We will listen to citizens at the Conference on the Future of Europe and try to implement what we hear, European Commission Vice President Dubravka Suica said on Monday.

“The EU has dared to enter into conversation with citizens between elections. We are interested in their everyday problems and we are organising a series of events, down to the local level,” said Suica.

The Office of the European Parliament in Croatia organised a debate in Dubrovnik on Monday on young people and sustainable tourism as part of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

“We want to reach every citizen, on the islands or in the mountains, and to hear their opinions. We want to reach euro-sceptics as well because we want to hear their ideas. This is an exercise in listening, after which we will try and turn  our experience into concrete European policies,” said Suica.

The purpose of the conference is to enable EU citizens to impact the creation of European policies, she said.

Young people aged between 16 and 25 are very important to the project since they are creative and innovative and can bring a new impetus to the EU, she said.

“One-third of young people will be represented in panel debates. Naturally, the elderly too, are important, with their knowledge, experience and wisdom. That is why inter-generational solidarity is important to us,” she added.

She added that the European Green Deal and Digital Europe are the European Commission’s priority.

Croatian MEP Suncana Glavak said that within the framework of green and digital transition the EU is trying to find ways to transform the tourism sector.

The estimate is that in order for tourism to get back to the pre-pandemic level, investments of €161 billion will be required. Naturally, young people experience tourism in a different way and they have something to say about it,” said Glavak.

Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic stressed that sustainable tourism is the key to Dubrovnik’s and other tourist destinations’ development.

“All those cities will be faced with an excessive number of guests and mass tourism during economic recovery. We have to avoid that,” said Frankovic.

The thematic debate in Dubrovnik was part of the process of the Conference on the Future of Europe, with the EP office in Croatia organising panel debates in ten university cities. The data collected will be part of proposals to be uploaded on the Conference’s platform.