The survey was commissioned jointly with the European Commission.

Following the first results published, on 9 March, the full report finds:

• Around eight in ten Europeans (81%) agree that one of the priorities for the Conference should be how the EU could better handle crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. More than a third (38%) agree strongly with this.
• Two-thirds of Europeans (66%) believe that the EU project offers a future perspective for Europe’s youth. A similar proportion (65%) sees the EU as a place of stability in a troubled world.
• More than two-thirds of those surveyed are in favour of electing the President of the European Commission through the choice of lead candidates in the European elections. Less than a quarter (22%) are not in favour of such a process.
• Twice as many EU citizens see a possibility of voting for transnational lists in European elections as a good thing (42%), compared to only one in five (19%) who reject this proposal.

The Conference on the future of Europe

Around eight in ten Europeans (81%) agree that the Conference should prioritise dealing with how the EU could better handle crises such as the coronavirus outbreak, including more than a third (38%) who strongly agree.

Europeans who are willing to get involved in the Conference on the future of Europe would foremost like to do so through meetings in their local area, such as citizens’ debates or assemblies (44%). Citizens could contribute to the Conference’s ideas gathering process by answering a survey (34%), by putting forward ideas and proposals to European and national politicians (31%) and by taking part in online consultations via discussion platforms (30%), those surveyed said.

Youth and the future of the European Union

More than eight in ten Europeans (83%) agree that the Conference should specifically involve young people to foster new ideas, including four in ten (40%) who totally agreed.

Two-thirds of Europeans (66%) agree that the EU project offers a future perspective for Europe’s youth. A similar proportion (65%) agree that the EU is a place of stability in a troubled world, although this is lower than in the previous survey in 2018 (-11 percentage points).

European Elections and European Commission Presidency

The Future of Europe survey also looked into questions surrounding the European elections and the election of the Commission President. According to the survey, respondents are twice as likely to support voting for transnational lists in European Parliament elections (42%), compared to only one in five respondents who reject the idea (19%). 36% are indifferent to this issue.

More than two-thirds are in favour of a process to elect the President of the European Commission through the choice of lead candidates in the European elections, while less than a quarter (22%) say they are not in favour of this process.

While 61% agree that such a process would only make sense if EU citizens were given the option to vote for transnational lists, nearly two thirds of respondents (64%) agree that this approach would make the process of electing the President of the European Commission more transparent. Citizens believe it would also give more legitimacy to the European Commission (63%) and that it would represent significant progress for democracy within the EU (62%).

Background

The Special Eurobarometer survey n° 500 “Future of Europe” (EB94.1) was carried out between 22 October and 20 November 2020 in the 27 EU Member States and was commissioned jointly by the European Commission and the European Parliament. The survey was conducted face-to-face and completed with online interviews where necessary, as a result of the pandemic. Some 27 034 interviews were conducted in total.

At their third meeting on Thursday (22 April), the Executive Board endorsed the event’s draft programme, which will take place on Europe Day. It will be broadcast live, and will feature remote citizen participation and interventions by the Presidents of the three EU institutions.

The representatives of the European Parliament, Council and Commission also endorsed the Conference’s Rules of Procedure regarding the European citizens’ panels, and in relation to the Principles and the Scope of the Conference. Each panel will comprise 200 citizens and will ensure that at least one female and one male citizen per Member State is included. Citizens will be chosen randomly to set up panels that are representative of the EU’s diversity, in terms of geographic origin, gender, age, socioeconomic background and level of education. Young people between 16 and 25 will make up one-third of each panel.

They also held an exchange of views on the rules of the Conference Plenary, aiming to reach an agreement at their next meeting.

Parliament’s Co-Chair of the Executive Board, Guy Verhofstadt, said: “We are preparing the ground to get as much interaction as possible between the two starting tracks of the Conference – the platform and the citizens’ panels. The next step is to set up the Plenary to reflect Europe’s diversity of opinion and take up the ideas and suggestions from citizens, on which the success of the Conference depends.”

The Portuguese Secretary of State for EU Affairs, and Co-Chair from the Presidency of the Council of the EU, Ana Paula Zacarias, said: “The level of participation in the Conference’s digital platform over the last days had been truly impressive. Citizens are answering our call for participation and it’s time to move a step further and set the Conference in motion.”

Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, and Co-Chair, Dubravka Šuica, said: “This Conference is all about engaging and empowering citizens. We keep them at the forefront of all our thinking on the Conference. Whether they are pro-Europe or sceptical, we want to hear from them, so we can respond to their concerns.”

Next steps

The next meeting of the Executive Board is scheduled to take place on 9 May in Strasbourg. Nevertheless, additional meetings might still be scheduled in the weeks before.

Background

The Executive Board is composed of representatives from the three institutions (European Parliament, Council and Commission), on equal footing. It oversees the work, process and organization of the Conference. COSAC representatives participate as observers to all Board meetings. Representatives from the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee and social partners are also invited as observers.

The multilingual digital platform is fully interactive: people can engage with one another and discuss their proposals with fellow citizens from all Member States, in the EU’s 24 official languages. People from all walks of life and in numbers as large as possible are encouraged to contribute, via the platform, in shaping their future – and also to promote the platform on social media channels, with the hashtag #TheFutureIsYours

On Thursday, the leaders of Parliament’s political groups took stock of the ongoing preparatory work on the Conference on the Future of Europe with the co-chair of the Conference’s Executive Board and issued the following statement:

“We very much welcome the engagement of the Council and the Commission to establish together with the European Parliament the Conference on the Future of Europe as an important space for debate for the citizens to address Europe’s challenges and priorities. This is an opportunity for a broad debate on our future and needs to be carried out in a serious process.

We, the Conference of Presidents of Political Groups, want to strengthen the involvement of the national Parliaments as an important fourth pillar. Therefore, we call on the Conference Plenary to be adequately composed ensuring representation by all main stakeholders when it comes to the future of Europe, but also to have a final say about the outcome. This process would give the Conference the utmost legitimacy and effectiveness. We call for a Conference Plenary that is able to deliberate and make proposals, based on recommendations from the Citizens’ Panels.

We call on all members of the Executive Board to assume their responsibilities by defining the role and composition of the Conference Plenary. Given the delay in the start of the Conference due to the pandemic, we also ask that any conclusions presented in spring 2022 be preliminary and that the Conference be allowed to continue, if appropriate and consensual.”