References to different topics related to EU values and democracy

Contrary to the absence of these topics in the regular European Council meetings, EU Heads of State or Government addressed EU values and democracy at great length during the series of Future of Europe debates in the Parliament plenary sessions between January 2018 and April 2019.
All of the 20 speakers referred to EU citizens, while some also addressed issues such as the rule of law, subsidiarity or Treaty revision (see Figure 3).
Of the six overall messages all speakers addressed in common within the framework of the Future of Europe debates, two referred to EU values and democracy:
• the importance of European values and the need to defend them, both within the EU and externally;
• the need to involve citizens more actively in the EU process and decision-making and to highlight to citizens the benefits of the EU and to deliver on their priorities.