The Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament’s political groups (CoP) will discuss on Thursday 28 April whether to draw up a draft resolution calling for the opening of a Convention leading to a reform of the European treaties as an immediate response to the forthcoming conclusions of the Conference on the future of Europe (see EUROPE 12931/10).
The draft resolution, which would be prepared either by the chairs of the pro-European political groups or by the Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO), could be adopted as early as next week in the Parliament’s plenary session. The resolution would mandate the AFCO Committee to draft a second resolution for the June plenary, on the basis of Article 48 of the EU Treaty, requesting the opening of a Convention. This would include policy areas, such as public health, where the EU’s competences could be expanded.
This would be the first time that the European Parliament has taken such an initiative.
The pro-European political groups believe that the momentum generated by the Conference on the Future of Europe should be maintained. The pandemic and then the Russian invasion of Ukraine are helping to create a demand for a stronger Europe, they say.
The feedback event of this citizens’ consultation exercise will take place on Monday 9 May in Strasbourg after the final plenary assembly of the Conference has finalised its recommendations at the end of this week (see EUROPE 12930/22).
Once the Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for the opening of a Convention, the ‘General Affairs’ Council could be asked to take a decision before the end of June by the French Presidency of the EU Council, which is known to be open to the issue, as are Germany and Italy.
For those areas that are already within EU competence, the European Commission has promised to follow up on citizens’ recommendations. The State of the EU speech could be an important meeting point, allowing Ursula von der Leyen to detail the initiatives she wishes to take under the treaties as they stand.
The Conference on the Future of Europe is the brainchild of the newly re-elected French president, Emmanuel Macron. Some hope that on 9 May in Strasbourg, Europe Day, he will deliver a landmark speech on the future of Europe, this time more pragmatic than the Sorbonne speech of September 2017 (see EUROPE 11870/1).
On Wednesday, Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, Germany) reported that on the previous day, the conference executive committee had agreed on 49 recommendations and 200 proposals, citing, for example, the abolition of the veto right (except for changing the EU’s values and accepting new Member States). “This agreement is historic. It paves the way for a European Constitutional Convention”, he said.
See the approved recommendations: https://aeur.eu/f/1e5 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)