Erklæring: Konferencen om Europas Fremtid

Non-paper by Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Sweden on the outcome of and  follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe

• The Conference on the Future of Europe has been an unprecedented democratic exercise. It has facilitated inspiring dialogue with – and between – citizens across Europe on how they see the role for the EU in the years to come. We welcome the ideas and proposals that citizens have put forward.

• The Conference has demonstrated a clear and positive interest in discussing real policies and specific results that affect citizens in their daily lives. So have the national debates with citizens across member states.
   
• The ideas presented by citizens at the Conference should speak for themselves and deserve a serious follow-up. They should not be instrumentalised to serve special institutional interests.

• We look forward to studying the Conference report and the specific proposals carefully. In that regard, we recall that each institution will follow up according to their own Rules of Procedure and in accordance with the agreed rules of the Conference. We also recall that any decisions will be made within the division of competences established by the Treaty and with full respect for key principles such as subsidiarity and proportionality.

• We recall that Treaty change has never been a purpose of the Conference. What matters is that we address the citizens’ ideas and concerns. While we do not exclude any options at this stage, we do not support unconsidered and premature attempts to launch a process towards Treaty change. This would entail a serious risk of drawing political energy away from the important tasks of finding solutions to the questions to which our citizens expect answers and handling the urgent geopolitical challenges facing Europe. 

• The EU’s handling of the crises in recent years – including COVID-19 and Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine – have clearly shown how much the EU can deliver within the current Treaty framework. The EU has acted quickly to find – and implement – common and effective solutions. We already have a Europe that works. We do not need to rush into institutional reforms in order to deliver results.
   
• As regards the Conference, we look forward to engaging constructively in the work ahead – based on the citizens’ ideas and wishes for the future of Europe.