The proposals of EU citizens gathered within the Conference on the Future of Europe should be taken under serious consideration, reviewed and implemented, according to MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk, one of the three Bulgarians who represented the European Parliament at the Conference. In an interview for BTA, Kyuchyuk said the proposals demonstrate a will for a European Union as a more centralized structure, rather than a looser union under the current EU treaties.
The Conference on the Future of Europe was a series of debates and discussions led by EU citizens where over the course of one year (starting spring 2021) they shared their ideas on the Union’s future so they could be part of shaping it.
According to Kyuchyuk, some of the proposals can be implemented quickly, while others will require cardinal changes and would thus need the Member States’ consensus efforts. As ideas that could be turned into policies very quickly he listed the proposals for: a more coordinated approach in healthcare; a more active fight against ecological disasters; the creation of social rights for EU citizens; incentives for EU programmes promoting language diversity; and doubling of the Erasmus programme’s budget. “Everything that creates the feeling of European identity should be encouraged,” the Bulgarian MEP argued.
According to him, a permanent mechanism is needed for consulting the European civil society.
He assessed positively the Bulgarian News Agency’s Bulgarian Voices for Europe initiative that the BTA has been implementing since November 2021 with the European Parliament’s support. The initiative aims to give Bulgarian citizens a voice in the debates on Europe’s future.
The final conference of the Bulgarian Voices for Europe initiative is scheduled to take place at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia on June 20. It will be broadcast live on BTA’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
