'Plan D' in place but will member states deliver?[fr][de] 

Plan D's main idea is to help member states to organise national debates on the future of the Union. Taking the successful examples of Ireland and Spain, where in the past broad debates on Europe were held, Mrs Wallström hopes that country-wide discussions with national parliaments, civil society and the media will lead to the creation of a "European public sphere". "Europe has been a project for small political elites," Wallström said, "today, people are more educated and better informed", implying citizens need to be more involved.

Plan D proposed 13 specific initiatives to organise and stimulate these national debates. Commissioners will visit the member states and engage in discussions with national parliaments; European "goodwill ambassadors" will  raise the profiles of the debate; citizens will be more involved in consultations on major new policies. These are just a few of the instruments the Commission intends to use to make Plan D work.

A feedback process has been put in place. In April 2006, there will be a first evaluation of the national debates and on the 9th of May, the Commission will organise a Conference on the future of Europe. At the end of the Austrian Presidency (June 2006), a synthesis report on the debates will be on the table.

Stating once more that Plan D is "not a rescue plan" for the Constitution, Mrs Wallström also expressed her doubts whether plans in the Parliament to save or rediscuss the Constitution are "realistic".

Challenge:

Just as with the Lisbon agenda to become the world's most competitive knowledge society by 2010, the Commission has set itself high ambitions with this Plan D. But as with Lisbon, it has very little leverage over the delivery capacity and will of the member states. Ultimately, the success of Plan D lies with the national political elites in the member states. The lack of a real citizens' debate during the Convention on the future of Europe, where a similar listening and debating ambition was foreseen, does not bode well for Plan D. And there is the danger, that if this ambition fails, in the end, the Commission will get the blame, as it mostly does when national leaders fail to deliver.

The difficulty to convince member states to organise these debates on the future of Europe was underlined one day before Mrs Wallström's presentation when the Dutch parliament decided not to hold a broad debate on Europe after its 'No' vote on the Constitution.