THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. Reforming Europe in a time of war

13 The Conference on the Future of Europe: an inadequate approach that will have to be corrected in the implementation phase Francisco Aldecoa Luzárraga Recommendations − Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine demands a unified response from the European Union, and Treaty reform is essential for that. − Following the Conference on the Future of Europe and, particularly, the European Parliament petition of 4 May and 9 June 2022, there is a clear need for a third European Convention, with the aim of reforming the Treaties. − Given that this convention has not been called un- der the French Presidency and this situation does not seem likely to change under either the Czech or Swedish Presidencies, neither of which are particular- ly in favour of it, it will fall to the Spanish Presidency in the second half of 2023 to tackle the difficult and important question of how Convention can alter some aspects of the Treaties of the European Union, in particular overcoming the requirement for una- nimity in the Council. − Strengthening the role of organized civil society fol- lowing the final session of the Conference on the Future of Europe (2 December) and balancing its role with respect to citizens. − Promoting the participation of organised civil society in the European Convention. − There was a big omission in the Conference on the Future of Europe with regard to the role of the EU in the world, including the lack of any reference to the need to strengthen the strategic relationship be- tween the EU and Latin America. General considerations I draw no pleasure from the fact that events have con- firmed the predictions I made in the chapter I published in the 2021 Report on the State of the European Union, titled How can participation in the Conference on the Future of Europe be improved for organised civil society