The Diplomat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Autonomous Communities and Cities and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) have jointly launched a Spanish Framework for Citizen Consultations on the Future of Europe.
The Spanish Framework for Citizen Consultations on the Future of Europe, which was presented yesterday, “aims to encourage debate and citizen participation throughout Spain” and is part of the Conference on the Future of Europe, a participatory process at European level in which citizens can discuss the challenges and priorities for the future of the EU until spring 2022, according to the Ministry.
The aim of the initiative is that “the debate reaches the whole of the national territory” and contributes to “strengthen the voice of the Spanish people in the Conference”. To this end, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will support, at the national level and starting this month, the holding of four thematic events on particularly topical issues, such as the role of the regions in European governance, the intergenerational pact, the status of European citizenship or the European Union in a context of geopolitical rivalry. In addition, two bi-national events will be held with Portugal and the Netherlands.
At the regional level, the Autonomous Communities and Autonomous Cities will organize 16 events in the coming months covering a wide range of issues, such as the challenges of mountain regions, depopulation, cross-border cooperation, health or EU-Latin America relations. At the local level, the FEMP will organize an event on the role of local governments in the Union.
The conclusions reached at these events will be translated into a series of brief proposals to be posted on the European Digital Platform created for the Conference. Likewise, a joint document will be drafted that will bring together the contributions of the Spanish Framework of Consultations on the Future of Europe and will be taken into account in the reflection process on the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2023.
“Given the pro-European nature of Spanish society and the impetus that has been given from our country to progress in the process of European integration, the Conference is a great opportunity for Spain, especially with a view to the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2023, since in that period many of the proposals arising from the Conference could be implemented,” said the State Secretary for the European Union, Juan González-Barba.
