Seven months after the end of the Conference on the Future of the European Union, representatives of the conference met in Brussels on Friday to take stock: Which of the citizens’ reform proposals could be implemented? Where is little ambition for change? The result is sobering. While the European Parliament had already paved the way for a reform convention with a resolution on 9 June 2022 and the EU Commission had also joined this demand on 14 September 2022, the EU member states are blocking it. Yet the EU Convention is the central forum in which the most important reform projects can be tackled. In an open letter to the Council, many citizens who participated in the conference have now expressed their frustration. They demand that work on implementing the results of the Future Conference finally begins.

Daniel Freund, head of the Green delegation to the Conference Future EU comments:

“With his blocking of the global minimum tax and Ukraine aid, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban illustrates once again how national vetoes paralyze the EU. Abolishing the unanimity principle is one of the central demands of the EU Future Conference. But the member states still refuse to put their traffic lights on green for the EU Convention needed for this. This is another reason why the path to the most important reform projects is currently blocked. With the current refusal of the EU member states, the EU Conference on the Future is in danger of turning into a failure. Together with the German government, we will insist on a response from the Council to the citizens’ proposals. The demands of the EU citizens were not merely a letter of recommendation, but a clear instruction to take action”.