The Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, presented the 6+1 axes of the national participation in the Conference on the Future of Europe – which coincides with the 40th anniversary of Greek membership in the EU – to the Ministerial Council, which convened under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The axes of the Greek proposal include: The European Defence and Security framework; European Cohesion Policies; Environment and Climate Change; Migration; Research and Innovation, with emphasis on the role of Youth; the strategy for deepening the EMU; and the “Rule of Law-Democracy-Human Rights” triptych.
Mr. Varvitsiotis highlighted the key role Greece and Greek citizens are being called upon to play in the Conference. “The Conference,” he noted, “is an important opportunity for Greece to participate actively in this debate, as a state and as a society, not only to reconfirm its position at the core of the European project, but also to strengthen Greece’s position in the institutional deepening of the EU of tomorrow.”
The Conference on the Future of Europe is a proposal for Europe-wide consultation on the future of the European Union, an initiative by the EU’s three institutional bodies (Commission, European Parliament, Council), that is to be completed in Spring 2022, under the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union. For Greece, the opening of the Conference is highly symbolic, as it coincides with the 40 years of Greek membership in the EU anniversary and with the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution.
Describing Greece’s participation in the Conference, Mr. Varvitsiotis highlighted that a central element will be a national consultation, the findings of which will be elaborated by an academic Advisory Group, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Task Force that he is heading.
The Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs underscored that the goal of the consultation is to function as a multiplier for articulating proposals from citizens on the future orientation of the EU, introducing the European agenda into the public debate and mobilising citizens through an inclusive bottom-up process. Based on the recent experience of the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which was successful despite coinciding with the pandemic and other international developments, key tools will include digital platforms for consultation, collaboration with organizations (especially universities, Professional Organizations and Local Administrations), and hybrid and in-person events throughout Greece, at which the presence of the country’s political leadership (President of the Republic, Prime Minister) will lend standing and gravity to the national effort.
Finally, he stressed that the launch of the Greek consultation is scheduled for the week of 20-27 May 2021.
