Professor Brigid Laffan:

These are crucial questions. There is no easy way of democratising political space across a continent with 450 million people plus. Yet, that is the political system that our system is involved with. It is necessary, therefore, to engage.

We were asked how it should be run. I believe there will be two dimensions. The first is the national dimension. Member states will be asked to organise discussions, debates, dialogues and forums within their territory. I know from the people who are thinking about it in the Commission that there will be pan-European citizens' assemblies of some kind. We have to think nationally and pan-nationally in both a national and a European sense. We will have two levels. All of that, of course, only relates to the part to do with citizens. Parliaments and governments will be involved as well. It is not simply going to be a free-floating engagement only with citizens. I image the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union will be involved, etc.

How to collate what comes out of this? That will be driven by substantive issues. Not everything in the EU will be debated because, as we know, the EU has considerable policy competence. Most of it will remain the same and will not be discussed. One issue that will be on the table is public health. The pandemic has driven public health up the agenda. How can Europe and the member states be ready for a future pandemic? How can they have the PPE and the capacities, etc? Climate change is the greatest challenge facing the world. Of course it affects everything and it is cross-cutting. It affects how we all live and breathe and how our cities and countryside will work, etc. Climate will be important on the agenda. Migration will be important on the agenda because Europe finds itself in an unstable neighbourhood. I have learned from living in Italy during the past eight years that the pressing Mediterranean problems are far away from us in Ireland, but they are highly pressing in the Mediterranean coastal states. Interestingly, CAP will be seen through environment and security because the CAP budget is effectively decided now to 2027. What about security and defence? I believe we will get far more European emphasis on cybersecurity through PESCO and defence but NATO will continue to be the dominant defence organisation in Europe. Of course, this will require a shift of European NATO member states because the US under Mr. Biden, and not only under Mr. Trump, will expect the Europeans to do more.

We know the substantive issues. What we do not yet know is how the conference will be used to engage on these issues or what the purpose of all of it is. Taxation and political economy will be on the agenda as well.

Deputy Harkin made a point about the MFF and the Hungarians and Poles. I said something on this earlier, but I believe it is now time for the governments of the other member states to put maximum pressure on Poland and Hungary. This is the Rubicon. They cannot be allowed to get away with it. They cannot be allowed to stymie the recovery fund. We must remember that both these countries have received billions of European taxpayers' money during the past cycle. They, therefore, have to be stopped. It is difficult legally to do this and it is difficult to do it via Article 7, but I believe maximum political pressure has to be brought to bear in making the point that the quality of their membership will be damaged - I would put it that strongly - if they persist in undermining the continent at this precise moment of pandemic.