During the week beginning 22 June, the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union may make a final attempt to find a compromise on the objectives and arrangements for the Conference on the Future of Europe.
On Friday 19 June, at the end of the European Council meeting (see EUROPE 12510/1), Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said: “Now more than ever we need to agree”. He mentioned a quick launch event for this consultation exercise with European citizens.
On Wednesday 17 June, Nikolina Brnjac, the Croatian State Secretary for Relations with the European Parliament, reassured MEPs that the Croatian Presidency had been working hard in order to be able to reach an agreement in the Council of the EU “as soon as possible”, as this is an essential step in launching inter-institutional discussions on the objectives and outline of the Conference.
Brnjac also said that, although there have not been any fundamental changes to the Conference, it will be vital to draw lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic. She emphasised that the Conference’s leaders should “fully respect the inter-institutional balance”, and stated that Member States and their national parliaments should be involved “as equal partners”.
According to information we have received, agreement between the EU27 is close and could be reached next week. The main stumbling blocks involve the President, as Guy Verhofstadt (Renew Europe, Belgium) is not popular with the Council of the EU, and the possibility that the reflection will lead to a reform of European treaties. The new German Presidency of the Council of the EU does not envisage the Conference beginning straight after the summer break, however.
On Thursday, Parliament endorsed the draft resolution put together by the pro-European political forces in the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, making no amendments and passing it by a large majority (528 votes for and 124 against, with 45 abstentions) (see EUROPE 12503/23). Parliament has high expectations regarding the outcome of this consultation exercise with citizens and so is maintaining pressure to achieve a rapid breakthrough in the political situation in the Council of the EU so that work can start as soon as possible in the autumn.
During the plenary debate the previous day, a number of speakers - EU Commissioner Dubravka Šuica, Paulo Rangel (EPP, Portugal), Iratxe García Pérez (S&D, Spain) - said that the pandemic made the Conference more important than ever. The Conference is a bit like the Loch Ness monster, as it keeps appearing and then disappearing, said Verhofstadt, with no little sarcasm. Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, Germany) criticised the Council of the EU, as the Conference had become a standing joke in that forum. Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL, Germany) said the issue of treaty changes should clearly be on the table for discussion.
On the side of those in favour of national sovereignty, Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR, Poland) did not oppose the idea of a Conference on the Future of Europe, provided that it is fair, allowing voices opposed to “federalist orthodoxy” to be expressed as well.
To read the European Parliament resolution, go to: https://bit.ly/2ChHEaw (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)