Brussels, 02/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - The great debate the European Parliament wants to launch on the future of Europe after the deadlock over the European Constitution was launched in Brussels on 1 December with a 'Quo vadis Europa?' event organised with the aid of several Charlemagne Prizewinners in the presence of the Mayor of Aachen in Germany, the city where the Charlemagne Prize is awarded every year. Opened by European Parliament President Josep Borrell, the debate was chaired by former President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, who regretted that the period of reflection after the French and Dutch no votes had been characterised by the sound of silence. Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt agreed, adding that during a reflection period, grey matter had to get to work but he had the impression that grey matter was taking a siesta and had decided not to think. Verhofstadt recently published a book entitled 'The United States of Europe - Manifesto for a new Europe'. He repeated his calls for revitalising Europe around the eurozone (see EUROPE 9080), adding that the eurozone exists, nothing needs to be invented, one should start from what already exists and focus on dealing with the lack of a socio-economic policy in Europe. Verhofstadt was echoing Jacques Delors, who had called for both an inevitable differentiation within the EU, adding that the first place to apply it was to Economic and Monetary Union, where there had been betrayal because there was a Monetary Union but not an Economic Union. He said the EU needed a framework for economic coordination, a design or concept of an economic area based on competition between companies but not between nations because that would mean social dumping (see other article). We need a plan for society, said Delors, adding that there was both convergence in Member States' social models (a 'common foundation') and divergence (and why ignore divergence by claiming to make Europe one's own way?). The EU is already a power, a limited but important power, said Delors. He acknowledged that there was one obstacle after another on the path to a common foreign and security policy. Delors said the EU25 (soon to be the EU27 and the EU30) should have achievable targets - an area of peace, mutual recognition and security, a framework for economic cooperation based on solidarity and sustainability, and encouraging cultural diversity.
Jacques Delors fiercely criticised the remarks by Jean-Peter Bonde, Danish Co-President of the European Parliament's Independence and Democracy Group, who said he was happy the European Constitution was dead and had been buried by the people, who didn't want it and had to have the last word. Delors responded that the French see a Constitution as a state responsible for everything, which is why he would have preferred to talk about a treaty. Delors said to wait and see what the no coalition would say in 2007, adding that he had too much respect for other Member States to tell them what to do and he also respected parliaments. Delors scorned the idea that parliaments deciding was not democratic, adding that such ideas could lead to the worst of all populism and authoritarianism. On this, former Italian prime minister and former President of the European Parliament, Emilio Colombo (who explained he had lived through a lot of European crises, the first one being the crisis over the mooted European Defence Community), said the people who rejected the European Constitution had to start discussing this with other people. It is necessary and urgent these days for Europeans to remain united, he said, adding that in the post-war period, it was necessary to return to the roots of Europe. Alongside former Hungarian prime minister Gyula Horn, two former Belgian prime ministers took part in the debate - Leo Tindemans, who called for the European Commission to take a leading role, and Jean-Luc Dehaene, who said the EU's Neighbourhood Policy should help resolve the problem of the outer limits of Europe. The EU's outer limits are flexible feasts, said Mark Eyskens, former Belgian foreign and finance minister, adding that the limits could not be fixed for the next fifty years. He said he saw Europe in the future being like Saturn, with several rings.