On Friday 21 and Saturday 22 January, the Conference on the Future of Europe Plenary took stock of recommendations made by two European Citizens' Panels and national Citizens' Panels. The debates revolved around the recommendations on European democracy, values and rights, rule of law, climate change, environment and health. Among the active participants were ECR President Władysław Ortyl, ECR Members in the CoR Mr Roberto Ciambetti and Mr Matteo Bianchi, as well our local delegate Ms Klaudia Szemereyné. 

Speaking in the debate on the environment in the Conference plenary, President Ortyl, Marshal of the Podkarpackie region in Poland, underlined the important work carried out by local and regional governments: "Local and regional governments invest in sustainable public transport, renewable energy or charging stations for electric vehicles. It is a paradox that we implement ambitious policies but lack sufficient influence in shaping EU proposals".

ECR member Roberto Ciambetti took part in the working group on health during which he called for priorities to focus on the promotion of healthy lifestyles and nutritional education for children. The President of the Veneto Regional Council also urged for Member States to take "coordinated action to fighting against health disinformation and combatting fake news".

Finally, Ms Klaudia Szemereyné, Mayor of Kecskemét participated in the working group on EU in the world. During the debate, Ms Szemereyné highlighted the importance of better decision-making mechanisms and provided Montenegro as an example to further illustrate the issue: "We must focus on enlargement and better decision-making mechanisms. Montenegro is a prime example of where this is lacking - they have been waiting since 2014 to join the EU".

The two European Citizens' Panels that have not yet delivered their recommendations are due to finalise their work in February. All Europeans can continue to contribute to the debate via the multilingual digital platform.