The Schengen system, together with the euro and the single market, are the most advanced and visible achievements of European integration. They are key elements of a political project of unification that has guaranteed unprecedented peace and prosperity to the citizens of Europe.

The issues of migration and security are bound to remain long-term challenges. If national governments choose to respond by re-establishing national borders checks and building fences in a selfish and doomed attempt to keep problems in their neighbors' backyard, they will solve neither the issue of migration nor improve the security situation.

Such moves would only divert resources away from more effective European measures. Most of all, they will inflict a lethal blow to people’s belief in Europe as a project of integration, freedom and solidarity. If the European project regresses, the European economy will suffer, European influence in the world will be further diminished and democracy will come under pressure in many countries. The threat of Europe turning back to a dreadful past of divisions and fratricidal wars will haunt us once more.

To cope with the refugee and security emergencies, a European strategy and European solutions, at supranational level, and with full respect of European values and achievements are required. At this moment, this means that:

As such steps impact on national sovereignty, their completion is only conceivable within a plan to relaunch European political union, according to a clear and definite time frame.

Confronted with the challenges of the future of the Euro and the future of Schengen, the European Council should oppose any proposals to suspend or dilute any European achievements and address how to relaunch European political unity as soon as possible.

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EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Union of European Federalists (UEF), is a supranational political movement founded in 1946 dedicated to uniting Europe along federal lines.

The UEF has recently published a policy digest: European Asylum and Immigration Policies and a European Border Service outlining the organisation’s proposals on these matters.

On 23 February 2016, a Federalist Workshop will be held in Brussels on the topic Saving Schengen: Building a European Border Management System.

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The Spinelli Group meeting in Strasbourg on 9th of September welcomes the Five Presidents' Report on “Completing Europe Economic and Monetary Union” submitted to the European Council in June 2015.

We share the view that the monetary union is not sustainable in its current form and that progress towards economic, financial, fiscal and political union is required to address the economic and institutional weaknesses that could eventually lead to its disintegration.

The Report rightly puts the completion of the banking union (including a common backstop to the single resolution fund and an adequate system of deposit insurance) and a capital market union as short-term priorities. We urge the European Commission to present legislative proposals in this respect as soon as possible and we invite the groups in the European Parliament to cooperate to ensure a fast finalisation.

The timing and process for reaching the long-term objectives set in the Report do not match the urgency of the challenges facing the Economic and Monetary Union. In many Member States, citizens are frustrated by the lack of jobs and economic stagnation. A much faster pace in integration is needed. There is no reason why the proposed White Paper to detail a path towards a fiscal, economic and political union cannot be put in motion immediately rather than in two years’ time. Its preparation should involve the political groups in the European Parliament and not be left again in the hands of another expert committee. There is no reason to postpone the completion of the monetary union to 2025.

Greater clarity is required on the key elements of the economic, fiscal and political union envisaged by the Report. A fiscal and economic union cannot remain only a set of rules for national economies but should move towards a system of further sovereignty sharing within common and strong institutions. Key political decisions on national fiscal policies should become a common concern and be made jointly. The Report rightly insists on bridging the divergences between the various economies of the Member States, based on current rules and recommendations on structural reforms. However, the Eurozone should have a role to support such an effort and should have tools and resources for an active European economic policy for the interest of the euro area as a whole. In this respect, a Eurozone budget, with own resources sufficient to have an impact on the Eurozone economy, should be a priority for example.

The democratic legitimacy of the Eurozone decisions needs to increase in parallel to any advance in further integration. As the recent negotiations with Greece well illustrated, the current governance of the euro pits national democracies against each other. Instead what is needed is a strong European legitimacy for Eurozone decisions. A more independent role for the European Commission, as government of the Eurozone, and greater involvement of the European Parliament would enable decisions to be taken at the appropriate level and improve both efficiency and accountability.

To implement the envisaged longer term goals, treaty change or the conclusion of an additional Treaty for the Eurozone will be required. Member States should take this debate as an opportunity and not as a concern. The European Parliament should stand ready to make its proposals to prepare such debate and defend the case in front of the European citizens.
The stakes are too high not to act immediately.

The results of the referendum in Greece last Sunday and the expiry of the financial assistance package to the country are raising serious doubts on whether Greece will be able to remain part of the Eurozone. These doubts must be dispelled as soon as possible, before Europe heads to a lose-lose end game.

An exit of Greece from the Eurozone would waste years of sacrifices by the Greek people, sweep away the value of their savings and properties, cut the country off financial and trade markets. It would lead to a long-lasting future of economic misery for the Greek people. At the same time, if the Eurozone loses one of its members, financial markets would question whether the Euro really is irreversible, partners and rivals across the world would doubt whether the Europeans are actually able to stand together in stormy times, and many citizens across Europe would lose faith in the European Union as a project of unity and solidarity.

Elmar Brok, MEP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament and President of the Union of European Federalists, stated today:

The Greek government should recognise the longstanding solidarity of the other 18 Euro-countries. It should also accept that membership of a monetary union implies limits to national sovereignty and demands responsibility and respect of agreed rules. Any new financial assistance package to Greece – which is guaranteed or financed by other Member States – must inevitably be conditional upon Greece undertaking structural reforms that make its public finances sustainable and its economy competitive for the long-run. While the last round of discussions focused mainly on cuts in public spending, greater attention should be paid to the fight against corruption, privileges and tax evasion, the reform of the public administration and the judicial system, and the creation of a regulatory and business environment that facilitates domestic and foreign investments.

On the other hand, if Greece progresses seriously in implementing agreed structural reforms, it should be rewarded with greater support for investments that boost growth (including through European-led projects) and serious consideration should be given to the sustainability of the Greek debt.

Mr. Brok added:

Today there is more at stake than the future of Greece. The crisis in Greece is an alarm bell on the need to accelerate the strengthening of the economic and monetary union and its governance. Economic imbalances are inevitable in any country, be it a centralised or a federal state, and any currency union. Mature currency unions have all the powers, tools and financial resources to limit such economic imbalances and eventually manage the insolvency of a region or a Member State when it occurs. The Eurozone does not have yet all necessary powers, tools and resources and finds itself exposed to the fragility of its weakest economies. Member States should fast track the reform of the Eurozone into a fully-fledged economic and political union.

The report “Completing Europe's Economic and Monetary Union” recently presented by the Presidents of the European Commission, European Central Bank, European Council, Eurogroup and European Parliament identifies the right challenges, but the most ambitious reforms are left vague or delayed to a very distant future that may never come. The crisis with Greece should lead the EU and Eurozone institutions and Member States to accelerate the implementation of the recommendations in the report. Priorities are the completion of the Banking Union, the implementation of a Capital Markets Union, the creation of a Eurozone budget with sufficient resources to play a role in smoothing economic imbalances and investing in projects of European interest, greater powers for the Eurozone institutions to enforce their recommendations and reward compliance with adequate incentives. The European Commission should start proposing legislation as soon as possible to implement those recommendations that don’t require changes to the EU treaties. At the same time Member States should see reform of the treaties as an opportunity and not as a threat.

Democracy must be at the core of any strengthening of the Eurozone. The Greece debate is placing national public opinions one against the other, national democracies one against the other. More and more citizens in both creditor and debtor countries fear that national democracy and European integration are in contradiction. More European democracy is required in the process and in the outcome of any reform of the Eurozone governance. The negotiation of a new deal with Greece would be much easier if it were led by the European Commission, looking at the interest of the Eurozone and the European Union as a whole, backed by public debate in the European Parliament, rather than by a Eurogroup consisting of national finance ministers rightly preoccupied with their national constituencies. Likewise any reform of the Eurozone would increase its legitimacy and effectiveness if it moved the governance of the Eurozone away from intergovernmental negotiations towards a system of democratic government with the European Commission and the European Parliament at its core.

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The first policy brief addresses the possibilities of and limits to substantially improving the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) within the framework of the current Treaties and puts forward 25 specific proposals in this respect.

This policy brief constitutes the first part of the contribution to the debate on the report on “Improving the functioning of the European Union building on the potential of the Lisbon Treaty” being prepared by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament with co-rapporteurs Elmar Brok and Mercedes Bresso.

The brief analyses the possibilities that the Treaty of Lisbon offers in order to deepen and strengthen the Economic and Monetary Union and improve its democratic legitimacy and effectiveness. The democratic legitimacy of the EMU could be strengthened by a significant involvement of the European Parliament in the economic policy-making process, by a better division between the executive and legislative powers, and by the creation of an EMU Committee or Super-Committee within the European Parliament. The basis of a future economic and fiscal government of the euro area could be created by concentrating key prerogatives and capabilities on these matters and by merging the positions of President of the Eurogroup and Vice-President of the Commission into a de facto “EMU Finance Minister” responsible for the development and implementation of EMU economic and fiscal policy and democratically controlled and sanctioned by the European Parliament. An own budget for the Eurozone would allow the implementation of macroeconomic convergence and investment policies aimed at improving growth in the Euro area and to increase its resilience.

If the measures proposed here were implemented (and particularly if they were implemented as a package, or within a single roadmap), they could constitute a considerable improvement in the functioning of the EMU. While potentialities exist à traité constant, rallying the necessary political consensus among Member States (especially for the many measures that can only be implemented by unanimity of the Member States) represents a major challenge.

On the other hand, the limitations provided by the Treaties are also very clear. The potential degree of financial autonomy of the Union or the EMU is restricted by their lack of powers for tax collection or for issuance of sovereign debt and their limited spending powers. The inexistence of European political accountability when it comes to policies decided through the intergovernmental method is the major obstacle to democracy, effectiveness and enforceability. Sooner rather than later the Treaties would need to be revised to reach a definitive settlement in these areas and secure a sustainable future for the EMU.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE BRIEF HERE

Today (May, 9), as every year, citizens celebrate Europe Day. On this occasion EU institutions have opened their doors to the general public.

Like previous years, European Federalists were present to reach out to citizens and spread the word about a more united and federal Europe.

The UEF Secretariat together with Europa-Union Brussels, UEF Group Europe and UEF-Belgium have secured a stand in the Solidarno?? Esplanade in front of the European Parliament.

Federalist activists met with Belgian MEPs during a “speed-dating” session to ask questions and raise awareness about the federalist positions on the latest political currents.

This week citizens across Europe celebrate the end of the Second World War on 8th May and the 65th anniversary of the Schuman declaration on 9th May that led to the foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the first of a series of supranational European institutions that would ultimately become today’s European Union.

The European Union was and is the answer of Europe to the war. The still today modern message was: "war never again, dictatorship never again". Despite all problems the EU has fulfilled this dream. Therefore, the peace noble prize is justified. The oxford historian Christopher Clarke has said that even the First World War would not have happened if the EU would have been in place at that time.

The Schuman Declaration proclaimed that the European Coal and Steel Community would be “the first concrete foundation of a European federation” but also warned: “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity”.

Elmar Brok, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament and the longest serving MEP, declared: “Today, 65 years after the Schuman Declaration, the project of a European federation envisaged by Schuman is not yet completed. We must continue towards that goal without hesitation, aware of the divisions and war that tormented Europe before integration began. But we should also strive for intermediate concrete achievements. Today, the two concrete projects Europe should work on to make a quantum leap in its integration are an economic and fiscal union to complement the monetary union and a European security and defense”.

European Federalists will also celebrate Europe Day across Europe. In Europe they will participate in the EU open doors events at the Solidarność Esplanade of the European Parliament in Brussels on the 9th of May.

The European Council will have to make crucial decisions regarding the future of the EU in the fields of migration, asylum and border protection, said Elmar Brok MEP. Otherwise, the Mediterranean will remain the deadliest route on the globe.

Elmar Brok is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament and the President of the Union of European Federalists (UEF).

Europe is still mourning the death of more than 800 people, who perished last Sunday while trying to reach the coast of our Union. The grief expressed by the leaders of our continent and the European institutions is more than necessary. But this time verbal solidarity shall not suffice.

Indeed, we Europeans have a lot to blame on ourselves. The recurrence of such tragedies in recent years makes it difficult to deny that those lives were sacrificed to the division among European Union’s member states. Divisions that have made it impossible to form an effective European policy on migration, and an effective foreign and security policy to help in stabilising North Africa.

Europe has to react, and it has to do so united.

Abolishing the borders between our countries is one of the major achievements of the European project. Although we may take it as a given, freedom of movement is the greatest sign of confidence and unity between nations. Precisely because of that, the external borders of the union are no longer the problem of the few peripheral countries, but a shared concern, and a single responsibility that the union has to deal with as a whole.

Needless to say, it needs common rules and a common system for their management. This is the price of unity. But some member states are unwilling to pay their share.

Some governments are still entrenched in the intergovernmental method and the conservative rhetoric of the European Council. This leaves the European Union divided and without adequate means of intervention, as the weak Triton operation has shown. In the meantime, the peripheral states have to carry the burden of being the gate to the biggest area of prosperity and peace in the world. It is high time for the Union to be allowed to take over its natural duties.

Today, the European Council will have to make crucial decisions regarding the future of the EU in the fields of migration, asylum and border protection. Otherwise, the Mediterranean will remain the deadliest route in the globe. It is imperative that all available means are deployed in order to prevent future tragedies.

The 10-point plan proposed by Commissioner Avramopoulos on Monday takes steps forward in the right direction, but some specific political deadlocks must be lifted in order to make the EU fully able to address these issues.

The European Council should resolve that the Triton and Poseidon operations are significantly scaled-up, by increasing their financial resources and operational assets, and by extending their mandates beyond the mandate of Frontex, so that they can act in international waters and carry out “research and rescue” missions and save lives, not only patrol our borders.

Those were the features that made the success of the Italian Mare Nostrum operation. A simple scaling up of resources, although badly needed, will not be sufficient.

Moreover, it should request an initiative by the Commission aimed at urgently reforming the Common European Asylum System. This reform must ensure that all persons fleeing armed conflict and persecution, and who are in need of international protection, have effective access to legal asylum procedures (including in their country of origin) and do not need to turn to people smugglers to come to Europe.

The voluntary resettlement or relocation pilot project proposed by the Commission is a timid first step. A mandatory quota system based on a country’s GDP or population, accompanied by adequate financial means and administrational capabilities, would be the solution for joint management of asylum seekers’ flows.

It is also necessary to take the big leap towards a European immigration policy. A single European policy on immigration and asylum should be formulated as soon as possible, including Europe-wide criteria, and a European system of legal migration.

This policy should comprise the integrated management of the asylum system and the external borders’ control based on the principles of solidarity, burden sharing and optimisation of existing European capabilities. It should be equipped with the necessary economic and human resources and the necessary operational assets. Frontex should evolve into a permanent European force of border guards to support member states in need.

Member states should make available existing European military capabilities (like Euroforces) in case of extraordinary flows. In the longer term, the launch of such operations should not require unanimity of member states. They should be financed through the European budget (not left to the goodwill of national governments), they should benefit from EU assets, and should be steered directly by the European Commission, not by a multitude of agencies.

But the effectiveness of these initiatives would be very limited if the EU does not tackle the underlying causes of the mass migratory movements. The EU must make progress on a single European foreign, security and defence policy that includes a renewed Mediterranean Partnership to support the political and economic stabilisation of the countries of North Africa, Sub-Sahara and the Middle East. This should include an effective development policy, especially towards North Africa and Sub-Sahara.

These reforms are extremely ambitious, but sorely needed. Only with increased political unity will the European Union be able to save the lives of thousands of migrants escaping wars and persecution.

It is true that Europe cannot take on all the woes of the world. But it has the moral duty to assume its share.

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