​​​​​During the inaugural plenary session of the 7th term of office of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), members held a debate on the Conference on the Future of Europe with Dubravka Šuica, European Commission's Vice President for Democracy and Demography.

During the debate, newly-elected president of the EA group and Cork City Councillor Kieran McCarthy stated that the Conference, which is due to be launched at the beginning of May, will only make sense if it leads to tangible results and improvements in citizens' lives, adding that it must not be reduced to a box-ticking and purely formal exercise. 

Cllr McCarthy also said pleaded for a strong involvement of the European Committee of the Regions in the Conference as local and regional authorities represent a bridge between citizens and higher levels of power and are therefore crucial actors in any representative democracy. He also drew Ms Šuica's attention to the opinion "Local and Regional Authorities in the permanent dialogue with citizens" which is currently being prepared by EA member and Secretary for External Action and the European Union of the Government of Catalonia, Mireia Borrell Porta and which is due to be adopted at the CoR plenary session in May this year. 

In her draft opinion, Ms Borrell Porta is proposing a permanent and structured mechanism through which the EU, through its local and regional authorities, can gather citizens' direct feedback on a number of EU policies that affect their daily lives.