EU questions its future direction on Europe Day

Today, as on every 9th of May, the European institutions will celebrate Europe Day, highlighting the successes of EU integration. But socialists and other political leaders say the celebration should also offer “a more political debate” about the EU’s future direction.

“No one can seriously doubt that the European Union has a big future role in helping us to tackle challenges that individual nations cannot deal with alone, such as globalisation and climate change,” said Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES). “The real debate is what sort of European Union do we want?”

For Rasmussen, the answer is clear: “For me, the fundamental question is do we want a European Union where the market is king, or do we want a social Europe where the free market is combined with social justice and environmental sustainability?”

And with one year left until the European elections in June 2009, Rasmussen appealed to voters in his own political family to mobilise and topple the “conservative majority” in the European Parliament and the European Commission. 

“There is a political fight going on. The European Union is a not a bureaucracy, it is not a set of buildings or institutions in Brussels, it is a political debate about how to contribute to the prosperity and well-being of our countries.”

Congress of Europe to open debate on EU’s future

The Congress of Europe, to be held in The Hague on 23-24 May, should offer the opportunity for such confrontation. Broadcast live on Europe by Satellite, the congress will include two rounds of debates where political leaders from the left, right and centre will answer questions from the public and civil society. A number of political leaders will take the floor at the congress, including:

• Wilfried Martens and Othmar Karas for the European People’s Party, 
• Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and Martin Schultz for the Party of European Socialists,
• Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroek and Graham Watson for the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, and 
• Philippe Lamberts and Monica Frassoni for the European Greens Party. 

Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament, will also join, together with Janez Janša, Prime Minister of Slovenia, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Speaking at a press conference in Parliament this week, Pöttering said he hoped the Congress could “revitalise the European process through a public consultation” ahead of the European elections next year. “[We can] always strive for a more united Europe,” said Pöttering, while recognising that European countries “are different socially and economically”.

Pat Cox, the president of the European Movement, emphasised that European parties must get the European message to the wider public, through what he called “putting Europe into the European elections”.

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