16 September 2013

Synopia: Remaking Europe - Framework for a policy

Europe now needs an overall perspective based on a limited number of priorities, backed by a real commitment to carry them into effect and with a clear route map and timetable. The authors set out the main steps needed to get there.

Authors:

• Pierre Boissieu, former permanent representative of France to the EU, former Secretary General of the Council of the EU
• Tom de Bruijn, former permanent representative of the Netherlands to the EU
• Antonio Vitorino, former MEP, former member of the European Commission
• Stephen Wall, former permanent representative of the UK to the EU

For 50 years, the European enterprise enjoyed the support of its citizens. That has now changed. Are the Europeans turning away from Europe? The authors doubt it. But Europeans no longer trust a European Union which seems to them powerless, ideological and partisan. They no longer support a system which does not offer hope for the future and which seems beset by internal power struggles, arguments between institutions and Member States and quarrels between the Member States themselves. The time has come to call a halt to pointless attempts to conceal these disagreements under tortuous structures, short-termism and fatuous announcements.

Europe’s leaders have a duty to deliver. They have to agree on policies and set a course, which means they have to prove, hard headedly, that Europe still means something, that we need it and that it still has a strength and cohesion which can carry us forward. Europe, the eurozone as well as the 28-member Europe, now needs an overall perspective based on a limited number of priorities, backed by a real commitment to carry them into effect and with a clear route map and timetable. The approach must be a comprehensive one. It would be pointless to undertake policy reform without also tackling the failings of the institutions. It would be pointless to attempt to reform the 28-member European Union without taking into account the specific requirements of the eurozone. In this report we have set out the main ingredients of what needs to be done as well as the main steps needed to get there.

The road will be long and we have to start as soon as possible. The renewal of important institutions, in 2014, could be the first step in this revival of the European Union: we should take decisions, before the deadline, aimed at getting these institutions to work properly. We should not wait until the next European elections to agree on the general framework of a policy for Europe. The end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 will be key moments. Later may be too late.

Neither this perspective, nor its implementation, involve new treaties or new institutional frameworks. The policies which need to be implemented are those which are already set out as priorities by the treaty itself, and whose conditions of adoption and implementation are also defined in the treaty. It is sufficient honestly, wholeheartedly and comprehensively to implement the existing treaties, which provide everything we need going forward. Where there is a will to rebuild Europe, there is also the way.

Full report

© Synopia