MEPs and civil society representatives discuss ways forward for the EU to gain more support among its citizens. Their main message: a purely economic and technocratic Union is not enough.Background:The EP Committee on Constitutional Affairs, on 24 and 25 April organised a European Forum for the Civil Society
to break the current constitution deadlock and to use the period of reflection
to find ways forward for the European Union.On this basis, the MEPs exchanged views with representatives of green and social NGOs, pro-European and EU sceptic organisations, representatives of faith communities, cultural and educational associations and other organisations.
While MEPs want to use the reflection period to clarify, deepen and democratise the consensus around the Constitution and address criticisms,
a number of other options emerged from the debates:
- Scrapping the Constitution altogether and starting the process from scratch (i.e. with a new Convention)
- Improving the current Constitutional Treaty, possibly in connection with a new Convention endowed with a
limited mandate
- Keeping Part I and II as they are, excluding (and modifying) Part III
- Hold a EU wide referendum or consultation on the Constitutional Treaty with the EP elections in June 2009
The focus of the debates, however, was the more general questions of how more public support could be generated for the EU.The main message can be summarised as follows: the EU needs to more than economy and bureaucracy to bridge the gap between the EU and its citizens. In this regard, the following points were put forward by different participants:
- Europe needs a soul: the EU must be filled with meaning, whether through dreams, a clearer mission, a stronger awareness of its Christian roots or more emphasis on culture and education
- Europe must be more democratic: EU institutions must become more transparent and more democratic, representative democracy must be complemented by participatory democracy, a strengthened dialogue with civil society and active citizenship
- A stronger social dimension for Europe: the preservation of the European social model(s) and a reform of its socio-economic governance to safeguard social cohesion and justice
- A greener Europe: Europe can only be sustainable in the long run, if it has stronger environmental policies
- A stronger role in the world: the EU must be a more potent actor in the world to be taken seriously not only internally, but also internationally
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