Democracy works best when we work together  

Dear colleagues,
Dear Commissioner,
Dear parliamentarians,
Dear friends,
 
Congratulations on reaching the end of these two intensive and action-packed days.
 
When we created this Forum last year, the idea was to provide a space where national and European parliaments could come together and where we could hold productive conversations on how we can deepen and protect our democracy. We used to have quite a lot of individual meetings, committee to committee, from national parliaments to the European parliament, but we identified the need for everyone to come together and exchange with you representatives in this House, but also for us to hear from you. For this, I would like to thank our Director General Sanna Lepola and her team in the recently-created Directorate-General for Parliamentary Democracy Partnerships, which has really proven to us how you can make a success of this kind of event.
 
Right now, dear friends and colleagues, these discussions could not feel more relevant. Increasingly we are seeing polarisation and even extremism within our Union, while Russia’s hybrid war attempts to sow fear and weaken our systems coming in from the outside. I met Sviatlana yesterday, and she more than anyone understands exactly what it means to stand up to tyranny and fight for freedom, putting the lessons discussed here into practice. We are honoured to have her with us, and this House continues to stand with her and all her colleagues in their fight for a free and democratic Belarus.
 
All this makes the insights shared and the conclusions reached over these two days all the more valuable. Because democratic resilience cannot be achieved from Brussels alone. It needs strong institutions and close connections at every level, across our society. And you all have a crucial role to play.
 
Looking around me today and seeing the record participation in this year’s Forum, I know we are moving in the right direction. In this room right now we have Members of this House alongside national parliamentarians, but we also have experts, policymakers, civil society representatives, institutional partners, and young people. Each one of your voices matters. Every experience you have shared, every idea you have sparked, every connection you have made plays a part in strengthening our Union.
 
By being here today, you are also helping to strengthen the vital bridge between national parliaments and our European Parliament. This is something we need to work on together and do much more of – and here I really thank Katarina, Vice-President of this House, together with Esteban González Pons, who is responsible for national parliaments, how important it is to connect people to Europe and meet them where they are. In our Parliament, we see this when we visit but also during our daily work, we can achieve so much more when we work together.
 
In this year’s Forum, we were lucky to hear from some incredible friends of this House. We have two Irish colleagues on the stage. This is a coincidence, but a very nice one, because besides Commissioner McGrath, who really works well with all of us in this House, we have Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy, whom we had the pleasure to be welcomed by, together with all the political groups, a few months ago in Dublin as we started working for the Irish Presidency, but also today, you and I, Verona, continued our conversation as Ireland chairs the Presidency and guides us forward in what will be an equally challenging few months ahead.
 
So now, as we wrap up this event, the next step must be to turn the discussions from the last two days into action. What I ask of us all is to put this dialogue into practice: in our parliaments, in our constituencies, when we visit workplaces, and when we go from one community to another. The one thing we hear from everywhere is: “Brussels is too far, our politicians are too far away from the decisions that apply to us, what is our role in them?” It is our responsibility to be accountable and to answer that question with clarity, with honesty, as to where we can do better. And I believe we can always do better. In order, whenever we go before our constituents and present ourselves for election or re-election, we really prove to them how we delivered, concretely, and tangibly.
 
So this Parliament will keep the conversation open. We will keep pushing for a stronger, fairer, and more democratic Europe. And please know to all of you that the doors of this House will always be open for whatever meetings, hearings, anything you’d like to participate in, because our democracy works best when we work together.
 
We have much to do, we hope to see you all in future meetings, and thank you for being here.