581. Conference on the Future of Europe: Who is ready for a European Political Union?
- Author:
- Christos Mavrakos
- Publication Date:
- 06-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- A Conference on the Future of Europe was recently launched by the three EU political institutions. It aims to give Europeans a greater say in what the EU does and how it works for them. It is expected that at the end of this process, the political projects and priorities that will be at the heart of European political action in the coming decades will be sounded out. Little emphasis, on the other hand, is placed on the question of whether the institutions that are to breath life into these projects and priorities are not also in need of renewal. While it is very important to listen to the citizens of Europe, it is the thesis of the present paper that politicians in the member states as well as at the EU level should not simply hide behind the Conference and shirk their responsibilities. Rather, alongside the Conference, they should become creatively active by taking a stand on its scope, its procedure and its objectives. In terms of scope, it is argued that a Conference on the Future of Europe should focus not only on substantive issues, but also on the creation of a new, more democratic, efficient and mutually supportive institutional vehicle, such as a European Poltical Union (EPU), among the Member States and peoples of Europe who so desire. As regards the procedure for a Conference on the Future of Europe, given that the application of the revision procedure provided for in Article 48 TEU for the establishment of an EPU would severely hamper its chances of success, it is proposed to follow instead an alternative procedure which, moreover, is inspired by classical international law and allows those Member States which are in favor of the establishment of an EPU to go ahead without being prevented from doing so by Member States which reject this prospect. As for the objectives that a Conference on the Future of Europe should strive to achieve, it is argued that institutionally such a Conference should produce strong political institutions and effective decision-making procedures, and substantively provide an EPU with substantial means of action in a number of policy areas, including common foreign and defence policy. The paper concludes by asking – hopefully not rhetorically – which political forces in today’s Europe are willing to advocate such an EPU, emphasizing that European citizens, especially the younger generation, have a right to be informed.
- Topic:
- Politics, European Union, and Future
- Political Geography:
- Europe