About: CoFoE Archives

The Conference on the future of Europe is faltering, but EU institutions and member states can still save it. And they should, as it could be a key tool to re-engage the citizens, writes Nicoletta Pirozzi.

The past year’s crisis underscored the need for a more united Europe. We must seize this opportunity to make the Conference on the Future of Europe a true forum with citizens to work together to achieve a more sovereign and democratic Europe, says UEF President and Renew MEP Sandro Gozi.

National elections just passed in Germany and upcoming in France deprive Europe of political leadership. But there is an electoral solution that could solve this problem, writes Matteo Garavoglia.

The great expectations some have for the ongoing Conference on the Future of Europe, and the little that is known about it, weigh heavily on it, writes Christian Moos.

Sharp-tongued critics will be quick to point out that the majority of delegates at the Conference on the Future of Europe plenary last weekend consisted of representatives from the European institutions (165) and national parliaments (108).

For years, Berlin has at best administered, mostly stonewalled, when it came to European policy. It is now time for a German government that will throw its full weight behind an active European policy, writes Jamila Schäfer.

The Erasmus Generation has mostly remained behind the scenes within NGOs, multinationals, and public administration. It is time for them to take on more political responsibilities and use their hands-on understanding of Europe, writes João Pinto.

The European Union must assert itself as a full-fledged political entity with economic, social, cultural dimensions and take internal and external actions that are decided democratically by its own citizens, writes Maria Joao Rodrigues.

To regain people’s trust in democracy, we need to fundamentally revisit the way our democracies work. The Conference on the Future of Europe is a chance to update the way Brussels does politics, write Guy Verhofstadt and Dacian Cioloș.

There is a parallel between the position in which the European Union is today and that in which Ireland found itself in 2001 following the rejection of the Nice Treaty in a referendum, writes Dick Roche, commenting on the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Given the disparate views, interests and risk perceptions among the twenty-seven EU countries, far-reaching innovations to be introduced by the Conference on the Future of Europe appear unlikely, writes Michel Leigh.

The Conference on the Future of Europe can catalyse much-needed reflection on how to revamp the EU’s external action. But, most importantly, if the EU wants to secure its position as a top-tier geopolitical player, it should overcome self-doubt and learn by doing, writes Javier Solana.

The Conference on the Future of Europe is an exercise in democracy, and at the same time, the main theme of the Conference is European democracy. But the problem is broader: democracy itself is in crisis, write Herman Van Rompuy and Žiga Turk.

Twenty years ago, the EU thought that a patrician, former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, was best placed to chair discussions on its reform. For good measure, Giscard’s two vice-chairs were both former prime ministers.

Despite the fatigue with the pandemic and the longing for stability and predictability, Europe has entered the age of ‘permacrisis’, in which volatility, uncertainty, and a prolonged sense of emergency have become the new normal, argue Ricardo Borges de Castro, Fabian Zuleeg and Janis A. Emmanouilidis.

The Conference on the Future of Europe should not be a PR exercise but a genuine people’s convention to deliberate all the tough issues we face together and to hear what citizens expect from Europe, argues Hans van Baalen.

The EU needs democratic rebalancing. Veto powers have given the EU multiple Achilles heels that have been exploited by the likes of China, Russia and Silicon Valley. But the signals coming ahead of the Conference on the Future of Europe are not promising, writes Sophie in 't Veld.

Crises boost EU integration: an unprecedented budget, common bonds, border guards in EU uniforms. But EU parliamentary democracy is lagging far behind and the European Parliament should defend democratic oversight. If it shies away from using its powers, it will lose them, writes Sophie in ‘t Veld.

Our online world lends itself well to a conversation with citizens about the future of Europe. And yet, European leaders have so far failed to reach agreement, even on who should chair the long promised Conference on the Future of Europe, writes Roger Casale.

Amid the range of appeals and open letters on the policy-changes need to combat the coronavirus, one constant is that all are demanding an effective common EU response to the pandemic, writes Roberto Castaldi.

From financial problems to migration and Brexit, the European Union has faced multiple challenges so far. Nowadays, Europe is being hard-hit by another “black swan” – the COVID-19 pandemic. How can the EU learn from its mistakes in order to better face future unpredictable crises, asks Nicolae Stefanuta.

The EU is at a crucial turning point, it is now vital to give citizens the opportunity to take ownership of its project, Axel Dauchez writes ahead of the launch of the Conference on the future of Europe.

For the moment, no one is talking about the ratification of a possible new treaty following the Conference on European Reform. To avoid failure and to engage citizens, the EU's institutions must be made to work according to the principles of representative democracy, and treaty reform must be the central issue at stake in the European elections of 2024, write Giorgio Clarotti, Oliver Costa and Christophe Leclercq.