Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz: Decision makers need to listen to people’s concerns

The Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union hosts a subsidiarity conference in Bregenz

On 15 and 16 November 2018 the conference “Subsidiarity as a building principle of the European Union” takes place in Bregenz under the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Prior to the conference, Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that the European Union could only function if citizens’ concerns were heard:

“Therefore we, the decision makers, need to listen to what moves people, act accordingly and work on finding solutions for the topics that are important to the citizens.”

According to the Federal Chancellor, the Austrian Presidency programme was based on clear priorities: security and the fight against illegal migration, securing prosperity and competitiveness through digitalisation as well as stability in the neighbourhood of the European Union.

“These are the major questions that citizens expect the European Union to answer. At the same time they speak out against overregulating other policy areas”,

the Federal Chancellor emphasised. In conclusion Sebastian Kurz reiterated his conviction that a trend reversal and more subsidiarity was needed by saying:

“Instead of a Europe that overregulates on small details we need a Europe that answers the big questions and increasingly leaves the small questions to the member states.”

In a similar vein, Gernot Blümel, Federal Minister for the European Union, wants to once again bring subsidiarity as a building principle of the European Union more to the fore of the political debate.

In the run‑up to the conference the “Citizens’ dialogue on the future of Europe” takes place in the Landhaus Bregenz.

More information about the event can be found on the event page.