Over 11 000 ideas and proposals on the future of Europe from thousands of EU citizens are the first results of the Committee of the Regions' Reflecting on Europe initiative, which on December 15 came to Lombardy Regional Council's Pirelli building. Among the speakers was ECR Group Member Matteo Bianchi.

"The European Committee of the Regions," said Matteo Bianchi, Mayor of Morazzone (Varese), "has been working intensively to ensure that Europe can increasingly harness contributions from local authorities and citizens in the framing of future EU policies. Initiatives such as today's have the great merit of raising awareness and increasing the involvement of citizens and young people as regards how important and necessary it is for the regions to play an significant role in the EU's choices and decisions".

Around 100 students made it a lively event, engaging in a debate on the future of Europe, issues related to Brexit and the role of Lombardy region within the EU, with the aim of drawing up a "virtual map" of proposals to submit to Brussels. The event was part of the series of dialogues with the public launched by the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions, in cooperation with Europe's local and regional authorities and Europe Direct centres.

The list of speakers included: Antonio Boselli (President of Confagricoltura Lombardy), Gianluigi Coghi (Vice-President of ANCE, the Italian National Building Contractors' Association), Roberta Gagliardi (Confartigianato Imprese Lombardy), Giovanna Mavellia (General Secretary of Confcommercio), Stefano Valvason (Director-General of API, the SME Association) and Luigi Viscardi (President of Piccola Industria Confindustria Lombardy and President of Digital Innovation Hub Lombardy).

The conclusions of the debate will be set out within a resolution to be adopted by Lombardy Regional Council. The resolution will then feed into an opinion being drawn up by the Committee of the Regions entitled "reflecting on Europe: the voice of regional and local authorities to rebuild trust in the EU", which is to be adopted in the first half of 2018.