Several pro-European political forces urged the European Commission on Thursday 1 September to take a clear stand in favour of a revision of the European treaties and to look for ways to create momentum in the Council of the European Union.
The European Parliament and the European Commission are traditionally “allies” in advancing European integration, noted Domènec Ruiz Devesa (S&D, Spanish), during a debate in the European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs. He invited the Commission not to be just a “secretariat” but to commit itself explicitly to a revision of the treaties as a follow-up to the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
“A lot depends on your attitude. Don’t stay neutral! We share responsibility to unblock the process”, urged Danuta Huebner (EPP, Polish).
In June, the Parliament asked the Council of the EU to take a position on the issue of a review of the functioning of the EU (see EUROPE 12968/17). It is currently preparing a detailed report on changes to the European treaties.
The European Commissioner for Democracy, Dubravka Šuica, recalled the line taken by the President of the European Commission on 9 May at the event to present the conclusions of the Conference (see EUROPE 12948/1): the Commission is on the side of those who want to improve the functioning of the EU. “We are committed to make the most of what is already possible, while being open to discuss treaty changes”, she stressed.
On Wednesday 14 September in Strasbourg, Ms von der Leyen will unveil the Conference’s proposals, which the Commission will seek to consolidate in its State of the Union address.
Frenchman Pascal Durand and Italian Sandro Gozi spoke about the Renew Europe group’s initiative to create a permanent mechanism for consulting citizens at regional, national and European level. In the first half of each year, citizens’ panels could present their priorities to the Commission for the State of the Union speech, Mr Gozi said.
On this point, Ms Šuica considered that participatory democracy does not conflict with representative democracy, contrary to the position expressed by Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (ECR, Polish). She recalled the Commission’s intention to build on the success of the Conference by developing a multilingual electronic hub that would allow citizens to take a stand on European issues (see EUROPE 12974/16). Citizens’ panels will also be set up during the development of major legislative proposals.
She said that the event to inform Conference participants of the follow-up to their recommendations would take place on Friday “2 December”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)