"I express my deep concern about the recent developments on the Conference on the Future of Europe, following the recently published revised Council position, which is object of discussions in the negotiations between the EU institutions in these hours”.
“While I very much believe that the Conference should start immediately, at the same time the Council document contains serious shortcomings in terms of governance, mandate, and contents. The envisaged methods for direct participation from citizens appear insufficient, and it is inappropriate, at the very least, excluding from the discussion possible suggestions for Treaty change. The outcome of the Conference should be reflected in a report to be discussed by all EU Institutions on an equal and balanced manner and not by the European Council only."
“The Conference on the Future of Europe shall be about citizens and their voices in Europe, but inadequate involvement of citizens in the process, offering them the chance to provide input or evaluate output in a meaningful manner, would seriously risk jeopardising the whole aim of the Conference."
“Important issues also emerge on the leadership of the Conference. In this respect, it is imperative that the European Parliament, being the only institution enjoying direct expression from the citizens, occupies a central role. I believe that all political groups shall be represented adequately in the body that decides on fundamental details on the way the Conference is organised and how citizens will actually be involved."
The Board of the Spinelli Group is gathering on Wednesday 10 February to discuss its official position on the matter and will submit its considerations on the Joint Declaration and the Conference on the Future of Europe to the institutions’ negotiators and the press.
"I express my deep concern about the recent developments on the Conference on the Future of Europe, following the recently published revised Council position, which is object of discussions in the negotiations between the EU institutions in these hours”.
“While I very much believe that the Conference should start immediately, at the same time the Council document contains serious shortcomings in terms of governance, mandate, and contents. The envisaged methods for direct participation from citizens appear insufficient, and it is inappropriate, at the very least, excluding from the discussion possible suggestions for Treaty change. The outcome of the Conference should be reflected in a report to be discussed by all EU Institutions on an equal and balanced manner and not by the European Council only."
“The Conference on the Future of Europe shall be about citizens and their voices in Europe, but inadequate involvement of citizens in the process, offering them the chance to provide input or evaluate output in a meaningful manner, would seriously risk jeopardising the whole aim of the Conference."
“Important issues also emerge on the leadership of the Conference. In this respect, it is imperative that the European Parliament, being the only institution enjoying direct expression from the citizens, occupies a central role. I believe that all political groups shall be represented adequately in the body that decides on fundamental details on the way the Conference is organised and how citizens will actually be involved."
The Board of the Spinelli Group is gathering on Wednesday 10 February to discuss its official position on the matter and will submit its considerations on the Joint Declaration and the Conference on the Future of Europe to the institutions’ negotiators and the press.
“The Conference was not meant to be a general debate on topics that we already discuss every day, but to design a real and courageous future for our Europe and for us European citizens!”, states UEF President Sandro GOZI.
In a meeting of the EU ambassadors, the Member States adopted their revised position on the Conference on the Future of Europe on 3 February. The document was proposed by the Portuguese Presidency.
"It seems that the Council does not understand: the Conference on the Future of Europe, as envisaged by the European Parliament is more necessary than ever. The methods for direct citizen participation are disappointing", assesses GOZI. "Where have the citizens’ agoras that the Parliament proposed gone?" asks GOZI. "There also seems to be a 'Chinese wall' between the Conference and Article 48 on treaty revision".
The Council document includes a tripartite presidency of the Conference, consisting of the President of the European Parliament, the President of the European Commission and the President of the Council. However, the day-to-day business would be in the hands of an executive committee in which the three institutions would also be equally represented and take decisions by consensus.
"Clearly, the Council is making a mistake by not being bold enough on the governance, functioning of the Conference and new methods of citizens participation. This is not what we federalists were looking for", says GOZI. "Unfortunately, this seems to be the only possible way out after the Council refused to agree to the solution proposed by the European Parliament", regrets GOZI. "Two are the most important things now: to make sure that it’s the Parliament's representative in the executive committee who leads the work of the Conference and, more specifically, that of the Plenary. But above all, we need to keep advocating for the outcome of the Conference to be totally open in terms of possible new policies and Treaty revisions", concludes GOZI.
Despite the widespread conception of Darwinism as the survival of the fittest, the famous English naturalist’s message was actually very different, if not the opposite. In nature, only those species that adapt can survive. It is the same with institutions: they either adapt or become irrelevant.
The EU institutions haven’t been reformed since the Lisbon Treaty over a decade ago, resulting in Europeans being limited in what they can do, or governments sometimes being forced to take action outside the EU treaties. This situation cannot last much longer, which is why I believe that the EU is having its own ‘Darwinian’ moment.
Since failing to ratify the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, the EU has been living through an existential crisis, one where each additional crisis - the financial crash of 2008, the migration crisis of 2014 and the Brexit referendum in 2016 – has further limited the construction of a stronger Europe. Instead, we have seen the advance of intergovernmentalism and the chronic inability to develop a common foreign policy capable of promoting our common strategic interests.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic reached our borders and spread across our societies. Faced with the collapse of our economies and an unprecedented health challenge, Europe stood united, showing a new resolve to react and adapt. In July, the 27 Member States reached a historic agreement: a €750bn plan to kickstart the Union’s recovery.
The recovery plan would be financed by shared borrowing and repaid by new EU own resources: a first step towards the creation of a federal Union capable of asserting European sovereignty both domestically and abroad. This unity persisted when Poland and Hungary attempted to block the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework and the recovery plan, over fears that EU funds could be linked to respecting the Rule of Law.
Our union is, above all, one built on common values and fundamental freedoms. The management of the Coronavirus crisis at EU level has shown the way forward for the future of European integration. As European citizens, we need a strong Union, capable of acting rapidly on a wide array of policy areas, ranging from health and fiscal policy to defence and taxation.
A new human security strategy, that protects human rights and fundamental freedoms needs to be placed at the centre of Europe’s transformation into a truly transnational political space. Within this new context, the Union must pursue - with strength - its digital and ecological transitions. The EU should also strengthen its role on the global scene. It needs to redress strategic imbalances in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, formulate a strategy against foreign interference in our democratic processes and create a more humane migration policy.
It should also renew the Transatlantic Alliance, based on European strategic autonomy and look to restore multilateralism in the international arena. However, the affirmation of a powerful Europe will require the creation of a genuine political Union, fully democratic, with the establishment of a genuine transnational polity. In order to survive in an increasingly unpredictable world, we need a stronger Union to ‘take back control’ of those transnational issues where national governments have lost control and become powerless.
This requires a rethink and change of Europe’s relation with power: a very difficult but necessary debate as the Union was conceived after World War II as a counterpoint to national powers. Nowadays, what we need is a powerful Europe capable of facing challenges such as new security threats, foreign interference in our democratic process and unfair global industry competition. The new political Union must go beyond the classic pattern of association between States.
“L’union fait la force” (Unity makes strength) is not enough: we must work for a more legitimate EU conceived as a ‘community of solidarity’. The EU should become a new transnational entity, where the notions of sovereignty and power are no longer based on Westphalian, nation-state-centred, conceptions. Instead, it should be built on a spirit of solidarity between European people and where a new dimension of direct and participatory democracy is developed, as a complement to, and in synergy with, representative democracy.
That is why the Portuguese Presidency of the Council needs to start the Conference on the Future of Europe now. Crucially, the Conference will be the best way to bring together citizens, civil society representatives, NGOs, trade unions, representatives of national and European institutions, to build a new political union that is more effective and legitimate than ever before.
This article, Future of Europe: The EU’s Darwinian moment, was published on January 27, 2021 on "The Parliament Magazine" and written by Sandro Gozi.
The original article can be found here.
Sandro Gozi, UEF President, before today's European Parliament's Plenary Session, welcomed the European Commission's President, Ursula von der Leyen's confirmation and commitment to a more vigorous implementation and enforcement of Rule of Law Regulation in the EU from January 2021.
"I don't know whether there is a vaccine or antidote for populism and nationalism, but I am convinced that democracy and the Rule of Law are as vital as the air we breathe—and there is a democratic emergency within our Union. In situations of emergency, measures are needed. Therefore, we call for immediate implementation of the regulation on the Rule of Law", UEF President Sandro Gozi says. "This is an unprecedented step forward and, as federalists, one of our main goals to be achieved. The EU member states must implement the Treaties, the European law, and that the EU institutions have to ensure that EU Member states fulfil their obligations without postponements, without suspensions, without further intentions or guidelines".
"By defending the Treaty obligations before the Council, we are not only defending the Rule of Law within the Union and the Rule of Law of the Union, but we are also protecting the freedoms of 447 million European citizens," remarked Sandro Gozi, in his speech, addressing the President of the European Commission.
"We must put an end to the unanimous decisions and the threats of veto. This is only one more reason to start the Conference on the future of Europe as soon as possible," UEF President Sandro Gozi concluded earlier today.
On November 16, 2020, the governments of Poland and Hungary vetoed the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021 - 2027 draft, and the proposed Decision on Own Resources, after verifying the existence of a sufficient majority in the Council to approve the Regulation on the conditionality of the Rule of Law in the framework of access to European funding.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to put the Union’s long-term budget and the Recovery Plan at risk by two EU governments that do not believe in European principles. Any move that aims at preventing the existence of a conditionality on the Rule of Law linked to the access to structural funds should not be rewarded. The protection of the Union’s fundamental values cannot be traded!”
Ahead of the European Council on December 10 and 11, the Union of European Federalists (UEF) calls on the Hungarian and Polish governments to withdraw their veto. It is imperative to launch a global package of 1.8 billion euros, of which Poland and Hungary will also be great beneficiaries, provided that their governments respect the fundamental values of the Union.
Otherwise, UEF urges the Council to launch the Recovery Plan, by adopting by a Qualified Majority Vote the “Next Generation EU” Regulation, regarding the issuance of debt worth 750,000 million euros. This proposal is based on article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and with the support, if needed, of complementary national guarantees.
The other related regulations set to channel the Recovery fund, particularly the Regulation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, as well as the budget corresponding to the year 2021, could also be adopted by QMV in Council. This could be done without prejudice to the extension of the current MFF, and in full respect of article 310.4 of the TFEU.
Alternatively, UEF proposes that the European Council and European Commission consider the launch of an enhanced cooperation under article 326 TFEU, given that full involvement of the European Parliament can be guaranteed.
“This situation is but the umpteenth example of the practical and democratic difficulties posed by the unanimity mechanism when making fundamental decisions about the multi- year budget and its revenues, fiscal harmonization, and foreign policy, among other critical policy areas, within the Council. It is essential to address, in a federal fashion, the reform of the Lisbon Treaty in the framework of the future Conference on the Future of Europe”, UEF President Sandro Gozi concludes.
“The Spinelli Group, the network of federalist and pro-reform Members of the European Parliament, wishes to express its profound sadness for the loss of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and to extend its heartfelt condolences to the family of the former President of the French Republic and to the French people.
Giscard d’Estaing was an innovator and a true pro-European champion. His commitment and devotion to the creation of a more democratic Europe, especially as the President of the European Convention that drafted the project for a European Constitution in 2001-2003, shall forever be remembered and taken as an example for the future reform of the European Union."
THE RULE OF LAW IS NON-NEGOTIABLE AND TREATY CHANGE IS NEEDED TO DO AWAY WITH UNANIMITY RULES IN THE EU
The Spinelli Group, the network of the federalist and pro-reform members of the European Parliament, and the Union of the European Federalist (UEF), reacting to the joint statement of 26th November 2020 by Prime Ministers of Poland and Hungary, Mateusz Morawiecki and Viktor Orbán, have decided to issue a joint statement on the new EU Rule of Law mechanism and the MFF/Next Generation EU package deal.
“We stand firmly behind the deal agreed by the co-legislators, the European Parliament and the Council, on 10 November 2020. Parliament and Council are the budgetary authorities of the EU, not the European Council” declared Brando Benifei, President of the Spinelli Group and Sandro Gozi, UEF President.
“We condemn the behaviour of the Polish and Hungarian governments which are threatening to veto the Multiannual Financial Framework and block the launch of the Recovery Plan for Europe in the midst of the worse health and economic crisis in the EU’s history. COVID-19 has caused more than 300 thousand deaths in the EU and a GDP contraction of approximately 8 percentage points with enormous job losses, business closures and a dramatic worsening of social conditions across the EU”, they continue.
“We recall that the Rule of Law is a non-negotiable, fundamental value of the EU. We reject the interpretation by the Prime Ministers of Poland and Hungary that the proposed mechanism on the Rule of Law would circumvent the Treaties. It not only an absurd contradiction in terms, but also a legally inconsistent argument."
“We also wish to propose a two-track process to overcome the deadlock: first, to immediately approve the MFF, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the Rule of Law Mechanism, and second, to immediately start the Conference on the Future of Europe. This would allow us to prepare proposals on how to end unanimity rules on the EU’s budget decisions."
“Lastly, we also call to take the appropriate procedures to negotiate the necessary modifications to the Treaties. This should be initiated with the launch of a Convention following the outcome of the Conference."
The simple fact is: If you ask to join a club, you respect the rules that all members have given themselves. If you don't like those rules, either you leave the club, or you try to change them with the support of the majority of the members.
Among the rules that the European Union has set itself since its inception is respect for fundamental rights, democratic freedoms, independence of information and the judiciary, and the fight against corruption.
Poland and Hungary have joined the EU club, claiming mainly economic benefits of membership, but they do no longer want to comply with the rules laid down in Article 2 of the Treaty.
In practice, they pretend to be European when it comes to receiving European billions of euros, and they are nationalists when it comes to respecting the rules and values they signed. This is too easy.
This inadmissible position also finds the support of sovereignsts in the rest of Europe, starting with Italy: at best, useful idiots of Orbán or PiS, who go against the interests of our country. Italian first, they say! Their only and true objective, often even declared, is to destroy the European Union. Salvini exalts Orbán, Tajani's European ally, while Orbán goes against Italy on the Recovery plan and immigration; Meloni chairs the European party with the Poles of the PiS who deny women the right to choose abortion.
They will not prevail. In a recent survey 77% of European citizens said they are in favour of denying EU funds to those who violate rule of law. The majority: also in Italy, Poland and Hungary. As always, citizens are much more sensitive to the respect for freedoms than various governments that remain silent and that justify and defend the serious violations perpetrated by some governments allied to them.
The European Union was created to guarantee to our peoples freedom, peace and democracy. Those who do not respect and recognise all of this are out of history and lead themselves out of Europe.
All of this is a bluff: Poles, Hungarians and their nationalist allies were there. And if they do not give in, we will go ahead with governments and peoples who want to protect rights and democracy.
This Article was firstly published on HuffPost Italia, 19 November 2020, with the title "II grande bluff di Ungheria e Polonia" (written by Sandro Gozi).
The Union of European Federalists (UEF) calls on the European Commission to take a step forward by requesting for a Health Union on the basis of Art. 168.5 TFEU in its next proposal for a regulation on severe cross-border health threats:
“Since the beginning of this unprecedented pandemic crisis, Europe has become its global epicentre. The second wave of the COVID-19 is ferociously sweeping the continent, while at the same time drastically reshaping the lives of our European citizens and our European way of life. It is time to act together, with common guidelines and a single regulation in the fight against the virus, to avoid discrepancies that weaken our capacity of reaction”, UEF President and Member of the European Parliament Sandro GOZI says.
"We federalists have been convening, with particular emphasis in these last months, on the urgency to launch a Health Union, necessary to strengthen the mandate of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Art. 168. 5 TFEU provides the legal framework to establish it, on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, which means that each problem must be tackled at the level where it can be better solved. Since pandemics know no borders, the key to a lasting solution lies with the Health Union as part of a stronger social and political integration at European level”, continues GOZI.
“And the truth is that we are not the only ones who believe this. The Health Union was presented as a key reform by the Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union Speech in September 2020”, emphasizes GOZI.
President von der Leyen said: “For me, it is crystal clear - we need to build a stronger European Health Union. And to start making this a reality, we must now draw the first lessons from the health crisis”.
UEF reiterates the call on the European institutions to agree on an interinstitutional declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe.
“It is therefore we demand and expect to see the European Commission's lead on this urgent matter to advance health guarantees for European citizens. In this sense, we call again on the German Presidency of the Council to call for the Conference on the Future of Europe to be launched as soon as possible, to involve citizens in the debate on how to build a stronger European Union”, GOZI concludes.
Background information
The Federal Committee of UEF adopted on the 4th of July its resolution “Europe, think the unthinkable!”, in which UEF calls for the launch of a Health Union, among other important and urgent proposals.
Earlier in spring, UEF together with The Spinelli Group called on the European institutions and the national governments to adopt a series of urgent measures.