FIRST 100 DAYS IN OUR UNION THAT STRIVES FOR MORE

When I first started to write this blog, I could never have imagined that the significant achievements of our first 100 days would pale in comparison to the major crisis that we are now facing. While it is still important to reflect on the work that has been done we must also pledge that we will continue to increase our efforts for the benefit of the European Union and its citizens.

I also did not imagine that, at the height of the Coronavirus crisis, when people are confined to their homes, my country’s capital Zagreb would be struck by several earthquakes, which caused substantial damages - physical, human and more importantly psychological. I was in Zagreb myself and witnessed the devastation this earthquake caused, the young life that was lost. The Croatian authorities responded promptly and mobilized all necessary services. The European Commission has helped mobilize tents, beds, mattresses, heaters and sleeping bags from Slovenia, Hungary, Austria and Italy within 24 hours. This was a concrete example of european solidarity, the essence of our Union.

On December 1 2019, I took office as the European Commission’s Vice-President for Democracy and Demography under the leadership of the first female Commission President ever, Ursula von der Leyen.

It is an honour to join the most gender-balanced College of Commissioners under the guiding principle of “A Union that strives for more”. I do not underestimate the task ahead of us. For the first time, the European Commission has established a portfolio on Democracy and Demography, which also includes the Conference on the Future of Europe and the preparation of an EU comprehensive strategy for the Rights of the Child. To me, this represents a wonderful opportunity, a challenge and a great responsibility.

I am writing this blog during a time when we are faced with the global coronavirus pandemic, which affects each of us in a forceful and personal manner. This is a global human crisis, which calls for solidarity. We will need one-another to stop this virus from spreading further and from wreaking greater havoc.

The EU and its Member States have mobilised a great amount of resources and are committed to do their utmost to protect citizens during the crisis and to help mitigate the large-scale socio-economic impact of this crisis. But to be effective, the battle against the coronavirus needs to be a shared effort: I thus urge you to step up to this challenge and fight against our invisible, but all too deadly, enemy by combining solidarity with social distancing.

I understand the uncertainties and hardships that are linked to this crisis, with no foreseeable end in sight: being confined at home, while juggling with home schooling our children and keeping up work through home office, being a single parent, facing potential unemployment and financial hardship. And I am thinking of our older citizens who are most threatened by this virus, who often already live alone and are now even more isolated and fear for their health, often their lives. Here, we are all called upon to show solidarity, follow the instructions while helping one another. I have been struck by some of the simple but so significant gestures of community spirit: the applause for health-workers at 20.00 in some countries, the group singing from windows and balconies, young people doing the shopping for their elderly neighbours. These give me hope that in adversity the better side of human nature can also emerge.

I assure you that we are not hiding from our responsibilities in the European institutions and we are fielding all necessary efforts to address the most pressing needs. I am also thinking with great humility and respect of our courageous citizens in the healthcare sector who work relentlessly to save lives. My thoughts are also with the police, delivery workers, IT technicians, logistics operatives, supermarket staff and all others providing much needed services under such difficult conditions. These are the real life heroes we must recognize during these often surreal times.

We need to acknowledge our shortcomings in this crisis and it is all too clear that a coordinated response and a close alignment of our efforts can be the only solution to European and global issues.

Now more than ever, politics must go beyond its comfort zone of business as usual and accept the need for adjustments. I thus hope you will join me in a constructive discussion on the present and the future of Europe. Right now we need to manage the present which will also inform how we will shape our common future.

While I will have to postpone my personal encounters with our citizens until further notice, I am presenting this blog to you, to start a reflection about an improved and stronger European Union. These circumstances mean that this reflection on the Future of Europe must take on a different approach to that originally conceived.

I would therefore like to take you on a journey through my work as Vice-President of the European Commission. I want to share with you our ideas, our hopes, our dialogues with people throughout Europe, and our policy ambitions. Through this blog you will also meet some of our extraordinary citizens, who are already taking action, are looking for and finding innovative solutions to today’s challenges and are leading by example.

The Conference on the Future of Europe gives us a unique opportunity to reflect with citizens and to listen to them. We want to connect and engage, to answer and explain, and to build trust and confidence in each other. We also want to hear where we did not live up to expectations and where we need to improve. Honesty and transparency will need to be our guiding principles throughout. On 15 January, I delivered my first speech as a European Commission Vice-President during the European Parliament plenary debate on this topic.

On 22nd of January 2020, the College of Commissioners adopted the Commission’s contribution to the Shaping of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which I presented to the press.

The Conference on the Future of Europe marks the beginning of a substantial process towards reinvigorating democracy in Europe, a new way of collectively shaping decisions and policies that affect us all. As Jean Monnet said: “Only the people can change and enrich things in the institutions and transmit them to future generations.” The coronavirus crisis is showing that our collective destinies are shaped by the individual decisions of each and every one of us. European citizens must step up to this challenge; European institutions must listen and offer protection, support and direction.

“A stronger Europe in the World” also stems from a stronger Europe within its own borders. We want to ensure that the European project is owned and shaped by all of us. Being rooted in our respective countries’ traditions, history and identity goes hand in hand with being connected to our common European identity and history. The two complement each other and our strength lies in our diversity, our mutual understanding, equality, respect and solidarity. This is both challenging and enriching, and it is now more important than ever.

Here, I also see a strong link between the democracy and demography strands of my portfolio: we need to address demographic challenges, as their impact can already be felt throughout the EU to varying degrees: be it in increasingly de-populated regions or a declining workforce. We will not and cannot afford to leave anyone behind, not during normal times, and much less when facing crises. We will also need to assess the sustainability of our social protection systems to ensure intergenerational fairness in the face of an ageing population. This will also require us to improve the work/ life and family balance, making sure that women in particular have a realistic opportunity to join and contribute to the labour market, and indeed are encouraged to do so.

It is imperative to understand the situation on the ground, to listen to European citizens and their concerns, ideas and hopes – not only in capitals, but also in remote, rural or sparsely populated areas. As a former mayor of Dubrovnik, I have first-hand experience that it is only by directly engaging with people and learning from their experiences, that we can achieve the best results.

16 January was a very important day for me; I held my first Citizens’ Dialogue as a Commissioner in Tartu, Estonia, on the theme “Is the Future of Europe digital?” I gathered a lot from the people, at least as much as I learned from my meetings with Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, the Riigikogu’s EU Affairs Committee, representatives of the University of Tartu and the national digital adviser of the Estonian government.

I was genuinely impressed by the enthusiasm and large turnout at the event in Riga. Together with the Chair of the European Affairs Committee in the Latvian Parliament, Ms Vita Tērauda, and the engaged and well-informed audience, we shared ideas about demographic challenges and the Child Guarantee, which aims to lift children out of poverty.

Protecting democracy and European values from external threats, including cyber and disinformation threats is one of our priorities. We need to identify the best practices to maximise the safeguard of our democratic procedures. With this in mind, in late January I participated in the Conference on Security and the Risks for Democracy in the upper chamber of the Czech Parliament. The visit to Prague was an occasion to discuss with relevant members of the government, including Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček and parliamentarians from the EU Affairs Committees of both chambers.

Demographic challenges are a Europe-wide issue that does not discriminate between west and east: we all share similar burdens. In the beautiful city of Orléans, located on the banks of the Loire River, I had the honour to speak at the Conference of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions about the role of local and regional authorities in the Conference on the Future of Europe. There, I had a very interesting exchange on the involvement of authorities in the outreach to citizens – a central feature of the reflection on the Future of Europe.

Meeting the mayor of Orléans and participating in a thematic roundtable with French local and regional representatives gave me a great insight into the demographic challenges and regional inequalities that France is facing. One of the central points of my mission is to facilitate citizens’ involvement in the political processes of the EU, and I had a long and interesting exchange with Europe Minister Amélie de Montchalin on the best practices from the French “Grand Debat”.

In the German-speaking Community of Belgium, in a way the Conference on the Future of Europe has already started. On 7 February, I had the opportunity to visit the Bürgerrat, the Citizens’ Council, in Eupen, an innovative model of involving citizens in the political decision-making process. This visit greatly inspired my preparatory work on the Conference on the Future of Europe, which sets out to strengthen representative democracy through increased citizen’s engagement.

When it comes to finding creative solutions for demographic challenges, I was very impressed by what I saw on my mission to Kerkrade in the Netherlands. The “Action Plan Depopulation” includes projects such as the “Super Circular Estate”, the first circular social housing estate made of 100% recycled material and social circularity, supported by the European Union. This project is illustrative of the horizontal nature of my portfolio, which complements or supports our Member State’s national competences. It also proved how all members states have challenges to face in this regard, even if the characteristics are different.

The wish to understand better the problem of depopulation in rural areas brought me to the cradle of European parliamentarism, Castilla y Leon in Spain, where modern representative democracy was introduced in the 12th century. But today, this region is better known as a prominent case of rural depopulation: although covering about a fifth of the Spanish territory, Castilla y Leon is home to less than 6% of the country’s citizens. Out of the region’s 2,248 municipalities, 1,986 of them have less than 1,000 inhabitants.

During the Citizens’ Dialogue at the University of Valladolid, we explored how to turn demographic changes into opportunities. In that context, my visit to the StartUp Village in Villahoz, a community whose population declined from 1000 to 150 inhabitants over a few years, was extremely fascinating and informative. Innovative and creative solutions like these give us new ideas as we develop our policy in linking rural development and new technologies. These issues took centre stage in a very constructive meeting with the Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenges and deputy Prime Minister, Teresa Ribera.

On 20 and 21 February I learned a lot from the well-known Irish example of deliberative democracy. At the Institute for International and European Affairs in Dublin I exchanged views with well-known democracy experts, shared my ideas on the Conference on the Future of Europe and on demography.

Reaching out beyond the capitals, I continued on to Galway, the European Capital of Culture 2020 (together with Rijeka, from the country I know best).

Together with MEP Maria Walsh and with the support of the European Movement of Ireland, I held a memorable Citizens’ Dialogue at the National University of Ireland Galway, answering over 50 questions via Sli.do, an interactive conference tool, the highest number of questions to date at a citizens’ dialogue. The dialogue was a wonderful mix of ages, backgrounds and interests: covering everything from Mayo for Sam (nice to meet you Sam Maguire!), to the Green Deal and climate change, to how to get more involved in EU politics. Back in Dublin, I received advice from academic experts in deliberative democracy – David Farrell and Jane Suiter. Catherine Day, Chair of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality (and former Secretary General of the European Commission) inspired me with valuable insights regarding the structure, methodology and feedback mechanism that could be helpful for our future Conference.

My last mission during the first 100 Days brought me to Luxembourg, earlier this month, where I presented the Commission concept and state of play of the Conference on the Future of Europe at the European Court of Auditors. I stressed that, in spite of the political delays and the spread of the coronavirus, the launch of the Conference on 9 May should still go ahead, if not offline, then at least online. I had fascinating and engaging conversations with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Mr. Jean Asselborn, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, on the future of European Democracy.

“Which way should Europe go” was the theme of a particularly vibrant and stimulating conversation with some 70 youth representatives where we discussed demography, migration, rural areas, digital transformation and the effects of COVID-19. These exchanges with youth are indispensable to our work, because they are our future, but also our present and we need to ensure to take their views and ideas on board.

Now, what would the future of Europe be without our children? In my mission letter I was also tasked with the preparation of an EU comprehensive strategy for the Rights of the Child. I am also coordinating the Child Guarantee, which is led by my colleague, Commissioner Nicolas Schmit. If we want a sustainable future for Europe, we need to invest in our children, protect and include all of them in our democratic life, and ensure that those at risk are lifted out of poverty and social exclusion.

Vulnerable children, those from minorities, with disabilities, refugees, migrants and unaccompanied minors must also find protection of their rights within our union. It is vital that every child has a right and access to an equal start in life. This strategy will also give us a powerful narrative to take into our discussions in the multilateral fora. Children’s rights are universal and a child remains a child no matter where they are in the world.

We can also learn from the past and so we need to build on and harness the wealth of experiences and the wisdom of the older generation. Many stay active beyond retirement and continue to make a valuable contribution to society. We will therefore work on policies that foster healthy and active ageing. In the light of the coronavirus crisis the need for improved care for the elderly moves to the forefront of our actions.

Improving the present and shaping the future of Europe is a collective effort and I will continue to actively seek advice from experts at think tanks, in academia, NGOs and Civil Society Organisations. I have had stimulating and very enriching discissions with renowned think tanks such as Carnegie Europe and the Bertelsman Foundation who brought together invaluable expertise and experiences in deliberative and citizens democracy, and have very concrete ideas on how we can improve and move our European project forward.

During the European Citizen Initiative Days (ECI) organized by the European Economic and Social Committee, I underlined that, without active citizens and civil society involvement, the reflections and shaping of the future of Europe would be incomplete. Citizen participation and the concrete follow-up on their ideas and suggestion underpin the legitimacy and success of this project.

Speaking at the Constitutive meeting of the European Committee of the Regions, I underscored the institution’s crucial importance for the Conference on the Future of Europe, where local and regional representatives will play a key role.

As the first 100 Days of the Commission’s mandate draw to a close I am inspired by our citizens’ initiatives and thoughts discovered during my various encounters. I am 100% convinced that, in order to reach the objectives defined by my mission letter, we need to reach out far and wide to all corners of the European Union. While some might remain doubtful towards our European project, I would like to stress that we deeply care about Europe because of its citizens. We will ensure to leave no one behind, especially in the face of the current coronavirus pandemic and the effort that will be required in the aftermath. These are not empty promises, this is a commitment. We will continue to listen to concerns, build on best practices and the ideas of our citizens and collectively work towards effective, innovative and sustainable policy solutions.

In Konrad Adenauer’s words: “When the world seems large and complex, we need to remember that great world ideals begin in some home neighbourhood.”

Keep well and follow the instructions to keep the coronavirus at bay.