Future Berlin
37. PHILEUROPA Deutschland – Fileuropa Italia
38. Pulse of Europe Berlin
39. Pulse of Europe Fulda
40. Pulse of Europe Munich
41. Pulse of Europe Toulouse
42. Science for Democracy
43. Sortition Foundation
44. Stati Generali delle Donne
45. Transition Town Saarbrücken
46. Vote&Vous
47. Voxeurop
48. YMCA Albania