Conference on the Future of Europe: inaugural event in Strasbourg
The inaugural event celebrated the launch of the participatory process set up jointly by Parliament, Council and Commission.
On Europe Day 2021, the European Parliament in Strasbourg hosted the inaugural event of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Celebrating Europe Day
The Presidents of the EU institutions delivered speeches on their vision for Europe, following a welcome speech by President Macron, while the Co-Chairs of the Executive Board answered questions posed by citizens from across EU Member States. Erasmus students from across the EU, together with members of the Conference’s Executive Board were physically present, fully respecting the applicable sanitary rules, and over 500 citizens attended the event remotely. Ministers for European affairs, Members of the European Parliament and national parliaments, and other VIP guests also joined remotely.
Watch specific segments by clicking on the corresponding links below:
Welcome speech by Emmanuel Macron, President of France
Speech by David Sassoli, European Parliament President
Speech by António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal for the Presidency of the Council of the EU
Speech by Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President
Interventions by the Co-Chairs of the Executive Board: Guy Verhofstadt (Parliament), Ana Paula Zacarias (Council) and Dubravka Šuica (Commission)
Or watch the entire event – including performances by Violinist Renaud Capuçon and the Karski quartet.
Next steps
The Executive Board will soon set the date for the first Conference Plenary meeting. Preparations for the Citizens’ Panels are underway, while the number of participants and events on the Conference’s Multilingual Digital Platform continue to grow. The Conference is committed to giving maximum space to young people and in this vein, preparations for the European Youth Event organised by the European Parliament in October also continue.
Background
Before the event, the Executive Board of the Conference finalised the rules that will allow it to transform citizens’ priorities, hopes and concerns into actionable recommendations. Read more about them here.
