A unique pan-European democratic exercise
The Conference on the Future of Europe was a citizen-led series of debates and discussions held from April 2021 to May 2022, enabling people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common future. The process concluded with the submission of 49 proposals to the EU institutions.
As the first initiative of its kind, the Conference was a major pan-European democratic exercise. It combined citizen-led debates with innovative tools, including a multilingual digital platform where any European could share ideas, as well as national and European citizens’ panels.
Young people in particular were encouraged to take part and share their ideas. European, national, regional and local authorities, as well as civil society and other organisations also organised events to involve as many people as possible.
With more than 5 million unique visitors to the platform and more than 700,000 participants in events, the Conference successfully created a public forum for an open, inclusive, and transparent debate with citizens around a number of key priorities and challenges.
Final reports and proposals
Following an exceptional year-long process of discussions, deliberations and collaboration among citizens from across Europe on the kind of Europe they would like to live in, the Conference officially concluded on 9 May 2022 – Europe Day – in Strasbourg.
On that occasion, the Co-Chairs of the Conference Executive Board delivered a final report containing the 49 proposals to the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.
These proposals covered nine topics:
They included general objectives and more than 300 concrete measures.
Find out examples of proposals and actions, which have already been put forward
Commission follow-up on the outcome of the Conference
On 17 June 2022, the Commission published a detailed assessment of how to follow up on the Conference’s proposals. It included an overview of the next steps, setting out how best to learn from the Conference and embed participatory democracy into the EU’s policy and law making.
For instance, building on their success, the Commission has introduced a new generation of European Citizens’ Panels. These panels bring citizens together to deliberate and make recommendations ahead of key policy initiatives.
Learn more about the European Citizens’ Panels
Based on the Conference’s final report, President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced several new proposals in her 2022 State of the Union address, as well as in the accompanying Letter of Intent. These proposals were included in the 2023 Commission work programme.
To maintain engagement and keep the Conference participants informed, a feedback event was organised in December 2022. This provided an opportunity to explain to citizens how the three EU institutions are following up on the proposals from the Conference.
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