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European Parliament in Strasbourg: opening ceremony can take place
Photo: Jean-Francois Badias / AP / DPA
The months of turmoil over the organization of the conference on the future of Europe has ended for the time being.
Representatives of the European Parliament, the EU member states and the EU Commission agreed on a compromise on the course of the conference on Friday - and thus saved the opening ceremony on Sunday in the Strasbourg Parliament.
The event, at which French President Emmanuel Macron, Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen and Parliament President David Sassoli, among others, are to speak, was still in acute danger on Thursday. Despite months of negotiations, parliament and member states remained at odds over the structure of the conference.
The main question was who should decide on the wording of the final report of the future conference.
According to MEPs, the plenary session of the conference - whose 433 members come mainly from the European Parliament, national parliaments and citizens' assemblies - should play a decisive role.
The member states, however, wanted the so-called executive committee to have the last word.
It is made up of three representatives each from Parliament, the Commission and the Council of the Member States.
The principle of consensus prevails everywhere
On Friday, the Belgian liberal Guy Verhofstadt, head of Parliament's delegation, informed his colleagues from the other groups about the compromise that had now been found.
According to the letter that SPIEGEL has received, the executive committee should only be able to adopt the final report by consensus.
In addition, the text must be based on the proposals of the plenary - and be supported by the representatives of the EU Parliament as well as by those of the member states, the national parliaments and the Commission.
In doing so, the MEPs in particular wanted to ensure that the member states bear political responsibility for the conference decisions.
"Despite strong opposition, we defended our common and strong position," Verhofstadt brags in his letter.
In particular, the role of the EU Parliament and the national parliaments is »exactly what we wanted«.
But that should be slightly exaggerated.
Because the conference plenary did not have a direct say in the wording of the final report, let alone a right of veto.
In addition, the principle of consensus also applies to the plenary session.
That means: Nothing can be decided there that runs counter to the will of the member states.
Such a result, it was said on Friday in EU circles, would have been possible with less drama.
On the other hand, the episode is symptomatic of the entire course of the future conference so far.
In 2019 it was decided with great fanfare, even its title promises great things.
Citizens should be asked broadly about their wishes for Europe's future, in meetings and on an online platform.
Your impulses should be implemented by politics.
The EU, so the promise, should finally move closer to the people.
The fiasco of the UK's exit played just as much a role as the broken promise to elect the top candidate who won the European elections in May 2019 as Commission President.
Instead, the heads of state and government pushed the CSU politician Manfred Weber aside and enthroned Ursula von der Leyen.
There will be no big changes
But the start of the conference was delayed by a full year, mainly because of the dispute over the chairmanship.
Verhofstadt in particular claimed a leadership role, as he had missed out on post poker after the European elections.
This went so far that the "Conference on the future of Verhofstadt" was mocked in Brussels.
Verhofstadt, however, was not considered negotiable among the EU states.
The conference is now headed by three people: President Sassoli, Commissioner von der Leyen and Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, whose country currently holds the rotating EU Council Presidency.
The final report of the conference will also be presented to the triumvirate.
The EU institutions should then quickly decide how to implement the demands of the report.
But it is already clear that the conference on the future of Europe is unlikely to be able to live up to its great title.
For far-reaching upheavals in the EU structure, changes to the EU treaties would be necessary, which are considered to be almost impossible. The member states not only have to pass them unanimously, some would also require referendums. But nobody in the EU wants to hear from them anymore. The trauma of the constitutional convention around 20 years ago, the result of which was rejected by referendum in France and the Netherlands, is still having an impact today. The 2016 Brexit referendum was unsuitable for improving the image of referendums in the EU: In Brussels, they are primarily seen as a blueprint for populists.
Despite these obstacles, the Green MEP Daniel Freund believes that the future conference will be a success. No treaty changes are necessary for a European second vote in European elections, a large climate fund or the abolition of the unanimity requirement on tax issues and foreign policy. "All of this can now be discussed and then decided," said Freund.
On Friday, the 21 elected heads of state of the EU countries also called for participation in the future conference. Europe is facing major challenges, from the climate crisis and the development of green economies to the digitization of societies. "The more people take part in a broad, open debate, the better for our Union," says the appeal that Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier signed. The EU sometimes appears to be inadequately equipped to face new challenges - but it would be "much more difficult if each of us were to stand alone."
