Brussels, 23/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Union of European Federalists (UEF) and the Young European Federalists (JEF) yesterday organised in Brussels a conference on the theme "After Nice, what future for Europe", under the Presidency of Thomas Jansen, chef de cabinet for the President of the Economic and Social Committee. The conference was the conclusions of an information campaign lead in more than 70 European cities, in the aim of raising the awareness of young citizens for the enlargement process.
Johan Verbeke, chef de cabinet for the Belgian Minister for European Affairs, first raised a few challenges for the Belgian Presidency of the EU, which may seem to lack ambition because it requires returning to the ground and being realistic. It is vital to update and modernise the values on which we will build, he said before explaining that the clarification of the debate over competence would unleash a process of pacification between the Member States and the European Union. In this context, Mr Verbeke referred to the latest results of Eurobarometer and underlined that the citizen finds that some competences such as defence, security or monetary policy could move from the intergovernmental level to the supranational level and that, on the other hand, other decisions (the colour of car licence plates etc.) should lie with the national powers.
The acting President of the Council, Xavier de Donnea, said that to reconcile the EU and the citizen, who no longer understand anything, it requires personalising the EU, possibly through a direct election of the EU President.