The Convention on the future of Europe meets in plenary this week for the first time since its launch at the end of February. Initial press excitement has dampened down, but there is an ever-increasing amount of information becoming available for those who are interested. Unfortunately, on the Convention’s own website (http://european-convention.eu.int), many documents are still missing and many more are available in only one or two of the EU’s languages. This has to change if the Convention’s ambition of reaching out to the citizens is to be met.

Several meetings of the Presidium have already been held to hammer out proposals for working methods and on the question of how to involve civil society. Candidate countries are demanding a representative on the Presidium, access to office and support facilities when the Convention is in session, and assistance with translation of documents and the Convention’s proceedings into their own languages. The solutions found to these issues will be keenly watched for signs of the Convention’s commitment genuinely to involve these countries in its work.

"The EU's underlying principles should be efficiency, democratic legitimacy
and transparency. We want institutional changes to serve policy goals and
strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the European institutions."

Tony Blair and the Polish prime minister, Leszek Miller, writing in the
Guardian newspaper, 14 March 2002.

1.What are your expectations for the Convention on the Future of
Europe?
I expect the Convention to elaborate the Constitution for the great political Europe. It is time to stop the system of treaties and the unanimity decisional process to propose a real Constitution which will be enforced to the peoples who ratified it.

2.What role do you see in the Convention for the representatives of the
European Parliament?
The Members of the European Parliament have a large experience of the current EU system. And they are used to work with colleagues that have been elected in the other countries. This knowledge of the concrete European practice is a very strong advantage in the Convention.

FEDERATION AND NATION-STATES, FEDERATION OF NATION-STATES
Europe in the French presidential campaign

France is engaged in one of its regular political campaigns for the presidential elections, due to take place in late April and early May. Despite a widespread lack of interest for the electoral debate in the general public, Europe has found in the debate a place, which it had not had previously. In that context the main candidates (Jacques Chirac, present incumbent of the job, and his Prime Minister Lionel Jospin) seem at first sight to have similar “European” manifestos, which all stress the need for la fédération d’Etats-Nations.

This however does not imply that France’s European policy will be the same whatever the result of elections. Indeed, the concept bears several different meanings: the federation of Nation-States is not, in the French political discourse, a monolith.

Project for a Constitution of the European Union of the Union pour la Démocratie Française (UDF)

The UDF, the party of François Bayrou, candidate for the coming French presidential elections, presented in 2000 an ambitious project for a Constitution of the European Union. Including the European Charter of fundamental rights, the text proposes a clarification of the competences of the Union as well as a reformed institutional system, in which the European Parliament and the Council share the legislative power. As a major innovation, the project foresees the direct election by the European citizens of a President of the Union, who will be the head of the Commission.

FULL TEXT IN FRENCH ONLY

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Agenda for the Session 21/22 March

On: Thursday 21 (15h00) and Friday 22 March 2002

Press Release European Youth Forum

EUROPEAN YOUTH FORUM READY TO HELP CO-ORDINATE CONVENTION FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF EUROPE

The European Youth Forum welcomes Mr. Giscard d’Estaing’s opening speech to the Convention on the Future of Europe in which he pledged to listen to the young, and expressed his desire to organise a Convention for the Young People of Europe.

The European Youth Forum has today officially communicated to the President of the Convention, Mr. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, and to its Vice-President and co-ordinator of the Convention’s relations with civil society, Mr. Jean-Luc Dehaene, an interest in supporting the co-ordination of the youth convention.

Manifesto on the Future of Europe
adopted by JEF-France at its Congress on 1st-2nd December

A momentum in the debate on the future of Europe has happened in recent months. Most the European political leaders have voiced their ideas. Seminars on European integration have flowered. This manifesto is the result of a debate between students coming from various States and of various political ideologies, who nevertheless share the same vision of Europe. It is often claimed that public opinions wonder what the meaning and the aim of the European integration process should be. For us, this aim is water-clear. According to, and in full respect of, its original mission, the European Union must go towards an ever-closer union between its peoples, which requires the democratisation and politicisation of its institutions. The Union should also succeed in integrating its future Member States. It should finally become an agent of global regulation.

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During the opening session of the European Convention, numerous Convention members pointed out the crucial role of youth in the debate on the Future of Europe, while others stressed the historical dimension of the process. The “Jeunes Européens France” are indeed convinced that we, young Europeans, have a real part to play in this process.

Therefore, the “Jeunes Européens France” have developed a wide range of activities in order actively to follow the work of the European Convention and to contribute to the debate on the Future of the Union.

FEDERALIST VOICE MEMORANDUM TO THE CONVENTION ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

FOR A EUROPEAN FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

Freedom, security, peace and welfare are under threat both in Europe and throughout the world. The international order built after the 2nd World War is unable to handle the challenges of the 21st century, such as managing globalisation, fighting international crime, ensuring sustainable development and social cohesion.

We cannot accept the decline to which our divisions condemn us. Europe must face up to its responsibilities and speak with one voice. After the single market and currency Europe needs a political Union. The European Union should be transformed into a genuine Federation of Citizens and States, progressively embracing all the peoples of Europe.

Manifesto on Europe in 15 points

Manifesto for a citizen's Europe

We campaign for a Europe which collectively masters its destiny, a federal Europe with democratic and efficient institutions, a Europe which exists on the international stage.

We campaign for a Europe which preserves and strengthen the rights of citizens, in the field of education, culture, health, social protection, public services.

We campaign for a Europe which wins the battle of employment, and which, to reach this goal, makes use of its currency, its fiscal policy, its budget and all the aspects of solidarity.

For a political Europe