Presentation of the European Citizens' Panels results by Dubravka SUICA, European Commissioner for demography and democracy, and by the Representatives from the four European Citizens' Panels. This transcription is a result of an authomatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

future of the European Union (T)

ŠUICA, Dubravka (EPP, HR, EC)

conference on the future of Europe (T)

Conference on the Future of Europe - Plenary session: presentation of the citizens panels by Dubravka SUICA, European Commissioner for demography and democracy, and by representatives of the European Citizens' Panels

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, Dear ladies and gentlemen, this morning, we will start our deliberations with the discussion on the European citizens panels. You know, by now, that we have selected 800 of citizens in a manner that is random and representative to our diversity. They started their work in four panels, each addressing specific topics.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, During their first session, citizens in the panels have familiarise themselves with the topics raised on the multilingual digital platform and identify the issues that they wish to discuss in depth in the remaining two sessions. Anyone can see the reports on the activities of the panels because they are publicly available on the conference platform to ensure full transparency.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, In the upcoming weeks, each panel will draw recommendations that will be presented by citizens to this plenary. Panel one and Panel two will present their recommendations in the December plenary, while Panels three and four will do so in January.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, Each panel is represented in the plenary by 20 ambassadors who were randomly selected amongst those who volunteered for this role. Eight citizens will shortly present a summary of their first deliberations, but before leaving the floor to them, let me share via video what I witnessed during the panels I attended as an observer.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, I saw a diverse group of people aged 16 to 85 from 27 member states. People who have agreed to take time out from their jobs and their families to take on the responsibility of participating in this unique process that this Conference on the Future of Europe. Some had to travel more than 15 hours to reach Strasbourg. Some thought this was a commercial gimmick or trick. Some were not sure they could live up to the task.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, Nevertheless, they all came fully prepared and started working with admirable dedication. Those who were initially sceptical started feeling honoured to participate, and I think all of them are now pleasantly surprised to be given this opportunity for their voice to be heard. Their engagement is impressive, given that almost none of them have ever participated in this type of event before.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, I was particularly touched by one elderly citizen who was visibly moved. She said that she had never thought she would one day experience the wonderful feeling of contributing to the European Union for the next generations.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, The Conference of the Future of Europe gave the opportunity she deserved, and this makes me proud to stand before you today to conclude. Today, I see in this hemicycle elected representatives and decision makers at all decision makers, at all levels who all have a great deal of experience with citizens engagement.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, But I am sure not many of us have had the occasion to hear the voices of a 16 year old student from Romania, a newly graduated Finn, a young mother from Italy and 85 year old retired German, all at the same time. For me, it was one of the best experiences of my political life so far. These panels are where the added value is for policymakers.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, This is how we are strengthening our representative democracy, and I wish you good deliberations this morning and give the floor to the citizens from panel one. But before giving floor to citizens from panel one, I will explain how it works.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, Let me remind you that during this debate, you will have a possibility to ask questions or react to speakers from a different plenary component that than yours. Known as a blue card, a blue card question can be put to a speaker at the end of his or her speech for no longer than 30 seconds, followed by a 30 seconds reply.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, Blue-card questions can only be asked by and to members of the Conference who are physically present in this chamber. You have received information on the use of this system by email, and the instructions are available on your desks. I would also like to remind all the speakers that it is vital to stick to their speaking time.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka SUICA, CoFoE co-chair, This is the only way to allow as many participants as possible to express themselves. We, the co-chairs, will have to be strict on that and interrupt speakers when their speaking time comes to an end. Be aware the time passes very quickly when you are speaking, and now I open the debate and I give the floor to Madame Giselle Magnery, from European Citizens Panel one.

SOUNDBITE (French), Giselle MAGNERY, citizens' ambassdor from panel 1, Good morning, everybody. My name is Giselle and I'm Belgian. I would like to give you a brief summary of the activities carried out in panel one. We've reflected together on the subject of education, culture and sport on the digital transition, the economy, social justice and employment.

SOUNDBITE (French), Giselle MAGNERY, citizens' ambassdor from panel 1, The first session we focussed on building a vision for the future of Europe and establishing an agenda so as to be able to define which subjects we wanted to go into detail on. These are the areas we will be working further on later on.

SOUNDBITE (French), Giselle MAGNERY, citizens' ambassdor from panel 1, On education, culture and sport. We suggest the revision of academic programmes to include a European dimension into education because each European should be able to carry out their studies in another country of the union.

SOUNDBITE (French), Giselle MAGNERY, citizens' ambassdor from panel 1, We also mentioned the labour market fighting unemployment, as well as the transition from studies to work because everybody should be able to be involved in building Europe. Cultural and sporting activities should be possible for all throughout the whole of Europe. Let's take the right decisions so that this is possible even for people who are in complicated situations.

SOUNDBITE (French), Giselle MAGNERY, citizens' ambassdor from panel 1, Digitalisation is having an effect on everything Europeans do, and everybody should have access to the digital with no age limits. Cyber security needs to be developed. Citizens rights need to be protected so that everybody lives safely in the digital world. These are just some areas that we will be developing further that will discuss again in December.

SOUNDBITE (French), Giselle MAGNERY, citizens' ambassdor from panel 1, What we are expecting is a genuine dialogue with you so that you make our proposals become a reality. We are therefore counting upon you. I'd like to pass the floor to my colleague to develop the points on the economy, social justice and employment. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (German), Elyes OUERGHI, citizens' ambassdor from panel 1, Good morning, my name is Elias. I'm from Graz, Austria. We discussed labour in Europe and we decided to look at how to promote work and access to work for young people, particularly to reduce unemployment after the end of the pandemic for the future of Europe.

SOUNDBITE (German), Elyes OUERGHI, citizens' ambassdor from panel 1, We also looked at the economy and how it could be more future proof. And how it could also be better for climate change. We also looked at greater competitivity and the development of technological instruments for the future. In a way that is also sustainable, both competitive and sustainable.

SOUNDBITE (German), Elyes OUERGHI, citizens' ambassdor from panel 1, We also discussed a fairer society, how we could guarantee a fairer society and greater access to everything, including sports for all citizens. Furthermore, equality, gender based equality was something that we also discussed and also equality between the rich and the poor because unfortunately, the differences are getting even larger. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Valentina BALZANI, citizens' ambassdor from panel 2, Good morning. Europe can be seen as a garden that needs to be taken care of. To develop and foster the different forms of life living there, the way in which democracy works is the fertiliser for that garden. We had passionate but respectful debates, and panel 2 feels that we need to ensure that for the Union of the future, the right to be not discriminated against, the right for the environment, climate, children, animals, for to all be protected.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Valentina BALZANI, citizens' ambassdor from panel 2, We need a study to be carried out on women and LGBTQI rights and to ensure that they are protected. We need to also ensure a right to work for young people who have difficulty in finding jobs. We need to ensure that people can also be provided with reliable information rather than fake news, which leads to extremism and harmful behaviour.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Valentina BALZANI, citizens' ambassdor from panel 2, We need more cooperation and we need a right to data to be protected. And we also need to step up cyber security, to protect privacy, to avoid abuses and misuse of personal data. And we need to protect people from domestic violence, from paedo-pornography, the trafficking in human beings.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Valentina BALZANI, citizens' ambassdor from panel 2, We also need financial security with decisive actions against corruption, money laundering and organised crime. All of these are vital. We need to protect the freedom of expression. These gardens terrain is based on social rights. We need a minimum wage to be introduced.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Valentina BALZANI, citizens' ambassdor from panel 2, We need to decide what values define European citizens as a part of their national identity and to disseminate those through education right from when people start to go to school. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Alexandar MILISOV, citizen' ambassdor from panel 2, One of the core requirements on creation of a European identity is understanding what the EU is, but not what it wants to be. Panel 2 to proposes compulsory education on democracy and the function of the Union. The EU is out of touch with the common people. They do not know what the EU is, and because of that, they don't get engaged in European questions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Alexandar MILISOV, citizen' ambassdor from panel 2, The EU should work more closely with the media to inform inform about its activities. We all want a fairer, democratic, better working Union. For that the panel proposes a whole stream of ideas, but in every discussion, there comes a repeating problem in unanimity voting. If we want to make any significant changes, we have to remove it.

SOUNDBITE (English), Alexandar MILISOV, citizen' ambassdor from panel 2, The panel wants a democratic principles in all EU institutions, acceleration of the decision making process and increasing power to the Parliament. This can all be done by writing a European Constitution, a single book that is clearly defined, as above, all national law.

SOUNDBITE (English), Alexandar MILISOV, citizen' ambassdor from panel 2, In a more democratic Union, citizens should participate more. There should be a way for direct communication between the people and the EU institutions. There should be transparency in the decision making process, and the most important issues should be voted on by the people. The EU should provide lifelong education to all Europeans.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Sebastian GUILLIEN, citizens' ambassdor from panel 3, I am Sebastian Guillien and I represent panel three, I will discuss health. In our experience this was truly a very enriching experience. We have been able to reach all of our aims. Firstly, we need to look at a long term process and reach long term goals to develop a better Europe. I would like to discuss two points, which we found particularly important to develop health, but not only health, also other domains in society.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Sebastian GUILLIEN, citizens' ambassdor from panel 3, Firstly. A humanitarian international fund from which each country's GDP would contribute a specific percentage, which could be defended. So as to be able to have funds to create hospitals and solve health problems such as the COVID pandemic and other health problems, which are worth our effort to be able to find solutions to.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Sebastian GUILLIEN, citizens' ambassdor from panel 3, This is very important for the coming years. The second point is education from a young age onwards. You think that we're well educated? Well, yes, I do think we are, but not that much. We need to truly improve our education systems.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Sebastian GUILLIEN, citizens' ambassdor from panel 3, Sexual education. We youngsters have not received good sexual education. We need to have better sexual education, which is not based on pornography. Furthermore, there need to be measures such as free condoms in all EU countries. This will greatly reduce sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted early pregnancies. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (German), Juliane UNBEREIT, citizens' ambassdor from panel 3, Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. A few weeks ago, when we came here to discuss climate change policy we were given a notebook made of plastic. This was truly already problematic for us. Why don't we start here in this house when discussing climate and environmental protection?

SOUNDBITE (German), Juliane UNBEREIT, citizens' ambassdor from panel 3, We need to look at our consumption of plastic. Where is the food coming from that is used here in the restaurants and cafeterias? Could we not improve the situation somewhat in this house starting right here?

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Sebastian GUILLIEN, citizens' ambassdor from panel 3, Now, this is, of course, not the only thing that we looked at. We had many different opinions, but one thing was clear, and one thing we all wanted together is more sustainability and more environmental protection. Firstly, more renewable energies, secondly, looking at consumer behaviour and our new economic programmes.

SOUNDBITE (German), Juliane UNBEREIT, citizens' ambassdor from panel 3, For example, by greater public transportation infrastructure, and we would like to promote this more in different member states also to guarantee access to rural areas via public transportation. Local production should also be fostered.

SOUNDBITE (German), Juliane UNBEREIT, citizens' ambassdor from panel 3, In 2019, there was a study, and according to this, a carbon footprint of such a throwaway plastic bottle is very high because of transportation and the differences in bottle sizes measures. Why couldn't there be a harmonised bottle format in the EU? Each citizen should be able to pay for an environmentally more sustainable life. Sustainability must be the better option for the future.

SOUNDBITE (Croatian), Dajana MILINKOVIC, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, Good morning, everybody. I come from Croatia. My name is Diana Milenkovic. I was in panel four. We talked about Europe in the world and migrations. I will talk about migrations and my colleague will talk about Europe in the world. Specifically, citizens worry about illegal migration and this is what we paid more attention to.

SOUNDBITE (Croatian), Dajana MILINKOVIC, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, We did not talk as much about a labour related migration or internal migration. The most important issue is the following. We should try and tackle legal causes for migration, so we should try and find ways and instruments to help people to stay in their countries of origin. We should try and fight the root causes of migration.

SOUNDBITE (Croatian), Dajana MILINKOVIC, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, We should provide financial or any other type of assistance to improve the quality of life in countries of origin. Also, we would like to tackle the issue of voluntary migrations. These are people who have qualifications which are necessary on the labour markets of EU member states.

SOUNDBITE (Croatian), Dajana MILINKOVIC, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, There is one more issue that we consider to be important, and this is targeted training in countries of origin so that later on, legal migrations and organised migrations could be managed in a better manner. Another issue was very important. We want to reduce illegal migrations and this will be possible if we have high quality programmes of legal migration.

SOUNDBITE (Croatian), Dajana MILINKOVIC, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, I believe this is where the problem lies in some countries of the EU in comparison to Third World countries. We also think that countries of origin should be supported financially and various root cause is tackled like climate change, political conflicts, war and so on.

SOUNDBITE (Croatian), Dajana MILINKOVIC, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, We paid a lot of attention to humanitarian aspects of managing migration, for example, combating trafficking in human beings and the respect for human rights, as well as harmonised human rights standards for all EU member states in the way they treat migrants. Migrants are human beings and should be treated as such.

SOUNDBITE (Croatian), Dajana MILINKOVIC, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, What is also important is integration in an EU member state wants migrants come to those countries. There should be a dialogue. There should be professional training. And what is also important is that we remove the stigma from migrations. Migrations are a factor in our daily living. It's nothing special. It's something that's a major part of our lives. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Krasimir ZLATINOV, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, Hello, my name is Mr Craftsman's Latino from Bulgaria, and I am going to talk about EU in the world. Our panel addresses the role of the EU in the world, including objectives and strategies for the EU's security, defence, trade policy, humanitarian aid and development cooperation, foreign policy and EU neighbourhood policy and enlargement.

SOUNDBITE (English), Krasimir ZLATINOV, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, On the basis of the topics we have chosen three streams. The first stream was about self-reliance and stability, autonomy of the EU, borders. It is important and we focussed on commercial policy of EU and its dependency issues towards other countries because of the strategic autonomy of the EU.

SOUNDBITE (English), Krasimir ZLATINOV, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, We need strengthening of the European Union as a global power on topics such as labour market and human rights, and also avoiding dependence to other great powers. Stream number 2: the EU as an international partner, trade and relations in an ethical perspective into international climate action and promotion of European values.

SOUNDBITE (English), Krasimir ZLATINOV, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, In this stream, we have expressed our desire to work on a trade policy that promotes the ethical values of the European Union and European environment and climate policy. We want strengthening the relationship with developing countries, but also better trade policies with the US and China.

SOUNDBITE (English), Krasimir ZLATINOV, citizens' ambassdor from panel 4, And stream number 3. Security and defence, decision making and EU foreign policy. Neighbouring countries and enlargement. In this stream, we focussed on common European defence strategy and the possibility of joint army. We want to discuss the question of security. We were discussing also the question of enlargement of the European Union and relations with neighbouring countries. Thank you.