Council of theEuropean Union
Brussels, 10 June 2022
(OR. en)10033/22
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AG 63
INST 223

NOTE
From:
To:

General Secretariat of the Council
Delegations

Subject:

Conference on the Future of Europe- Proposals and related specific measures contained in the report on thefinal outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe: Preliminary
technical assessment

Delegations will find herewith a note, and an Addendum thereto, which provides a preliminary
technical assessment of the proposals and related specific measures contained in the report on thefinal outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe1. This preliminary assessment was carriedout by the General Secretariat of the Council.
It should be noted that given the limited time available to proceed to this assessment, and thevolume of proposals and related measures to be assessed, this technical assessment is only
preliminary. Further assessment will be provided as needed in the course of the follow-up work thatwill take place within the Council.

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Proposals and related specific measures contained in the report on
the final outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe:Preliminary technical assessment
Introduction
1.

On 9 May 2022, the report on the final outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe

was presented to the Presidents of the European Parliament, of the Council of the European Unionand of the European Commission, as provided for in the Joint Declaration signed in March 2021 2.
As part of the Joint Declaration, the three Presidents agreed to examine swiftly how to follow up
effectively to this report, each within their own sphere of competences and in accordance with theTreaties.
2.

The report on the final outcome of the Conference contains 49 proposals and over 320 related

specific measures, put forward by the Conference Plenary to the Executive Board of theConference. These cover nine topics: ‘Climate change and the environment’; ‘Health’; ‘A stronger
economy, social justice and jobs’; ‘EU in the world’; ‘Values and rights, rule of law, security’;‘Digital transformation’; ‘European democracy’; ‘Migration’; and ‘Education, culture, youth andsports’.
3.

The proposals and their related specific measures are mainly based on the recommendations

formulated by citizens as part of the European and the National Citizens’ Panels, organised in theframework of the Conference. They also build on the ideas shared on the Conference’s Multilingual
Digital Platform, and on the debates held in the Conference Plenary, including its Working Groups.
The proposals’ related specific measures include a reference to their basis/origin, either by way ofindications in brackets or by way of a footnote.

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In the last Conference Plenary, the representatives of the Council component of theConference Plenary did not comment on the substance of the proposals but instead supported andencouraged the activities of the citizens and took note of their recommendations. The Council
expressed its will to determine, after 9 May 2022, how to follow up on the results of theConference, within its own sphere of competences and in accordance with the Treaties.
5.

The table in Addendum 1 provides a preliminary technical assessment of the proposals

and related specific measures that are contained in the report on the final outcome of theConference. The table contains three columns, which respectively: (i) list all the proposals andspecific measures related to these, (ii) outline the extent to which EU Institutions are alreadyworking on the said measures (i.e. what is being done?), and (iii) explain how the said measures
could be implemented, if at all, and on which legal basis (i.e. assessment of feasibility). When ameasure would require changes to the Treaties in order to be implemented, this is indicated in greyin the third column (iii). When only part of a measure would require changes to the Treaties, therelevant part is indicated in grey also in the first column (i). Finally, it should be noted that some of
the measures are formulated in general terms, rendering the assessment, in particular as regards thepossible legal basis in the current Treaties, difficult.

General overview of the preliminary technical assessment
A. Proposals and related specific measures addressed by existing and ongoing EU
initiatives
6.

One of the main finding of this preliminary assessment is that a significant number of

proposals and related measures are in the process of being addressed or are alreadyaddressed by the EU institutions. The details of these findings are shown in the second column of
the table in Addendum 1 (“what is being done?”).
This is especially the case for those Conference topics related to policy areas where EU legislation
has been adopted or is being discussed by the co-legislators, and appears to correspond to theproposals and the related measures (or part of them). ‘Digital transformation’, ‘Climate change andthe environment’ as well as ‘Health’ are good examples of this.

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7.

On the topic of ‘Digital transformation’, which has constituted a major EU priority in recentyears, the DSA, DMA, AI Act, CEF2 Regulation, eID Regulation, NIS2 Directive3 as well as theinitiatives contained in the European Strategy for Data anticipate on many proposals and relatedspecific measures.
Similarly, on the topic of ‘Climate change and the environment’, the CAP 2023-27 as well as
initiatives delivering on the European Green Deal, such as e.g. the revision of climate, energy andtransport-related legislation under the 'Fit for 55 package', cover many issues included in thespecific measures.
Concerning ‘Health’, a number of existing and ongoing EU initiatives aiming at better protecting
citizens' health and at better responding to health crises also address requests expressed in a goodnumber of the proposed measures.
8.

In addition, it appears that some recent crosscutting EU initiatives would cover a number of

proposals and related measures concerning several topics. This is for instance the case of theRecovery and Resilience Facility regarding proposals on the topics of ‘A stronger economy’,‘Values and rights, rule of law, security’ as well as ‘Education, culture, youth and sports’ which
touch upon public investment and quality of life.
B. Proposals and related specific measures that could be further addressed by EUInstitutions
9.

The preliminary technical assessment also highlights that where the proposals and related

specific measures could be further addressed by the EU Institutions, this could be done, for alarge majority of cases, within the current Treaty framework. The details of the findings areshown in the last column of the table in Addendum 1 (“how could the proposal/measure beimplemented?”).

3

Digital Services Act (DSA); Digital Markets Act (DMA); Artificial Intelligence Regulation(AI); Connecting Europe Facility 2 Regulation (CEF2); Electronic Identification,Authentication and Trust Services Regulation (eID); Network and Information Security 2
Directive (NIS2).

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First, many proposals and related measures could be implemented through amending theexisting EU legislative framework with a view to reinforcing some of its provisions. This is forexample the case of specific measures touching upon the issues of data protection and animalwelfare.
11.

Secondly, for other proposals and related measures, several tools, instruments, programmes

and structures that already exist at EU level could, if necessary, be harnessed.
For instance, the European Semester process provides the possibility for further coordination ofeconomic policy by Member States and could therefore address a good number of proposed
measures under the topic 'A stronger economy, social justice and jobs'. On the topic of ‘Values andrights, rule of law, security’, some measures aiming at making EU values more tangible to citizens
could be covered through the enhancement of several EU funding programmes. Stepped up
communication efforts and further implementation of EU institutions’ communication strategies
could also tackle some proposed measures under the ‘European democracy’ and ‘Education,culture, youth and sports’ topics.
12.

Thirdly, many proposals could be implemented through new EU legislation based on thecurrent Treaty framework. For example, under the topic of ‘Values and rights’, upcoming initiatives
such as a Media Freedom Act could cover a significant number of the proposed measures.
Similarly, initiatives arising from the Circular Economy Package II could address some measuresfalling under the topics of ‘A stronger economy’ and ‘Climate change and the environment’.
13.

Moreover, while many proposals and related measures address specific issues, others arebroader and sometimes of an aspirational nature. Their implementation would therefore allow fordifferent possible types of initiatives, with a wide range of choice.

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It should also be recalled that concerning the proposals and related specific measures falling

into fields covered by shared competences, the EU has already been conferred the relevant
competence in the Treaties, through the relevant legal bases in the areas concerned, but until the EU
chooses to exercise its competence in the given area, in accordance with such legal bases, Member
States retain competence to act in that area. It is therefore entirely up to the EU to choose whether
or not, and to which extent, to exercise such competences, the use of such competence being
governed by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
As regards proposals and related measures in fields covered by supporting competences of the EU,
most of such proposals do not specifically call for EU harmonisation, and could therefore beimplemented under the current Treaties, with EU actions to support, coordinate or supplement theactions of the Member States, including EU programmes. This is for instance the case of most
proposed measures in the field of education (e.g. to enhance education and training in a number ofsubjects such as media and digital literacy, to foster the digitalisation of education, etc.).
15.

Finally, some proposals and related measures could be addressed through the flexibilities

provided by the current Treaty framework, such as Treaty provisions setting out general or specific“passerelle clauses” that enable the European Council or the Council to switch from unanimity toqualified majority voting or to ordinary legislative procedure, or specific simplified revision clausesthat enable the European Council or the Council to extend the scope of certain legal bases or Treaty
provisions, such as enhanced cooperation, allowing Member States which so wish to advance in agiven area.

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C. Proposals and related specific measures that could require Treaty change in order tobe fully implemented

16.

This preliminary assessment also shows that only a very limited number of specificmeasures would require Treaty change in order to be fully implemented. These measures relateto:456789101112131)

Enabling the EU to make certain issues a mandatory part of education curricula
throughout the EU;42)

Making health and healthcare, as well as education, a matter of shared competence of theEU;53)

Harmonising healthcare standards in a mandatory way at EU level;64)

Imposing on Member States an obligation to establish nationally a right to marriage andadoption, for instance for same sex couples;75)

Ensuring in a mandatory way throughout the EU the creation of affordable kindergartensand free childcare;86)

Making the Europe Day (9 May) an additional compulsory public holiday throughout theEU;97)

Introducing the possibility of EU-wide referenda to be triggered by the European
Parliament10;

8)

Amending Article 7 TEU11;

9)

Switching from unanimity to QMV in the European Council12;

10)

Switching from unanimity to QMV in the Council for the situations where the passerelles
clauses do not apply, for example on decisions with military implications and on defence
matters13;

See measure 6.6; measure 27.4; measure 32.1; measure 32.2; measure 37.1; measure 46.1; andmeasure 48.2.
See measure 8.3; measure 10.3; and measure 46.1.
See measure 10.1; measure 14.4; and measure15.8.
See measure 15.5.
See measure 29.5.
See measure 37.6; and measure 48.3.
See measure 38.2.
See measure 25.4.
See measure 39.1.
See measure 21.1; and measure 39.1.

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Transferring powers to the High Representative in the field of external representation ofthe Union, which are currently held by the Commission (Article 17(1) TEU) or thePresident of the European Council (Article 15(6) TEU) or changing the High
Representative’s role and powers14;

12)

Direct election of the President of the Commission by the citizens15;

13)

Conferring on the European Parliament a right of legislative initiative16;

14)

Conferring on the European Parliament the competence to adopt alone the budget of theEU, and/or to decide on the own resources decision17;

15)

Changing the names of the EU institutions18;

16)

Conferring on national parliaments a right of legislative initiative at EU level19;

17)

Conferring on regional parliaments a right of legislative initiative at EU level and/or adirect formal right as regards subsidiarity assessment under Protocol No 220.

18)

Modifying or enlarging the powers of the Economic and Social Committee and/or of theCommittee of the Regions21.

See measure 21.3.
See measure 38. 4.
See measure 38.4.
See measure 38.4. To be noted that a diverging opinion of citizens has been expressed on thismeasure.
See measure 39.3.
See measure 40.2.
See measure 40.2.
See measure 39.6; and measure 40.3.

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