The political situation in Europe is volatile, full of uncertainty; there is a lot of potential for current decisions to have a lasting and far-reaching impact. In 25 or 50 years, when we are going to look back, it is likely that we will realize how important today’s decisions and actions were to shape Europe. This presents a great opportunity for bold suggestions.
In our group discussions we have come to the following conclusions:
- the current financial and sovereign-debt crisis may not have originated in Europe, but it is has pointed out the incoherence of the European political system and the lack of effective instruments; the crisis has been intensified as a result,
- the “Fiscal Pact” as it has been negotiated and is now in the process of being implemented is a step in the right direction towards deeper integration,
- however, it is insufficient and unlikely to provide a long-term solution, most importantly because it has been created through the intergovernmental method, by heads of state and bureaucrats and in an intransparent manner,
- it has, thus, lacked democratic legitimacy which is a vital ingredient for citizens’ support of the political system; without such support, the new system that is being constructed remains unstable in the medium- and long-term,
- in order to involve European citizens, and provide a long-term solution, a European Convention should be established; the Convention should allow broad participation from civil society and learn from the mistakes of the 2004 European Convention; in addition, a Convention of young Europeans could convene simultaneously and provide input to the Convention,
- the Convention should work on a short and readily understandable constitution,
- the constitution would include basic rights, institutions, and competencies,
- by dividing power and locating it on several levels, the new political system, would be a federation: the “United States of Europe”,
- the Union would have exclusive competencies over foreign and security policy, trade policy, currency, competition, financial market, consumer protection, taxes on issues with a high degree of integration, environment and energy, structural and cohesion funds; on the other hand, taxes and state budgets, social and labour market, education, migration would be dealt with by the states within a Union framework,
- the Union would be a parliamentary democracy with the European Parliament as a citizen’s chamber and the Council as a state chamber; European parties present their candidates on transnational lists, and direct-democratic elements (such as a European Citizen’s initiative) should be added to the system.
- the European Parliament would have the power of initiative and elect the government on the basis of a proposal by the strongest party group,
The intergovernmental method has worked up to a certain point. It has changed the European political system in a piecemeal fashion, but at the same time it has reproduced the same mistake over and over again: failing to really involve citizens in the creation of a political system. For some these might be bold suggestions, but they are clearly within the realm of possibility. And our vision of Europe, the United States of Europe, is one that can combine effective problem-solving with democratic rule that is as close as possible to European citizens.
