European Parliament

Conference on the Future of Europe: Fourth European Citizens’ Panel this weekend

Published

1 month ago

October 15, 2021

Media are invited to follow the sessions of the European Citizens’ Panels, which continue with the fourth panel meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 15-17 October.

This media advisory provides information on the arrangements relating to the first meeting of the fourth European Citizens’ Panel (which focuses on EU in the world/migration), including how to follow and cover it.

Democracy and Demography European Commission Vice President Dubravka Šuica will welcome the 200 citizens, before they begin their deliberations in the last European Citizens’ Panels session scheduled to take place in Strasbourg.

When: Friday 15 October 2021 (14.00, CEST) to Sunday 17 October 2021 (14.00, CEST).

Where: European Parliament in Strasbourg

The panels will meet again online in November for their second respective sessions, and for the third time in European institutes in several European cities (Dublin, Florence, Warsaw and Maastricht) in December and January to conclude their work, in full respect of the applicable health and safety measures.

Background

The European Citizens’ Panels are a central feature of the Conference organised by the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission based on their Joint Declaration. The Panels’ deliberations are based on citizens’ contributions collected from across Europe on the Multilingual Digital Platform, as well as support and presentations from prominent academics. Find out more about how the Panels work and what they will deliver in the recent press release.

The first European Citizens' Panel meeting took place from 17 to 19 September at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, followed by a second one on 24-26 September and a third on 1-3 October. In each Panel, 200 citizens from across the Member States (a third of them younger than 25) debate topics within their respective remit:

(1) A stronger economy, social justice, jobs/education, youth, culture, sport/digital transformation;

(2) European democracy/values, rights, rule of law, security;

(3) Climate change, environment/health; and,

(4) EU in the world/migration.

Free audiovisual material is available on Parliament’s Multimedia Centre.

Download an infographic on the Conference’s timeline and the Commission’s Factsheet, or read about the practical modalities of the Panels and download the provisional calendar of the Conference.

Interviews with citizens

Media representatives will be able to interview citizens who are willing to engage with journalists, using Parliament’s dedicated spaces and equipment if needed (booking required). EP press officers will be available to facilitate the process and liaise where necessary.

Further media opportunities

Additional exchanges with members of the Common Secretariat, the Panels’ facilitators, and any observers to the Panels from the Executive Board that may be present in Strasbourg, as well as other technical experts, may also be possible throughout the weekend, to be organised upon request.

Audio-visual coverage

Excerpts from the plenary meetings of the European Citizens’ Panels, i.e. in which all 200 of their members will participate, will be broadcast on EbS+ and live streamed on the Conference Platform and Parliament’s Multimedia Centre, where the recordings will remain available for download.

Accreditation

Annual press badges (either inter-institutional badges or EP badges) are valid. Journalists without an access badge need to request accreditation before 15 October at 15h via the journalist registration website. Badges must be collected from the Strasbourg reception desk located on the LOW-Parvis entrance to Parliament by 15 October at 16h.

COVID-19 prevention measures

Journalists can attend, provided they strictly follow the health restrictions and measures put in place by the French authorities and the European Parliament. Any media physically present at the event are requested to respect social distancing of 1.5 m while on EP premises and to wear a medical face mask at all times. Entrance to Parliament wearing so-called ‘community masks’ or other masks made of textiles will not be allowed.

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Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

Common Agricultural Policy reform gets final approval from MEPs

Published

2 days ago

November 25, 2021

European Parliament

On Tuesday (23 November), Parliament gave the green light to the new EU Farm Policy. This reformed version aims to be greener, fairer, more flexible and transparent, AGRI, Plenary session.

During the negotiations on the legislative reform package, MEPs insisted that strengthening biodiversity and adhering to the EU’s environmental and climate laws and commitments will be key to the implementation of the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), taking effect in 2023. While the Commission will assess whether national CAP strategic plans are in line with these commitments, farmers will have to comply with climate- and environmentally-friendly practices. Member states will be obliged to ensure that at least 35% of the rural development budget and at least 25% of direct payments will be dedicated to environmental and climate measures.

More support for small farms and young farmers

MEPs ensured that a minimum of 10% of direct payments will be used to support small and medium-sized farms and at least 3% of the CAP budget will go to young farmers. They also insisted that a crisis reserve with an annual budget of €450 million (in current prices) will be permanently ready to help farmers with price or market instability.

More transparency and better compliance with labour rules

As a result of Parliament’s pressure, EU labour rules in agricultural sectors will be better monitored and infringements penalised thanks to the cooperation between national labour inspectors and CAP paying agencies.

Information about final beneficiaries of EU support will be more transparent thanks to an EU data mining tool, which member states will get access to and which helps to identify the risk of fraud occurring by cross-checking information in public databases.

The “Strategic plans regulation” was adopted with 452 votes in favour, 178 against and 57 abstentions, the “Horizontal regulation” with 485 votes in favour, 142 against and 61 abstentions and the “Common market organisation regulation” with 487 in favour, 130 against and 71 abstentions.

Rapporteur for the 'Strategic plans regulation' Peter Jahr (EPP, DE) said: “By approving the CAP reform, we guarantee planning security not only for member states, but above all for our European farmers. We have ensured that this CAP is more sustainable, transparent and predictable. The new delivery model will reduce the bureaucratic burden of agricultural policy on farmers. Our vote today has shown that we want to protect and promote family farms, the people who maintain and preserve our cultural landscape.”

Rapporteur for the 'Horizontal regulation' Ulrike Müller (RE, DE) said: “Today marks a historic day for the new CAP, a day when we advance towards a more environmentally ambitious, socially aware and performance-oriented agricultural policy. The new delivery model will ensure that the focus of the CAP will be more on achieving its targets and less on simply complying with the rules. We also made sure CAP payments are more transparent and that the EU’s financial interests are better protected. This CAP will really be a success.”

Rapporteur for the 'Common market organization regulation' Eric Andrieu (S&D, FR) said: “For the first time in more than 30 years, thanks to the common market organisation part of the CAP reform, the reforms approved today will mean more market regulation than deregulation. We can be proud of how far we have come, because the progress made is important for farmers, for the sector, and for consumers. The common market organisation is certainly a first step in the right direction.”

Next steps

Current CAP rules were extended after 31 December 2020 and replaced by transitional rules until the end of 2022. Once approved by the Council, the new rules will be applicable from 1 January 2023.

More information

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Artificial intelligence

AI: 'We need to act fast to realise the EU's potential'

Published

3 days ago

November 24, 2021

European Parliament

The EU could set global standards on Artificial Intelligence (AI), but to reap its benefits the rules must come fast and be flexible, said Axel Voss (pictured), the MEP responsible for a report on AI, Society.

"We have to be aware that AI is of extremely strategic relevance," said Axel Voss (EPP, Germany) in this Facebook live interview. The MEP is guiding the report from the special committee on artificial intelligence in a digital age through the European Parliament.

Acknowledging the technology's importance, the Parliament set up the committee to focus on AI, learn how it might influence the EU economy, find out about different countries' approaches and come up with suggestions for future legislation.

The draft report, presented to the committee on 9 November 2021, says the EU should focus on AI's enormous potential. Report author Voss said this technology could play a key role in areas such as climate change, the health sector and EU competitiveness.

Learn more about what AI is and how it is used.

Can the EU become a bigger AI player?

The EU is falling behind in the global tech race and if it wants to remain an economic and global power, the report says, it should become a global power in AI. If the EU does not act swiftly and courageously, it will end up becoming a "digital colony" of China, the US and other states and risk losing its political stability, social security and individual liberties, the report says. In addition, emerging technologies could lead to a global power shift away from the Western world.

The EU's failure to commercialise technological innovations means "our best ideas, talent and companies" are going elsewhere, according to the report. Voss warned that the window of opportunity is closing, saying the EU needs to “concentrate, prioritise, invest”.

Europe should concentrate more on business models that would enable the transformation of research into products, ensure a competitive environment for companies and prevent a brain drain. Only 8 of top 200 digital companies are based in the EU.

The importance of data

Data is crucial for the development of AI. "If we think that we can compete in the world without providing data, then we are out," Voss said. "We should be focusing more on how we can provide data, including personal data."

"Too many people think that we can't open GDPR right now," which means a lack of data for EU industry, he said. GDPR sets a global standard, Voss said, "but not with the mind-set that if we have reached a golden standard we can’t change it any longer: you only stay in the first place if you are always improving."

"The big collectors of data are in China or the US. If we do want to do something about this, we have to do something very fast because speed is a question of competition in this area."

Democracy and human rights concerns

The EU is "used to setting standards and combining them with fundamental rights, with core European values. This is what we can deliver and I would also say this is something the world also needs," he said.

Voss believes the EU can mitigate the risks AI can pose to human rights and democracy when misused, as in some authoritarian states, "if we do this pragmatically”.

He warns against an ideological approach. “If we concentrate on combining this technology with our core European values and don’t overburden our industry and our companies, we have a good chance of succeeding."

Learn more about what the Parliament wants regarding AI rules.

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European Parliament

Future of Europe: Citizens’ panels take the floor

Published

5 days ago

November 22, 2021

European Parliament

Citizens’ panels will meet over the coming months to discuss the EU’s future and make recommendations. Find out more, EU affairs.

The Conference on the Future of Europe is putting people at the centre of the discussion on how the EU should evolve to face future challenges. Citizens’ panels have an important role to play: they will discuss ideas from events across the EU and proposals submitted through the Conference platform and will make recommendations to be discussed with EU institutions and other stakeholders.

Who is taking part?

There are four European citizens’ panels, each one including 200 citizens. Panel members have been selected randomly, but in a way that reflects the EU’s diversity. For example, there will be an equal number of men and women in each panel as well as a proportional representation of Europeans from urban and rural areas. Young people between 16 and 25 will make up one third of the members.

What will be discussed?

Each panel will deal with some of the topics on which people have been invited to propose ideas:

Stronger economy, social justice and jobs/education, culture, youth, sport/digital transformation;
European democracy/values and rights, rule of law, security;
climate change, environment/health, and;
the EU in the world/migration.

Panel members will be able to raise additional issues. Independent experts will be available at the meetings to provide advice.

When will citizens’ panels meet?

Each of the panels will meet three times. The first sessions took place over four weekends between 17 September and 17 October in Parliament’s premises in Strasbourg. The second sessions will take place online in November and the third sessions will be held in December and January in cities across the EU, if the health situation permits.

The schedule for the four citizens’ panels

Panel	Topics	First session	Second session	Third session
1	Stronger economy, social justice and jobs /education, culture, youth, sport/digital transformation	17-19 September	5-7 November	3-5 December (Dublin)
2	European democracy/values and rights, rule of law, security	24-26 September	12-14 November	10-12 December (Florence)
3	Climate change, environment/ health	1-3 October	19-21 November	7-9 January (Warsaw)
4	The EU in the world/migration	15-17 October	26-28 November	14-16 January (Maastricht)

What will be the outcome?

Panels will formulate recommendations, which will be discussed at the Conference Plenary that brings together citizens, representatives of EU institutions and national parliaments as well as other stakeholders. Twenty representatives from each panel will take part in Conference Plenaries and will present the outcome of panels’ work.

The panels’ recommendations will feed into the final Conference report, which will be prepared in the spring of 2022 by the executive board of the Conference. The board comprises representatives of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission - the institutions that will have to follow up on the conclusions - as well as observers from all Conference stakeholders. The report will be drawn up in full collaboration with the Conference Plenary and will have to receive its approval.

How to follow panels’ work?

Panel sessions where all members meet will be streamed online. You will be able to find more details about them on the Conference platform.

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