The Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković, is of the opinion that the Conference on the Future of Europe must address the “fractures” that run through the daily lives of Europeans and does not wish to exclude a priori the possibility that this initiative could lead to institutional reform.
“We suggested as a presidency that it [treaty change] should be left as an option. I don’t think it should entirely excluded from the start”, Mr Plenković told EUROPE on Friday 21 February, following the EU summit on the post-2020 EU budget. He warned against excessive legalism, if this subject became the sole objective of the Conference, whose work is expected to take 2 years.
The Croatian Presidency of the Council is trying to reach a common position of the 27 Member States on the objectives and modalities of the Conference (see EUROPE 12426/3). In addition to the thorny issue of the governance of the Conference, member States are divided on the question of how ambitious it should be.
Some countries stress the importance of being ambitious and not ruling out a possible treaty change if recommended by the Conference participants. This is the case for Austria, whose new coalition government has included in its political programme the possibility of amending the European Treaties. “If we take the Conference seriously, there may be new ideas that will require a treaty change. We are looking for language that does not exclude it”, said one diplomat.
Other countries, especially those which have had bad referendum experiences linked to the institutional reforms of the European Union, e.g., Ireland, are reluctant, however.
“We now need to finalise the common position at the level of the Council, then we need to negotiate between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission. What we want is that the Conference really addresses the key political issues in Europe, [...] the fractures that exist in European societies”, said Mr Plenković. He advocated a maximum of “political pedagogy” to explain and “transmit” to citizens what is said and done at EU level.
As for the organisation of the launch event for the Conference on Saturday 9 May in Dubrovnik, 3 days after the Western Balkans Summit in Zagreb, Mr Plenković said he was “open” to such a possibility proposed by the Commissioner for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica.
The Conference on the Future of Europe is not on the agenda of the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 25 February (see other news). And the Croatian Presidency could not say on Monday 24 February when this issue will be addressed again at technical or political level. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)