” “Plan D (Democracy, Dialogue, Debate), launched by the EU Commission last year in support of the ” pause for reflection” about the future of Europe, is starting to bear fruits. The first inter-parliamentary forum will actually be held in Brussels on May 8th and 9th “for an exchange of ideas among the national MPs of the present and future EU member states and the EU MPs about the big issues that the public opinion is concerned about in our countries, regarding the future of Europe”. Josep Borrell, president of the EU assembly, and Andreas Khol, president of the Austrian parliament, wrote a letter to their colleagues from the 25 member states, asking them to establish a national delegation to take part in the forum. The two days’ schedule includes, for the afternoon of Monday 8th, Borrell’s and Khol’s opening addresses, followed by the establishment of four groups to work on: “The European Union in the world and the boundaries of the EU”; “Globalisation and the economic and social model of Europe”; “Freedom, security, justice. What’s in store?”; “The future financial resources of the European Union”. The following day will be devoted to the presentation and discussion of the four final reports, a general debate and the speeches of Wolfgang Schüssel, current president of the EU Council, and José Manuel Barroso, head of the EU Commission. The works can be watched online at www.europa.eu.int (which, on May 9th, the Day of Europe, will move to the .eu domain) and on Ebs, the EU satellite channel.
