BELGIUM

General information / approach:

Belgium is organising citizens’ panels, youth debates, citizens’ dialogues and a hackathon within the framework of the CoFE.

Overview of main national events and initiatives:

Opening ceremony of the Belgian national exercise in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European Affairs Sophie Wilmès and EU Commissioner Didier Reynders; subsequently, a panel focused on the subject “EU in the world” (8 October)
National citizen panel, with 50 randomly selected citizens, on “European Democracy”, more specifically “public participation” in the EU, with a focus on communication, disinformation and the future of deliberative processes; organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (23–24 October, 13–14 November and 27–28 November)
Debate on Climate Change and the Environment, with six parallel discussion tables with citizens and the government members, followed by a plenary session, organised by the Green federal government ministers (16 November)
Youth debate on "The social Europe of tomorrow: our aspirations for the future of Europe", organised by the Socialists federal government ministers (scheduled for 26 November but postponed due to COVID-19)
Structured dialogue with citizens on “Living in a border region”, organised by the German-speaking community (20-21 November)
Hackathon on “the impact of healthy lifestyles and climate change on the quality of life” and “barriers for young people in the labour market”, organised by the Walloon Parliament (20-21 November)
Panel on digitalisation and sustainable economy, organised by the Flemish Government (23 November)
Series of debates on the theme of “Europe is listening”, organised by the Youth Forum of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, including events on 22 September and 29 September, at the end of November and at the beginning of December
Synthesis report