The Presidents of the European Commission, European Parliament, and Council have signed the Joint Declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), agreeing to “open a new space for debate with citizens to address Europe’s challenges and priorities” so people all over Europe can “have their say on the future of Europe”. The “citizens-focused, bottom-up exercise” is an opportunity to enhance critical conversations about the modern drivers of transformation (e.g. inequality, climate change, digitalization, aging societies, global power shifts) in a post-COVID-19 world. According to EPC, the Conference should address several gaps in the Joint Declaration to be successful, including also the strategic allies in the Balkans, arguing that the EU will send a wrong political signal if the Balkan countries are not included in a CoFoE. BCSDN has also advocated for the inclusion of WB civil society in this process and raised this issue as part of the Civil Society Convention on the Future of Europe launched recently. Read more here.
Source: European Policy Centre