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THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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during this legislature (that is, until 2019) this
opportunity should be grasped before the ad-
mission of new members further complicates
the process of reaching agreement at the heart
of the institutions of the European Union.
New progress towards federalism: the
European elections of May 2014
The elections to the European Parliament in
2014 were the first held since the Lisbon Treaty
came into force, article 17.7 of which states:
“Taking into account the elections to the
European Parliament and after having held the
appropriate consultations, the European
Council, acting by a qualified majority, shall pro-
pose to the European Parliament a candidate
for President of the Commission. This candidate
shall be elected by the European Parliament by
a majority of its component members.”
These elections achieved something that the
majority of observers doubted was possible,
namely the election of the President of the
Commission and the Commission itself as a con-
sequence of results at the polls. It is therefore
important to stress the continuing relevance of
the drive towards federalism, and to ensure that
this development is to the benefit of citizens.
This should be linked to the major federal
achievements of the past 35 years, such as elec-
tions to the European Parliament by universal
suffrage in 1979, the disappearance of borders
since 1992, the insertion of the concepts of
“European citizenship” and “social and econom-
ic cohesion” into the Treaties since 1993, the
birth of economic and monetary union and the
creation of the euro as a single currency since
1999 for eleven states (today, fifteen years later,
the number has grown to nineteen), the creation
of a shared space for issues such as freedom,
security and justice, the development of a joint
foreign policy and the creation of joint diplomacy
since 2009, and the recognition of the legal value
of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
It is important to note that this federalist
progress has not been the result of technocratic
concessions but has, rather, been delivered by
pressure from citizens’ representatives through
the European Parliament since it was elected by
universal suffrage in 1979 and, in particular, fol-
lowing approval of the Proposal for the Treaty
on European Union in 1984. In fact, the need
for a federal European Union has been evident
in all subsequent constitutional reforms.
In any event, it is important to note that the
European Union today is different from the
European Community of the 1960s and that
while, for the Community, the key innovation
was the new concept of sovereignty (that of
shared sovereignty, something that until then
was unheard of), the Union has continued to
develop from that starting point and is increas-
ingly characterized by what can be termed “in-
tergovernmental federalism”. In other words,
federalism is already a reality, but one influenced
by the power of states that refuse to complete
the work of constructing the European edifice.
The 8th Legislature (2014–2019):
a new beginning for Europe
We can think of this legislature as the start of a
new European political cycle, because it offers
an opportunity to strengthen the legitimacy of
institutions, especially the Commission (which is
increasingly coming to resemble a fully-fledged
government) but also the Parliament, which has
grown in power with respect to the European
Council and the Commission, which are likely to
see a reduction in their influence on the Union’s