Greens views on the Conference on the Future of Europe
The Greens in the CoR Co-President Satu Haapanen represented the group in the launch event of the Conference organised by the European Committee of the Region. She highlighted the core values of the European Union: democracy, human rights and solidarity. Referring to the tragic situation in Afghanistan where many young girls were killed in a recent bombing, she called for European values not to stop at the external borders of the EU: ‘Isn’t their fate interconnected to our fate as we all belong to humanity?’ Her key words for the Conference were peace, hope and humanity.
In several sessions during last week’s CoR Plenary session, members of the Greens in the CoR expressed their views and what they expect the Conference to deliver. In the exchange during the CoR Bureau meeting, Haapanen stressed the need to involve young people and highlighted the experience of the Greens in fostering as well as encouraging active participation of citizens; this is very beneficial for the local dialogues that are organised to get citizens’ involved in the Conference.
In the plenary debate with Herman Van Rompuy, President of the High-Level Group on European Democracy, created by the CoR to support its work in relation to the Conference, Una Power recalled that the European Union is home to a diverse array of peoples and cultures. It is necessary to have all voices at the table of the Conference, embedding diversity and inclusion in all our work going forward. ‘Work – hard work – must be done to have political representation at all levels that reflects a modern and diverse Europe’, Power said.
Katja Meier mentioned the experience of cross-border cooperation of Saxony with partners in the Czech Republic and in Poland, as a good example for European cooperation, and Guillaume Cros referred to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has shown that we need a strong social EU.
Prior to the CoR Plenary Session, the Greens in the CoR met with Daniel Freund, Member of the European Parliament and coordinator of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, who confirmed his interest to collaborate and encouraged the Greens in the CoR to contribute to the Conference with their ideas.