The Future of Europe Convention: Travelling Hopefully?
The future of Europe Convention is now three months into its task of finding answers to the challenges and questions of the Laeken declaration. The central issue for the Convention is whether it can find a route through the multitude of questions and create a strong consensus on substantive answers...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Institute of Romania
2002-07-01
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| Series: | Romanian Journal of European Affairs |
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| Online Access: | https://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/articole/RJEA_Vol2_No2_The_Future_of_Europe_Convention_Travelling_Hopefully.pdf |
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| author | Kirsty Hughes |
| author_facet | Kirsty Hughes |
| author_sort | Kirsty Hughes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The future of Europe Convention is now three months into its task of finding answers to the challenges and questions of the Laeken declaration. The central issue for the Convention is whether it can find a route through the multitude of questions and create a strong consensus on substantive answers to the three big challenges of democratizing the EU, organizing the politics and policies of the enlarged EU, and developing the EU’s voice in the world. The enlarged EU of 25 or more members has to be able to cope in both democratic and efficiency terms with the increased numbers of member states, and increased diversity in economic and political interests and circumstances. The status quo is not an option or the enlarged EU will rapidly find its decision-making and operational mechanisms seizing up – it will be a stalled and inefficient EU. The politics of the Convention are unfolding slowly and a myriad of political alignments are emerging. But some key differences are emerging already – particularly the traditional battle between intergovernmentalists and integrationists. The relative role and powers of the Council and Commission will be central in determining the nature of the future EU. Fundamental reform of both institutions is vital in both efficiency and democratic terms. One of the big risks is that energy is concentrated on the relative power of the two institutions and not on their effective reform. Proposals for a new, five-year, appointed President of the European Council go in this direction – they will not improve legitimacy and precisely duplicate the characteristics of the current Commission President. The paper identifies 5 scenarios for the future EU to summarize the potential outcomes of different sets of decisions by Convention and IGC: emergent global political power; struggling global power; efficient but weak EU; efficient but unstable EU; technocratic, stalled and inefficient EU. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4a658e02cd4849038cc513e01c860d92 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1582-8271 1841-4273 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2002-07-01 |
| publisher | European Institute of Romania |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Romanian Journal of European Affairs |
| spelling | doaj-art-4a658e02cd4849038cc513e01c860d922025-08-20T03:50:17ZengEuropean Institute of RomaniaRomanian Journal of European Affairs1582-82711841-42732002-07-01226191The Future of Europe Convention: Travelling Hopefully?Kirsty Hughes0Senior Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies in BrusselsThe future of Europe Convention is now three months into its task of finding answers to the challenges and questions of the Laeken declaration. The central issue for the Convention is whether it can find a route through the multitude of questions and create a strong consensus on substantive answers to the three big challenges of democratizing the EU, organizing the politics and policies of the enlarged EU, and developing the EU’s voice in the world. The enlarged EU of 25 or more members has to be able to cope in both democratic and efficiency terms with the increased numbers of member states, and increased diversity in economic and political interests and circumstances. The status quo is not an option or the enlarged EU will rapidly find its decision-making and operational mechanisms seizing up – it will be a stalled and inefficient EU. The politics of the Convention are unfolding slowly and a myriad of political alignments are emerging. But some key differences are emerging already – particularly the traditional battle between intergovernmentalists and integrationists. The relative role and powers of the Council and Commission will be central in determining the nature of the future EU. Fundamental reform of both institutions is vital in both efficiency and democratic terms. One of the big risks is that energy is concentrated on the relative power of the two institutions and not on their effective reform. Proposals for a new, five-year, appointed President of the European Council go in this direction – they will not improve legitimacy and precisely duplicate the characteristics of the current Commission President. The paper identifies 5 scenarios for the future EU to summarize the potential outcomes of different sets of decisions by Convention and IGC: emergent global political power; struggling global power; efficient but weak EU; efficient but unstable EU; technocratic, stalled and inefficient EU.https://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/articole/RJEA_Vol2_No2_The_Future_of_Europe_Convention_Travelling_Hopefully.pdfeuropean commission |
| spellingShingle | Kirsty Hughes The Future of Europe Convention: Travelling Hopefully? Romanian Journal of European Affairs european commission |
| title | The Future of Europe Convention: Travelling Hopefully? |
| title_full | The Future of Europe Convention: Travelling Hopefully? |
| title_fullStr | The Future of Europe Convention: Travelling Hopefully? |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Future of Europe Convention: Travelling Hopefully? |
| title_short | The Future of Europe Convention: Travelling Hopefully? |
| title_sort | future of europe convention travelling hopefully |
| topic | european commission |
| url | https://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/articole/RJEA_Vol2_No2_The_Future_of_Europe_Convention_Travelling_Hopefully.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kirstyhughes thefutureofeuropeconventiontravellinghopefully AT kirstyhughes futureofeuropeconventiontravellinghopefully |