13 December 2021

On 9 December 2021 the Department for European Policies held the national event dedicated to the multilingual digital platform and the communication campaign on the Conference on the Future of Europe. The event took place at the ‘Auditorium Parco della Musica’ in Rome.

Participants included Luigi Di Maio (Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), Vincenzo Amendola (Undersecretary for European Affairs), Benedetto Della Vedova (Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), Antonio Tajani (President of the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament), Members of Parliament such as Augusta Montaruli, Alessandro Alfieri,and Matteo Luigi Bianchi, Paola Severino (Citizens' Representative for the Conference on the Future of Europe), and Ferdinando Nelli Feroci (Co-Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Conference on the Future of Europe).

The event was attended by more than 250 students from high schools and universities who engaged in intense debates with the speakers throughout the day.

In his opening speech, Minister Di Maio recalled "The European Union and its institutions are committed to implementing the indications that will come from the Conference on the Future of Europe. In this regard, a platform has been activated with the slogan 'The future is in your hands', in order to enable all European citizens to make proposals aiming to improve the Union. Our Country is promoting events like today's seeking, through the work of the Department for European Policies, to channel proposals on the main items we would like to change as Italian citizens."

For Undersecretary Amendola, the event is an opportunity to "launch a message of reform of the Union. We must feel unfulfilled. The construction of the EU still needs changes and popular consensus that is expressed with this great direct democracy exercise also in a simple way, through the digital revolution. We love the European democracy, but we must be clear. Because after 80 years of European history, the EU needs more reforms to make sure that President Mattarella's three words – freedom, prosperity and peace – are not just three mottos, but the concrete action on which we can build a new Europe."

Antonio Tajani recalled "The European Parliament is today the only democratic institution of the Union, but MEPs do not have legislative initiative powers. The Commission has indeed such powers, but it is not elected by citizens. We are leading a battle to introduce this power in the EU Parliament."

"Today is not just about dreaming the future of Europe, it is about making it happen," said Paola Severino, representative of Italian citizens at the Conference on the Future of Europe. The new platform allows people to express their thoughts in concrete terms. I am convinced 

these ideas will be collected to then ‘land’ in Europe and allow building its future."

Several issues were raised by young people during the Q&A session of the event. Climate change was discussed both in terms of the ability of European Commission's measures to rise to the challenge and more generally on green energy sources.

Several questions were asked about the rule of law and EU action to protect it in the Member States. The boys and girls also asked for guarantees and incentives for young people to pursue art careers, for greater links between higher education and employment through measures to combat unemployment more effectively, for encouraging experiences abroad and more cultural initiatives with funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and for citizens' panels to be an asset even after the end of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The event included the presentation of the communication campaign on the Conference on the Future of Europe titled "Your word counts", created by the Department for European 

Policies to promote the knowledge and use of the multilingual digital platform and encourage the participation of all European citizens in the debate.