Call for institutional reform ahead of European Parliament debate on EU governance

Ahead of the European Parliament plenary discussion titled “EU governance under pressure – institutional responses to global challenges”, Domenec Ruiz Devesa, President of the UEF and Moritz Hergl, President of the Young European Federalists addressed MEPs member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs with a joint letter calling for institutional reform of the European Union.

On Tuesday 19 May, the deputies will question Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on the topic, with one key actor notably absent from the debate: the member states that in the Council have stalled any progress so far.

In the letter, JEF Europe and UEF argue that the European Union must become more democratic, sovereign, and capable of acting in response to growing geopolitical instability, democratic backsliding, economic coercion, disinformation campaigns, climate challenges, and increasing pressure on the international rules-based order. The organisations call for a number of key reforms, including extending qualified majority voting in strategic policy areas, strengthening the powers of the European Parliament, reinforcing rule of law mechanisms, advancing towards a genuine fiscal union, reforming Eurozone governance, and launching a democratic treaty reform process leading towards a European Constitution. The letter also emphasises the importance of transnational democracy, stronger European political parties, and closer democratic links between European elections and the leadership of the European Commission, while upholding subsidiarity and Europe’s territorial diversity.

JEF Europe and UEF encourage the European Parliament to place institutional reform back at the centre of the European political agenda and to act as the democratic driving force behind a stronger, more united, and more democratic Europe.

It is now the job of the MEPs and the Commission to push national governments to move forward.