Committee on Constitutional Affairs
The Chair
To the Chairperson(s) of the committee(s) concerned
Dear Chair,
I have the pleasure of inviting you to an Inter-parliamentary Committee Meeting that the
Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) will hold on Thursday 9 November 2021.
The main aim of this meeting is to exchange views with national Parliaments on their
expectations for the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Following the signing by the three Presidents of the Joint Declaration on 10 March and the
launch of the Multilanguage Digital Platform on 19 April, the Conference on the Future of
Europe took off at its inauguration event on 9 May in Strasbourg. Since then, the Conference
has been working at full steam and the works of its various fora like the Plenary, Citizens’
Panels, and executive bodies are advancing. It is thus, highly appropriate and timely to hold a
debate between national parliaments and the European Parliament on the expectations for the
Conference at this early stage.
The Conference on the Future of Europe is a unique opportunity for a debate on how the EU
should develop in the future, identify where it is rising to the challenges of current times, and
enhance those areas that need reform or strengthening. It constitutes a first-of-a-kind pan-
European forum for discussion, where citizens of all Member States can debate the EU's
priorities and make recommendations to be taken into account by the political-institutional
powers that be and ideally, translated into practical measures.
The European Parliament has continuously supported proper engagement of the national
parliaments, which together with the European Parliament should drive the Conference with
the aim of providing meaningful results.
Therefore, we deem that an Inter-parliamentary Committee Meeting, allowing us to discuss
the expectations of national parliaments for the Conference on the Future of Europe is
essential, in order to ensure an in depth and mature debate on the expected outcome of this
unique exercise.
Also invited to the meeting are the Co-Chairs of the Executive Board of the Conference on
the Future of Europe, Guy Verhofstadt - Chair of the European Parliament Delegation,
Gašper Dovžan - State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Slovenia representing the Council Presidency and Dubravka ŠUICA - European Commission
Vice-President in charge of Democracy and Demography.
I would thus, like to cordially invite you, together with a small delegation from your
committee, to the Inter-parliamentary Committee Meeting of AFCO, to be held on 9
November 2021 aimed at discussing the expectations of national parliaments for the
Conference on the Future of Europe.
Committee Secretariat:
B-1047 Brussels - Tel. +32 2 28 43454 - Fax +3222849015@fax .ep
F-67070 Strasbourg - Tel. +33 3 88 1 72655 - Fax +3222849015@fax .ep
[email protected] - w w w.europarl.europa.eu