“No less integration and no more integration”, but a Union that functions better and remains united: this is the position defended by the Visegrad group ahead of the Summit of Rome (25 March) and its contribution to the debate on the future of an EU of 27 member states.
The heads of state or government of the four countries of the Visegrad group (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) met in Warsaw on Thursday 2 March to agree on a common position to defend in Rome at the end of March, at the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the founding treaties. This position took the form of a joint declaration running to three pages, which was summed up in just a few words by Poland's Beata Szydło: no more Europe and no less, but a better Europe.
The statement, which reiterates that the EU is founded on shared values such as the rule of law, comprises seven sections, of which the one on the single market - and the importance of keeping it without barriers - is the longest. The Visegrad group particularly undertakes to pursue the reform of the EU (reorientate in its priorities), to defend unity as a principle of cooperation (the principle of enhanced cooperation is agreeable as long as the initiatives are open to all) and the key role of the member states in defining the actions to be carried out. The group also wants the EU to have strategic autonomy, the role of the national parliaments to be reinforced and collaboration with the European institutions to be based on more direct and sincere communication. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)