The Conference on the Future of Europe, a unique democratic event, ran from April 2021 to May 2022. Four panels of 200 randomly chosen EU citizens (balanced by gender, age, and location) discussed topics like the environment, climate change, democracy, and digital transformation.
The initiative aligned with a key priority of the Von der Leyen Commission, and her pledge to give Europeans a greater say on what the EU does and how it works for them. It also aimed to reflect Europe’s diversity and to strengthen the link between Europeans and the institutions that serve them.
The event used a multilingual online platform, physical meetings, and plenary sessions in five countries, along with online meetings. Everyone could participate in their native language thanks to live interpretation in all 24 EU languages and over 100 interpreters.
VO managed citizen participation and logistics for over 800 people in all sessions, making this a landmark EU event. On Europe Day 2022, participants presented their final recommendations to the Presidents of the European institutions, marking the end of this year-long process. This event showcased European unity, and the friendships formed will last.
The panels were an important step in integrating citizen deliberation into EU policymaking. VO continues to collaborate with DG COMM on further sessions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
