The debate on the future of Europe has been the prey of the suspended time due to the COVID-19.
Nobody knows when and if the Conference proposed by Emmanuel Macron in March 2019 will really start and even more nobody knows its outcome.
The governments have conceived the insane idea that the Conference should study in deep the “strategic agenda” adopted by the European Council in June 2019 and adopt a few recommendations submitted to the Heads of State and governments.
Everything that happened from June 2019 to now demonstrate that the “strategic agenda” is an archaeological find and that the exit from the emergency needs a new project, a new method and a new agenda.
In the face of atony of the governments we are waiting the voice of the European Parliament and we would submit to the MEPs three suggestions :
- Open a debate on the sharing of the competences between the EU and the Member States. The ten years of the Treaty of Lisbon experience and the current pandemic crisis show that the EU should act with shared competencies in fields where they totally remained in the hands of the Member States (Civil protection, Health promotion, Industry, Education and training and should act with exclusive competencies in fields where it shares the responsibility with the Member States (Humanitarian Help, development cooperation, asylum and migration, Human Rights and respect of the Rule of Law). Lastly, the EU should have more shared competencies in the field of Social Policy. The debate on the competencies should come before the institutional proposals (Spitzenkandidaten, European Electoral Law and transnational lists, power of legislative initiative..).
- Open a dialogue with the representative associations and civil societies in a transnational manner through thematic agora in the framework of a true participatory democracy.
- Restore the dignity of the representative democracy at local, regional, national and European level. We suggest the encouragement of interparliamentary assizes in cooperation with the German, Portuguese and Slovenian Parliaments to discuss and deliver firstly on the fiscal capacity of EU and a fair fiscal policy in view of a fast decision on the own resources (as a precondition of the Recovery Plan) and then on the reform of the EU.
If the reform of the EU should be democratic, the main voice should come from the EP speaking and acting on behalf of the European citizens and the last decision should be taken in a pan-European referendum to give (or not give) the assent to the content of the reform voted by the MEPs.
PIER VIRGILIO DASTOLI
On behalf of the European Movement in Italy