Future of Europe: fairer, greener, more democratic? 

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 be about 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

Ilona Kish, Secretary-General of the European Forum for the Arts and Heritage (EFAH), underlined that the EU needed to be "something more meaningful than just a common market." Therefore, cultural and education policies should be given greater priority.

Henrik Lesaar, Legal Affairs Advisor of the Commission of Bishop’s Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), demanded that in general, the Church should have a stronger role in the political processes.

Recognising the crisis of confidence as well as the declining participation all over Europe, Democracy International proposed a campaign for the implementation of the European Citizens Initiative to give the people of Europe a voice in EU affairs. They claim "the EU to give legal force to the European Citizens' Initiative, where one million European citizens can call on the European Commission to propose a change in the European law." The campaign shall start in May and last no longer than 18 months.  Furthermore, they call for a new and more democratic Convention. According to Carsten Berg, Brussels representative of Democracy International, said that "developing transnational democracy without undermining national democracy is an essential future goal."

Patrick De Bucquois from the Social Platform said that the Constitutional Treaty lacked a "strong social dimension." This, however, "does not mean necessarily that the EU should have more competence in the social field." Rather, an effective mechanisms should be found "to accommodate the fact that social policies […] are mainly of national competence but are directly affected by EU economic and internal market policies."

Fouad Hamdan, Director of Friends of the Earth Europe and spokesperson for the environmental alliance "Green 10" (incl. Greenpeace, WWF and others), expressed concern over the 'unsustainability' of the EU in its current state. While the Constitutional Treaty would bring about some improvements, more needed to be done to counteract "environmental degradation" both within and outside the EU.

One of the many other actors and MEPs emphasising the importance of a stronger role for the EU in the world was the European Movement International and its Secretary-General Henrik Kröner. The EU "has the potential to become the world’s greatest power for peace-building," however, it must be in a position to do more for the strengthening of international law and the international community (i.e. UN, WTO) and to pay more aid and to gain a "substantial military capacity" to support the United Nations.

In general, the participants deplored the lack of political engagement and leadership (especially at national level) in the context of the reflection period. Furthermore, while most welcomed the efforts of Commissioner Wallström to improve communication ("Plan D"), they emphasised stronger political commitment was needed to overcome the current deadlock.