At a conference dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaties of Rome, in Nancy (France) on Thursday 25 January, the Hungarian Justice Minister, László Trócsányi, backed the idea of a multi-speed Europe, as long as it is possible to “move from one speed to another”.
Observing that there were many valid conceptions of the European Union and national identity in Europe today, given the different histories of the member states, Trócsányi did not attempt to reject the idea of a multi-speed Europe. However, he feels that the aim is to avoid an impermeable layer between the different layers of integration. “I want to avoid walls”, he told an audience of several dozen people. To do so, the development of enhanced cooperation's is desirable, as with the creation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (see EUROPE 11882).
This model of European integration was referred to by several of those who attended the event.
Pasquale Baldocci, former Italian ambassador and witness to the signature of the Treaties of Rome in 1957, shared his observations on European integration. He rejected the pejorative connotations attached to the term 'multi-speed Europe', which he feels is a key element in European construction. “All states have made a sincere contribution [to European integration], but on the basis of a different past”, he said. In particular, he praised the positive effects of the Franco-German friendship, which he considers vital to European integration.
Stephan Toscani, Minister for Finance and European affairs of Saarland and member of Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party (CDU), also stressed the need for a strong Franco-German partnership.
Re-founding the European Union. These questions were discussed in the broader framework of the future of the European Union.
Yves Petit, lecturer in EU law at the University of Lorainne, re-capped recent major crises that have affected the EU (euro, migration, Brexit) and called for Europe to be refounded. He argues that the evolution of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) should be closely observed. Furthermore, Emmanuelle Macron's proposals in his speech at the Sorbonne on 26 September of last year (see EUROPE 11870), those of the European Commission in the framework of the package of proposals unveiled on 6 December 2017 (see EUROPE 11920) and the suggestions of 14 Franco-German economists on 18 January (see EUROPE 11941) are all interesting solutions.
When asked by EUROPE about the Commission's proposals, Toscani took position in favour of bringing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) within the Community fold and stressed the need to complete Banking Union in the Eurozone.
Some proposals, for instance those concerning the creation of European finance minister, went down well with Baldocci and also with Laurent Hénart, Mayor of Nancy and member of the Radical Party, which supports the policy of the French government, particularly its proposals for European reform. For instance, he backs transnational lists for the European Parliament starting with the European elections of 2019.
The MEPs of the constitutional affairs committee of the European Parliament voted through an own-initiative report featuring this idea, on Tuesday 23 January (see EUROPE 11945). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)