News item | 14-01-2022 | 17:47
What, according to the Dutch, should the European Union (EU) do in areas such as climate, migration and healthcare – and what not? On 14 January 2022, the cabinet presented the third report with recommendations from Look at Europe to the Senate and House of Representatives.
Recommendations for four themes
The recommendations in this new report deal with the last four of the nine themes of the Citizens’ Dialogue Look at Europe: Climate change and environment, Migration, Health and The role of the EU in the world. The Dutch made several recommendations for each of the four themes. A selection:
- Choose a clear direction in the European approach to climate change
- Prevent the refugee discussion in Europe from becoming too nuanced
- Take more control in tackling a pandemic, without rules having to be the same in all EU countries
- Opt for cooperation between countries instead of struggle, inside and outside Europe
A report on the first five themes was published in December. Both reports are presented to the Conference on the Future of Europe. The recommendations are the result of a representative panel survey and in-depth thematic dialogues online and on location. All Dutch people could participate in eight online theme dialogues. In addition, six meetings were held throughout the country with various groups of young people and eight meetings with various groups that were difficult to reach.
Three reports
The Citizens’ Dialogue Look at Europe has so far produced three reports:
- On October 8, we shared the first insights and follow-up questions from Look at Europe based on the panel survey.
- On December 3, a report was published with the opinions, ideas and recommendations for the first five themes, which were discussed in October. The themes are: Values and rights, rule of law and security, A stronger economy, social justice and employment, European democracy, Digital transformation and Education, culture, youth and sport.
- The new report includes the opinions, ideas and recommendations for the last four themes, which were discussed in November. The themes are: Climate change and environment, Migration, Health and The role of the EU in the world.
All results will be bundled in a fourth (final) report that will be delivered shortly. Also appear on www.kijkopeuropa.nl soon the results of two other options that were open to all Dutch people to express their opinion: an open questionnaire (similar to that of the panel survey) and an online swipe tool with 20 statements (‘Swipe to the future’). The results of these open online tools were used to supplement the panel survey.
What now?
The reports with all recommendations will be presented to the Conference on the Future of Europe on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 January 2022. This is where the ideas, opinions and recommendations of all residents of the EU come together. During various meetings, not only the results of all national citizens’ dialogues are discussed, but also the results of other initiatives and consultations taking place during the Conference.
With the independent, representative and inclusive citizen consultation Kijk op Europa, the Netherlands has qualified as a ‘national panel’. The results then receive extra attention because they are presented and explained in more detail in the plenary meeting on 21 and 22 January. Within the Conference, the citizen consultations of three countries have so far qualified as national panels: the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Recommendations follow from the Conference for the Presidency of the Conference, which consists of the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission. They have promised to investigate how they can follow up on the recommendations. For the Dutch government, all the results of Look at Europe are a valuable contribution to the shaping of Dutch EU policy.