ZAGREB, 13 Feb 2022 - EU citizens attending the Conference on the Future of Europe on Sunday called for establishing a joint EU army, taking decisions on foreign policy issues by qualified majority, and adopting a common migration policy.

A total of 184 citizens from all EU member states met in Maastricht on Friday and Saturday to formulate through smaller working groups, policy proposals on the topic "EU in the world and migration". They voted on the proposals on Sunday, with a majority vote of 70% being required for their adoption. Only six of 46 recommendations were not adopted.

EU citizens called for establishing joint EU armed forces and also called for changing the way decisions on foreign policy issues are made.

Currently each member-state has a right of veto and EU citizens recommended making decisions by qualified majority, which is a major bone of contention between the proponents and opponents of further EU integration.

Its opponents believe it is a step towards turning the EU into a federation where the strongest members would be able to impose their own will more easily, while its proponents stress that unanimous decision-making prevents the EU's affirmation as a global actor comparable with the USA and China.

Still, they propose that one should continue to make decisions on the admission of new members and changes to the Treaty on EU unanimously.

On the issue of EU enlargement, citizens concluded that it was necessary to consolidate the EU's identity before new members joined.

They also proposed facilitating the introduction of sanctions against member-states, organisations and individuals violating the Treaty on EU.

In favour of common migration policy

EU citizens also advocated a common EU migration policy based on solidarity. They also called for replacing the Dublin Regulation with a new legally binding regulation to secure a just, balanced and proportional distribution of asylum-seekers.

They recommended establishing a single European mechanism for the import of labour outside of the EU in line with market needs, as well as strengthening the border protection agency, Frontex, and reviewing its work so far.

They underlined the need for greater transparency to prevent abuse in the treatment of migrants.

EU citizens also proposed greater production subsidies in the European farm, health and digital sectors, as well as in environmental protection technologies. They also recommended reducing dependence on natural gas and oil, and instead make larger investments on public transportation infrastructure and alternative energy sources such as hydrogen.

They called for restricting imports from countries that tolerate child labour, as well as greater control of possible human rights violations in the production of imported goods. They also proposed introducing "eco-rating" for all products to include the level of CO2 emissions from production and transport, the level of harmful substances, etc.    

Previously, as part of the Conference and after a panel debate in Warsaw, citizens adopted conclusions on health and climate policies, while at their first December panel in Florence they put forward policy proposals from the area of EU values and security.

The last panel will be held in Dublin, and recommendations from 800 EU citizens, chosen randomly by market research agencies to reflect the EU's demographic and socioeconomic structure, will be considered by European institutions at a joint plenary session.

A total of 80 citizens, 20 each from the Conference's four panels, will discuss the proposed policies with members of the European Parliament, representatives of EU governments and parliaments, European commissioners, representatives of unions, employers, civil society and others, at the plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

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ZAGREB, 27 Nov, 2021 - Migrations towards Europe are definitely a problem that needs to be discussed, but so should migrations within the European Union, it was said at the opening of the fourth panel discussion of the Conference on the Future of Europe, taking place from Friday to Sunday.

Faced with a drop in citizens' trust, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU in September and October invited 800 randomly selected EU citizens to discuss topics important for the 27-member bloc in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. A group of 200 citizens will discuss migrations and the status of the EU in the world at the fourth panel, taking place from Friday to Sunday.

Dragan Volarević, a pensioner from Zadar and one of the three Croatians participating in discussions this weekend, called for putting on the agenda the topic of migration of people from eastern to western EU members.

"Around 10% of Croatians have emigrated, mostly young and highly educated people who are needed in every country. I was surprised the most by the fact that the first person to support me was a young Dutchman who is also interested in this topic even though his country does not have the problem of emigration of young people," Volarević told Hina.

He believes that the EU should help countries like Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania create favourable conditions for young people to stay and work in their countries.

As for immigration from third countries, participants in the panel agreed that EU countries should show solidarity with refugees and migrants.

Migration is a burning issue across Europe, notably Mediterranean countries, as well as in Poland, Great Britain and on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We must avoid human losses if we want to call ourselves civilised countries but we are not doing enough to define concrete solutions, said Antonio from Italy.

For solutions to be defined, politicians should listen more, says Volarević, who described his experience at the first panel session in Strasbourg last month.

"During debates in working groups, members of the European Parliament had answers prepared in advance, and while presenting them they spoke of different, often unrelated topics, without keeping track of time, which is why only two citizens had the opportunity to speak," he said.

The second panel session, dedicated to migrations and global politics, was held online. Ten sub-topics were presented at it on Friday, of which five are related to migrations while the other fire have to do with the status of the EU in the world, and they will be discussed in greater detail by working groups on Saturday.

As regards migrations, EU citizens will work on recommendations on border control, on how to respond to illegal border crossings, how to facilitate access to official border crossings, how to integrate migrants in the labor market and education system, and how to facilitate the acquisition of EU citizenship.

With regard to the EU's status in the world, the discussion will focus on the EU's external policy which is in line with its values, such as promotion of democracy and human rights, changes in decision-making in the field of external policy so that the EU can define itself as a global power and strengthen the common foreign policy, on European defence forces, policy towards Russia and China, and the strengthening of trade.

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