.png)
Launched on 9 May 2021 by the European Union, the Conference on the Future of Europe has opened up an unprecedented space for debate and citizen discussion. It has resulted in more than 300 measures inspired by European and national citizens' panels, ideas submitted on the online platform of the Conference, and consultations conducted on Make.org, to build the future of the EU. All these proposals and measures have been grouped together in a report, which has been handed over to the institutions, so that they will now be able to take them on board and implement them.
As a European actor in participatory democracy, Make.org contributed to this citizen expression by organising three consultations in France and Germany, which involved more than 123 000 participants.
For the launch of the Conference on 9 May 2021, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs organised with Make.org a consultation called #ParoleAuxJeunes. During two months, young French people aged 15 to 30 were invited to answer the question "Young people, what are your priorities for the Europe of tomorrow?”
More than 50 000 young people expressed their views. One of the main consensus that emerged was that they want Europe to be a world leader on issues such as climate, economy and human rights.
➤ Explore the results of “Parole aux Jeunes”
To bring the voice of young French people to the European level, all the priorities resulting from the consultation were integrated into the final report of the national contribution of the CoFoE. Besides, a citizen's monitoring committee was set up to ensure that such citizen's contributions effectively fed into the conclusions of the Conference. Among the members of this committee, Evann, 18, represented the participants of the #ParoleAuxJeunes consultation during the plenary sessions of the Conference in Strasbourg.
Following the impressive mobilisation of young people in France, Make.org and the Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO) repeated the exercise by giving young people in Germany the same opportunity. Supported by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Auswärtiges Amt), the consultation "Our Europe, our Future" gathered more than 45 000 young Germans. Its results were presented to German and European institutional representatives.
By comparing the results of this consultation with those of #ParoleAuxJeunes, we were able to find out the major consensus of young people in both countries on the EU and its future. 11 common priorities for the Europe of young people in France and Germany emerged: the environment and European democracy are at the center of the proposals. Still, economy, health, fundamental rights, digital transformation and education also take an important place among the ideas for the Europe of tomorrow.
From 23 September to 7 November 2021, the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia gave its citizens the opportunity to participate in the construction of the Future of Europe on Make.org. They were asked how they want to reinvent Europe in concrete terms and what they expect from European policy. More than 28 000 participants took part in this consultation and were invited to discuss the results during a major citizens' dialogue at the end of November 2021. Citizens were able to exchange their views directly with the representatives of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In addition to giving voice to the people of the region, this process also served to highlight the impact of Europe in North Rhine-Westphalia and to raise awareness of the region's European policy.
All results of these consultations were integrated into the Conference's online platform to be included in the conclusions of this European participatory democracy exercise. The takeaways were also presented on many occasions and events in France and Germany, in the presence of national and European political representatives, for example in Lille, Nice, Strasbourg, Berlin and Dresden.
Presentation of the priorities of 95000 young people in France and Germany for the Europe of tomorrow at the European House in Berlin, in the presence of Anne-Marie Descôtes, French Ambassador to Germany, Jörg Wojahn, Representative of the European Commission in Berlin, Axel Dittmann, Representative of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tobias Bütow, Secretary General of the Franco-German Office for Youth (FGOY), Marius Schlageter, Vice President of the Deutscher Bundesjugendring, member of the Europäische Bewegung Deutschland Board. Other speakers included Anna Lührmann, German Minister for Europe and Climate, and Clément Beaune, French Secretary of State for European Affairs.
These consultations and the Conference on the Future of Europe have demonstrated a real desire for Europe. When citizens, particularly young people, are asked to provide their ideas and are listened to, they express their views about Europe and many of them get involved. In France and Germany, the consultations also showed that young people think in a European space and feel that they are growing up within it: they have integrated Europe as their societal and political arena.
In order to respond to this citizen's desire to participate in European democratic life, it is now necessary to understand their expectations and to respond to them. The priorities emerging from the consultations conducted by Make.org in the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe, and the conclusions of the latter, constitute a basis from which concrete actions can be initiated. It will be important, thereafter, to give citizens the opportunity to be involved in their implementation, and thus to make citizen participation a long-term process.