The Member States’ Ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) will attempt on Wednesday 5 February to establish the EU Council’s position on the future of Europe on the basis of recent ministerial discussions (see EUROPE 12413/2).
These discussions were based on a note from the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council that made several observations, including the need to ensure equality between the EU institutions in shaping the governance of the future conference.
The document also suggests that this ambitious exercise of deliberation with citizens should be presided over by an “eminent and independent European personality” who would be chosen by “mutual agreement” of the three EU institutions (European Commission, Council of the EU, European Parliament).
Parliament is ready to grant the Belgian liberal and convinced federalist Guy Verhofstadt a pre-eminent role in the day-to-day steering of the work of the conference (see EUROPE 12405/1).
Another challenge will be to transform the recommendations made at the conference into concrete actions. According to the Croatian note, it will be up to the European Council to take stock in 2022 and to decide on the way forward on the basis of a report that will be submitted to it.
On Monday 3 February, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was ready, if necessary, to amend the treaties in order to enable the EU to be more competitive and to act more quickly.
Such an outcome is not mentioned in the Croatian document.
See the Croatian document: http://bit.ly/2s2Lb7v (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)