The State of the European Union. The European states facing the reforms of the Union

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THE STATES ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE
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political reflection about the future of Europe in
his State of the Union address in 2016, but only
referring to the Economic and Monetary Union
(EMU).37 It was the subsequent taking into con-
sideration of Brexit and the Bratislava process
that prompted the President of the Commission
and his team to conceive a much broader de-
bate than the one reduced to the EMU.38 A
product of that change was the White paper as
we know it.39
The Commission’s White paper clarifies the
general debate on the future of Europe through
simple language and a series of caveats about
the effects that the choice of one or several of
the scenarios described would have on the
Union’s policies.
37Jean-Claude Juncker: “The Commission will set out such
a vision for the future in a White Paper in March 2017, in
time for the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. We
will address how to strengthen and reform our Economic
and Monetary Union. And we will also take into account
the political and democratic challenges our Union of 27 will
be facing in the future”. See: State of the Union address,
September 2016. Available at:
38Brexit has prompted a timely reaction from the
Commission, consisting of recognising the need to globalise
the debate, while to a certain extent the Heads of State or
Government have used it to deflect debates and overcome
rough patches in domestic politics.
39 Cf.Russack,Sophia, HowisJuncker’s‘last-chanceCommission’
faring at mid-term?, “European Policy Analysis” magazine
from the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies,
June 2017, pages 6 and following; published by the CEPS
(Centre for European Policy Studies). Available at:
It
is interesting to recall that during 2012 and 2013, acting
on its own initiative, the Government of Germany called
and encouraged a Group for the Future of the European
Union, formed by all the Foreign Ministers and which
initially meant to reflect on all the political issues of the first
order, including institutional issues (!). The initiative, which
ended in failure because of the absence of nearly all the
Ministers invited, moved on to exclusively reference not
to the EU, but to its Economic and Monetary Union. See,
on the subject:
As for the debate on the future of Europe in
civil society, the Commission tried to show that
the “Citizens’ Dialogues” were important:
“Over the last three years, as we promised,
Members of the Commission have visited na-
tional Parliaments more than 650 times. They
also debated in more than 300 interactive Citi-
zens’ Dialogues in more than 80 cities and
towns across 27 Member States.”40
However, the experience shows that only cen-
tralised, organised debate conducted at European
level in institutions of the Union or in ad hoc con-
ventions minimally manages to keep the atten-
tion of citizens and the media throughout Europe
in sync and allows the political messages and the
debate itself to involve the greatest number of
stakeholders. The local, regional or state debates
carried out during the constitutional Convention
(2002-2003) took place as a result of its staging.
The political initiative of the Union (consisting of
calling and holding a Convention) prompted the
debates inside the states.
In any case, the organisation of “democratic
conventions” throughout Europe over the
course of this year, presented by the French
President in his Initiative for Europe 41 and
backed by the President of the European Com-
mission in his State of the Union address, could
help to increase that democratic intensity.
We must also welcome announcements
such as the one by Spanish Foreign Minister Al-
fonso Dastis on 31 January 2018, on the inten-
tion of his government to stage “citizens’ votes”
on the future of Europe.42
40 Cf. Juncker, J. C.: State of the Union address, 13 Sep-
tember 2017, op. cit.
41ee above, footnote 30.
42See the forum Spain in Europe: a Future in Common,
organised by El País daily in Brussels on 31 January 2018.
Available at: