Written by Silvia Kotanidis and Ralf Drachenberg,
As the 2019 European elections approach, the ‘Future of Europe debates’ are coming to their natural conclusion. This April II session is the last plenary session at which one of the Heads of State or Government will set out their vision of the future path that Europe should follow. This initiative has been meant to provide the occasion to reflect deeply on how to shape the future of the EU and its institutions, as a concrete contribution to the Sibiu Summit taking place on 9 May 2019.
The series of debates started with the invitation of the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, who announced at the European Council in October 2017 his intention to host debates during plenary sessions, as a democratic and open forum in which Heads of State or Government would be invited to express their vision of the future.
Originally intended to run for the whole of 2018, the debates, which have to date featured the leaders of 19 Member States, continued into 2019, up to the 2019 European elections.
This is the fourth edition of a Briefing designed to provide an overview of the Future of Europe debates. As usual it takes stock of the views of the (four) most recent participating leaders (Juha Sipilä, Giuseppe Conte, Peter Pellegrini, Stefan Löfven) on a number of key policy areas such as economic and monetary union (EMU), the EU’s social dimension, migration policy, security and defence, the next multiannual financial framework (MFF), trade and climate change.
Previous versions:
- ‘Future of Europe debates III: Parliament hosts Heads of State or Government‘.
- ‘Future of Europe debates II: Parliament hosts Heads of State or Government‘.
- ‘Future of Europe debates: Parliament hosts Heads of State or Government‘.
Read the complete briefing on ‘Future of Europe debates IV: Parliament hosts Heads of State or Government‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
Visit the European Parliament homepage on Future of Europe
