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TOWARDS A FEDERAL EUROPE
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the Treaty on European Union, should be ap-
plied, using the appropriate mechanisms to en-
sure the maximum participation of civil society
in this reform process.
We can be confident that a 3rd European
Convention would propose more progressive
measures than the second, because its composi-
tion will reflect the advance of federalism that is
beginning to be seen at the level of parliaments
and national governments in various member
states. The economic crisis has shown that we
cannot leave our work half done, and that dem-
ocratic institutions need to be granted the pow-
ers they need to fully exercise the responsibility
deriving from the dual legitimacy of the Union,
conferred upon them by citizens and by states.
The progress towards a European federation
is something that must be undertaken during
this legislature, given that from 2019 it is pos-
sible that new states will join the Union. If it is
difficult with 28 members, with more it will be
almost impossible. This is why now is the time
to undertake reform to move away from the
current requirement for unanimity, towards a
system requiring, for example, acceptance by
two thirds of states, representing two thirds of
the Union’s population. This would be similar to
article 82 of the Draft Treaty on European Union
approved by the European Parliament in 1984.
For all of these reasons, the 8th Legislature,
as has been noted, starts with the aspiration to
achieve major progress towards federalism, en-
abling institutions to exercise their powers
thanks to increased democratic legitimacy
which, in turn, should drive a change in EU pol-
icies, endorsing the commitment to the welfare
state. To achieve this aim, it is necessary to re-
form the Union along federalist lines through
the vehicle of a 3rd European Convention with
the participation of citizens.
Recommendations for a federal Europe
We propose that the EU reform the Treaties,
through the 3rd Convention and the corre-
sponding Intergovernmental Conference, by
means of the following actions:
Constitutional form, symbols and citizenship
1. Convert the EU Treaty into a European
Constitution that is clear, concise and com-
prehensible.
2. Explicitly recognize the dual legitimacy of the
EU: deriving both from citizens and member
states.
3. Make the EU symbols, including the flag and
the anthem, official.
4. Expand recognition of European citizenship
to nationals of third countries who have
been legally resident in a member state for a
continuous period of ten years.
The European Parliament
5. Introduce the possibility of presenting a
transnational list of candidates for the
European Parliament, representing at least
10 per cent of seats, as a means of strength-
ening the role of European political parties.
6. Reform the Uniform Electoral Procedure for
the European Parliament to harmonize na-
tional systems for elections to the European
Parliament, maximizing proportionality.
7. Establish gender parity and open lists as ob-
ligatory features of lists of candidates to the
European Parliament.
8. Attribute new powers to the European
Parliament, including:
• Legislative initiative.