Parliament, Council and Commission host a feedback event in Parliament's premises in Brussels. In exchanges with representatives of the institutions, citizens who participated in the European Citizens' Panels during the Conference have the chance to review and comment on what the institutions have done since the Conference's proposals were delivered in May. Opening speech by Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Brussels

European Parliament

future of the European Union (T)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

conference on the future of Europe (T)

Conference on the Future of Europe - Feedback Event: opening speech by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/66875865/1669971962686_I233835Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Good morning. Thank you, dear. Judith and Jacob. Nice to see you here, welcome to the European Parliament. On Europe Day of 2021 at the inaugural event of the Conference on the Future of Europe. My friend and my predecessor, David Sassoli, spoke about the importance of a proper and meaningful follow up to the results of this historic exercise by the three institutions, each at their own levels of competence.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, He said, and I quote: The vision of our European project will be the compass test must guide our work in the decades to come. Dear Europeans, I am proud to stand before you all as President of the European Parliament, to assure you that this institution is holding itself to its word. We were the first institution to react to your proposals in May of this year and later also in June. Our Constitutional affairs Committee is busy working on another report which could be voted up on in the next two weeks.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And today we are gathered here in the House of European Democracy, your house to take stock of what we had done. Let me start with my personal feedback. I was elected in January of this year. Since then, I have met with hundreds and thousands of people in my role as president. I have met with prime ministers, presidents, politicians and citizens of all ages, from all 27 member states. Many of these meetings have one thing in common They all want to talk to me about the future of Europe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, They asked me about the conference, about the proposals that many of you in this room helped form. They asked me about strengthening the links between citizens and their elected representatives and about increasing the transparency of EU decision making. One thing has been universally clear people want more European Democracy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, They also speak to me about legislation. They ask about climate change and the environment. About the circular economy, about the ban on single use plastics, about high speed and night trains, and reducing our dependency on imported oil and gas. They talk about the impact of the pandemic on their lives and ask about the European Health Union, about mental health, and about cross-border exchange of health data.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, People want to see a stronger economy, social and justice and jobs, and many of them ask how the digital transition, the Working Time directive, the Youth Guarantee and how tax policies that support European industry can help achieve this. They also speak to me about migration, about revising our common asylum system so that we can be fair and humane with those seeking protection that we can be firm with those who are not eligible and strong, which traffickers who exploit some of the most vulnerable people on our planet.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, They asked me about the role of young people in shaping the future of Europe, about lifelong learning. Voting at the age of 16. Spot the youth check on legislation about inclusiveness and gender equality. People are worried about the role of Europe in the world framed in the context of a war in Ukraine, whether implications on our democracy are clear.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, They ask about our union's security and defence, about cyber security measures, about protecting our values, freedom, democracy and the rule of law, about measures to support a pluralistic, free and independent press. Fortunately, many of the building blocks to implement your proposals are already in place.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And here let me say that I am encouraged to see that the 2023 Commission Work programme includes many legislative proposals relating to what the conference proposed and history as history, including recent history, has shown. This European Parliament, as co-legislator, stands ready to do its parts diligently, effectively and quickly in the interest of the 450 million European constituents that it ultimately represents.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, As I said in May, and I will say it again when it comes to implementing our citizens proposals, no suggestions for change should be off limits. Whatever process is required in order for us to get there should be embraced, including a convention. The Commission is also here today and I know that the commitment given is shared by our institutions. Our goal must be to improve and reform our systems. Nothing should be off the table, including treaty change, because vision takes courage.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Dear friends, when I look at you all here today, seated in the very same places that your elected representatives vote up on legislation, I am reminded of how important the participatory element of the Conference on the future of Europe was. Citizens talking to decision makers was undoubtedly an outstanding part of this exercise, but it should not be something exceptional.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, This is where the European Parliament made up of 705 directly elected members needs to do more. Let me give you an example of a young girl who I met recently. As we started speaking, I quickly noticed that she had so many positive ideas about how the European Union can help make things a little bit easier for the people who live in her area. I suggested that she writes to her member of the European Parliament and she replied: You can do that.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And sometimes it seems like the only contact that people have with their elected representatives is through a like or a comment on a social media post. Of course, we cannot force citizens to talk to their elected representatives, but I believe we can do more to raise awareness that, yes, citizens can write to their members of European Parliament. Yes, citizens can suggest new ideas to them. Yes, citizens can recommend new proposals, and in fact they should, because that's our responsibility.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, That is where we need to show in 2024 that what you told us in 2019, we listened to and we worked on and we delivered. The European Parliament is not here just in these buildings. It is in every town and village in our Union. The Conference on the Future of Europe and the 49 proposals that you presented to us on the 9th of May are not the end. This was not a one off exercise for the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Your proposals are not some checklist that we need to tick to close the door on the conference on the future of Europe once and for all. Because this exercise was ultimately about readying our union for the future, whether that be tomorrow, the future next week, next year, or in ten years time, there is no end date to the future and there is no end date to our Union growing and continuing to evolve. What works for EU 27 will not work for EU 33 or EU 36. We have Ukraine, Moldova, the Western Balkans and Georgia getting ready, but are ready.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, The future is a work in progress. So is our Union. And as Robert Schuman said: Europe will not be made all at once. And today I will add that it can never be complete. It grows and develops with each hurdle we pass through, with each breakthrough we achieve with every little piece of legislation, one that manages to make our shared space a little bit safer, a little bit fairer, and a little bit more equal. As president of the European Parliament, I can commit to you that we will keep working until we can say that this project is even better than it is today. Thank you very much and enjoy your day.

Conference on the Future of Europe - Feedback Event: opening speech by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

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