• Home
  • Events
    • Upcoming events
    • Previous events
  • Members
    • Who are AER’s members?
    • Member Directory
    • Join AER!
  • Committees
    • About Our Committees
    • Committee 1 for Economy & Regional development
    • Committee 2 for Social Policy & Public Health
    • Committee 3 for Culture, Education & Youth
    • Digital Health Network
    • AER Action Plan
  • Advocacy
    • About Our Advocacy Work
    • The Bureau
    • AER Political Priorities 2020-2025
    • Intercultural Regions Network
  • Projects
    • About Our Projects
    • Ongoing Projects
    • Look for Partners
    • Completed Projects
  • Programmes
    • AER Eurodyssey
    • AER Summer Academy
    • AER Youth Regional Network
    • Regional Innovation Award
    • Most Youth Friendly European Region Award (MYFER)
    • AER Observatory on Regionalisation
  • About
    • The History of AER
    • Governance & Structure
    • Statute & Strategies
      • AER Statute
      • AER Procedures
    • AER Executive Board
    • Contact the Secretariat

Assembly of European Regions

Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985

You are here: Home / Policies / AER adopts Recommendations on the Conference on the Future of Europe

AER adopts Recommendations on the Conference on the Future of Europe

8 April, 2021 By Gisela Guari Cañada

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail
Share this!

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) has adopted its Recommendations on the Conference on the Future of Europe. The adoption of these Recommendations by our Executive Board follows the announcement by the EU Institutions that the Conference will officially be launched on 9 May 2021.

The Conference on the Future of Europe aims to give citizens the chance to shape the European Union’s priorities. Through a series of open dialogues and debates across EU Member States, the Conference aims to give voice to ‘the silent majority’ of Europeans, and put people back at the centre of policymaking.

At the Assembly of European Regions, we want to make sure that citizens feel their feedback counts. This demands a citizen-led approach starting in Europe’s towns, villages and cities, with a strong role for local and regional authorities as a channel for citizens’ ideas and aspirations. This is why on 1 April 2021, the AER’s Executive Board formally adopted our Recommendations on the Conference on the Future of Europe. AER President, Magnus Berntsson welcomed the timely adoption of the Recommendations, and underlined the need for a strong role for local and regional authorities:

“For the Conference to succeed, politicians have to take the lead from our citizens – starting in our regions. They must have a key role to ensure citizens have a real say in Europe’s future.”

The Conference on the Future of Europe is a unique opportunity for regions to push for institutional reform, and put power back in the hands of our citizens. Given their uniquely close relationship with citizens on the ground, regional and local authorities must be meaningfully involved in the EU’s decision-making process. This requires us to remodel the EU architecture in a way that it truly delivers on the principles of subsidiarity, partnership and multi-level governance. This can be achieved by creating a permanent structure of consultation that will give a stronger voice to regional authorities and our citizens.

The AER will continue working to ensure the perspectives of European regions are an integral part of the Conference’s discussions. In this regard, we make the following recommendations to guarantee an inclusive and participatory Conference on the Future of Europe where regional authorities play a key role. We call for:

  1. Local and Regional Authorities to be viewed as equal partners in the Conference on the Future of Europe;
  2. A citizens-led Conference that reaches all corners of Europe, not only of the Union;
  3. The highest standards of inclusiveness both in participation and facilitation methods to be ensured throughout the process;
  4. Democratic legitimacy to be respected through the establishment of an open mandate for clear proposals, with structured involvement of citizens in discussions at all phases and at all levels – local and regional;
  5. Continuity of the Conference and the establishment of a permanent consultation structure for the EU.

You can view the recommendations below:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Filed Under: Bureau, Executive board, Featured, News, Policies Tagged With: Governance, Subsidiarity

← Tourism & Remote Areas: A New Competitive Advantage after the Pandemic? Digital Transformation & Skills in the Agri-food Sector →

More articles on this topic

Advocating for Youth Participation at Regional Level
EXTENDED – Call for Participants: Advocacy Training for Young European Activists
European regions, implementing the SDGs through Cohesion Policy
AER Appoints Christian Spahr as Secretary General
“The Future We Want, the UN We Need”- AER Reactions

AER. Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985.

Follow our newsletter!




View previous campaigns.


Upcoming Events

  1. Multi-stakeholder Approaches for Innovative Societies

    19 April 10:00 - 20 April 11:00
  2. Cluny Training Seminar: Local democracy & European citizenship

    27 April - 29 April
  3. SAVE THE DATE – AER Bureau Debate on the Future of Democracy in European Regions

    12 May 16:00 - 17:30

View All Events

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Tweets by @europeanregions

Funding Opportunities

Horizon 2020-funded European Green Deal Calls for Proposals

Have you been inspired by Together4Cohesion? A new call for projects is open to communicate cohesion policy

More funding opportunities

Partner Search

Interested to join a new project from Umbria to support the integration of migrants?

Are you developing a project in the tourism sector? Umbria is keen to join!

More project opportunities

Visit our SDG Website

Library

Statutory Documents
AER Strategies
Minutes
Media Kit
Activity Reports
Newsletters
European Regions Map

Join AER!

Become a Member

Job Opportunities

Sign up for our Newsletter

Search

Website map

Brussels · Strasbourg · Alba Iulia

A Network, a Partner and a Voice of European regions, since 1985 · Copyright © 2021 · Assembly of European Regions · info@aer.eu · Log in