The Conference on the Future of Europe has finally been convened, has it been denatured?

The Conference on the Future of Europe formally opens on May 9. After a year's delay due to the pandemic and, in part, to the lack of agreement between the institutions, the Joint Declaration on the convening of the Conference on the Future of Europe will finally be signed on Wednesday 10 March.  

This Declaration has finally been delayed for a few more months because the European Parliament elected Guy Verhofstadt to chair the Conference, who did not have the agreement of some governments because of his explicit defence of European federalism. 

In the end, the problem was solved by accepting the presidency of the three institutions, although there are still a few loose ends to be ironed out. This Declaration sets out the objectives, structure, scope and timetable, which we will analyse later. However, it remains to be seen whether the call will be hybrid or synchronous, i.e., telematic and/or face-to-face; and what the final composition of the call will be, an urgent question to be resolved given that there are only two months left before it is due to begin.

Given the enormous relevance of the political process that the European Union is undergoing, as evidenced by the unity between its various institutions (European Commission, European Parliament and European Council) in the face of the negative health, economic and social effects caused by the pandemic by means of the "Recovery Plan", the result of the European Parliament's initiative of April 17, the European Commission's proposal of May 27 and the approval of the European Council of July 21, and taking into account the New Generation Fund, the participation of organised civil society is even more necessary. 

In this regard, it is worth recalling the terms expressed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her first speech to the European Parliament on 16 July 2019, where she stated that the Conference on the Future of Europe "[...] should bring together citizens and the European institutions as equal partners [...], with a significant participation of young people [...]; I am open to the reform of the Treaties"; which continued to be expressed and included in the programme of the Portuguese Presidency. 

For the time being, none of these three aspects, i.e. the participation of organised civil society, the significant participation of young people, or the reform of the Treaties, is clear in the Joint Declaration. On the other hand, the International European Movement criticises the fact that decisions are taken by consensus and that it is not clear that the Conference is not a pre-Convention or a prelude to it, but that it should be a citizens' debate on the Future of the European Union.

The fact that none of these five points is clearly stated does not mean that in subsequent developments, to be implemented immediately, it will be possible to clarify them through executive measures: the participation of civil society; the important participation of young people; the possibility of reforming the Treaties, as this possibility is not excluded as it was in previous documents; the improvement of decision-making, i.e. not only by consensus; and, finally, the guarantee of a democratic participation of citizens that differentiates the CoFoE from a European Convention whose structure is already regulated in article 48 of the Treaty; it can still be resolved. 

The Spanish Federal Council of the European Movement agrees with the Declaration of the Executive of the International European Movement of 3 March 2021, where, as I have been saying, we have become an advocate in this matter as well. In this regard, the Declaration states that the Conference on the Future of Europe must guarantee genuine participation of young people. 

This issue has also been claimed in different places, in particular in the Declarations of the CFEME on March 4 and of the CFEME Youth on January 29, where it is stated that youth participation should be guaranteed at least in the "Panels" of citizenship, although not through segregated "panels or agoras", but together with the rest of the participants.

From the Declaration of the Spanish Federal Council of the European Movement on March 4, paragraph 13, which refers to the themes and scope of the Conference on the Future of Europe, it is clear that, in many of the aspects to be covered by the Conference, under the current circumstances, a reform of the Treaties will be required. 

Insofar as this Joint Declaration is silent, in contrast to previous drafts, especially those of COREPER, which categorically ruled out this possibility, we believe that there may be scope for the Conference to put forward proposals which will lead towards Treaty reform. 

However, the Joint Declaration states that it will end in the spring of 2022 with the aim, although not explicitly stated, that it will take place before the French presidential elections. This new timetable makes it easier to hold the European Convention and the Intergovernmental Conference in the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023, so that the Treaty can be signed in the second half of 2023. This could ensure that the Treaty is ratified before the European elections in 2024 and that the elections can therefore be held within the framework of a new Treaty. 

This advantage could also mean that the new Treaty could be signed during the fifth Spanish Presidency, which will be held in the second half of 2023, so that, for the first time, a Spanish city would bear the name of one of the founding Treaties.

Moreover, the Spanish Foreign Action Strategy, presented last January by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, which is currently being approved, states on page 65 that "Spain will promote a more federal European Union [...]. The Conference on the Future of Europe offers a unique opportunity to make progress in this direction, and Spain aspires to play a fundamental, proactive and dynamic role in it. Spain's six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2023 will provide an excellent opportunity, in close collaboration with previous Presidencies and the Union's institutions, to make progress in this process of change and renewal".

Finally, since the European Parliament has apparently demanded that the work of the Presidency should be supported by an Executive Board composed of 3 representatives and 4 observers from each institution, the EU Council will be represented on the Executive Board by its Presidency, now Portugal, which will act as co-chair, and the two incoming Presidencies, Slovenia and France; and the next four Presidencies will be observers: the Czech Republic, Sweden, Spain and Belgium. Thus, Spain will be present in this process with great possibilities of playing a fundamental role.