Brussels, 05/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 5 November, the European institutions and philosophical and non-confessional organisations discussed ways to place citizens at the heart of the European project at a time of crisis and a resurgence of populism. The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, hosted a gathering of around 20 representatives of religious and philosophical organisations for a high-level conference organised as part of the European Year of Citizens 2013, under the slogan “putting citizens at the heart of the European project in times of change”. European leaders and representatives present held an open discussion on how to bring Europe and its citizens closer and put citizens back at the heart of the common project of European integration. The meeting was jointly chaired by the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the vice-president of the European Parliament, Laszlo Surjan. It was the ninth in a series that began in 2005, on the initiative of President Barroso, within the framework of permanent dialogue of European institutions with the religious and philosophical organisations, as provided for in the Lisbon Treaty.
The gap between European citizens and European policies has widened, as the economic crisis and the budgetary adjustments adopted to address the situation have had painful consequences on citizens. Measures, however, will only have an impact if they are correctly explained to the citizens, with the backing of the member states, the Commission president said. Barroso said that there has been an attack against the legitimacy of the leaders and the European project, and that this is linked, to his mind, to bad communication and a lack of understanding of how the European Union works. He went on to say that more unity is needed to overcome the crisis but also more democracy and transparency so that citizens can be at the heart of Europe. The president would like a true debate on “how the European Union should evolve in the years to come, both in the economic and in the political sense, a debate that engages every citizens, of every persuasion and from every generation”. On the subject of the economic crisis and globalisation, Barroso expressed his “firm conviction” that the “solution to our problems is to be found within Europe, not outside it”. Surjan underlined that “putting citizens at the heart of the EU is a necessary condition for democratic legitimacy”. “In May 2014, citizens will be at the epicentre of Europe as they will shape the most important European elections to date”, he stated. For the European Council, Van Rompuy felt that “The European project is Europe's only future. The only way to develop our identity is by taking the best of what we have, even though it is unfulfilled, or can be improved on”. (IL/transl.jl)