Dear Europeans,

after the Christmas and new years break we would like to take the opportunity to wish you all the best for the new year. The discussions about the Future of Europe did not come to a halt. On the contrary: The Convention members are facing the most active phase and most decisive phase of their unique Convention experience. In less than six months, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing wants to present his lifework: A European Constitution.

In the last weeks there have been several new initiatives of which several are due to the restart of the German French motor. Already before Christmas, Fischer and de Villepin presented a common paper on economic governance. Last week the heads of government and the foreign ministers of France and Germany finally agreed on some institutional proposals. Also the French and German Socialists in the European Parliament have come up with common proposals. The European Socialists and Social Democrats have met last week in Florence and are expected to present a common paper outlining their demands to the Convention. This week the convention plenary is finally discussing the question of institutions, at a time when numerous groups outside the convention have already expressed their demands concerning this issue. Until the end of the month Valéry Giscard d’Estaing will also present the first articles of the constitution, the first flesh to his skeleton. The foreign minister of Slovenia replaces the former representative of the government in the convention and joins several of his colleagues. All these are indicators for an extremly bussy and decisive phase within and outside the convention.

"The European Parliament, convinced that the Europe of the future has to be based on the principles of democracy, transparency and efficiency, […] pointing out that the European Commission has to fulfil its role as the European government, convinced therefore the legitimisation of the President of the European Commission has to be improved, calls on the European Convention to include in the European Constitution the principle that the President of the European Commission has to be elected by the European Parliament."

[Written Declaration of the European Parliament, signed on the 17th January 2003, 320 signatories.]

The status of the work of the European Convention

An International European Movement report in collaboration with the Academic Agora for the Future of Europe under the Presidency of Professor Jean-Victor Louis

The debate within the Convention

The starting point for the discussions which took place during ten months (from 28/02 to 20/12/02) within the European Convention among the European political groupings, within national and European institutions and also in the academic world and the world of civil society was the declaration adopted by the Laeken European Council (December 2001).

Social Europe working group already divided on EU competences

The main issue in the Working Group is whether social policies should be more harmonised at EU level or should remain the responsibility of the member states. Some countries are in favour of a more active approach of the EU in areas such as the fight against unemployment and social exclusion, gender equality and social dialogue. Others refer to subsidiarity and argue that the diversity in national social systems should be respected.
Following are some divided positions:
In a contribution to the debate, UK government representative to the Convention, Peter Hain, argues against giving the Union more competences in the social policy field. "The challenge is rather for the Union and Community to take more effective and coherent action in respect of its existing competences", Mr. Hain states. His government sticks to having control of the national minimum wage and opposes further extension of QMV in the social policy field. "I believe that extending QMV in the social policy field could hinder economic reform and make it more difficult to create new jobs".

Members of the Convention will find attached a reflection paper on the Functioning of the Institutions. This paper is intended to serve as a basis for the debate in the plenary session of the Convention on 20 and 21 January 2003...

To read the full document see: http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/03/cv00/cv00477en03.pdf

1. Presentation by the President of the work programme for 2003
2. External Action - Debate on the report by Working Group VII chaired by Mr Dehaene
3. Defence - Debate on the report by Working Group VIII chaired by Mr Barnier
4. Next meeting of the Convention

To read the document see: http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/02/cv00/00473en2.pdf

PART A

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Grouping of external action articles in the Treaty

The Group agreed that it would be useful to group in a section of the new Treaty the relevant articles of the current Treaties, which cover the different aspects of EU external policy, while keeping different arrangements for different policy areas.

2. Principles and Objectives

There was a very large consensus in the Group on the need to define in the Treaty the underlying principles and general objectives of EU external action, in a manner that would be clear to the public and the EU's partners. The Group reached agreement on the following text defining "principles and objectives" of EU external action:

Introduction

This report is in two parts. The first part reviews the legal context and the developments in European security and defence policy since the Cologne European Council (3 and 4 June 1999), the progress made and gaps remaining (paragraphs 5 to 30).

The first part also presents the specific features of defence issues and the diversity of the situations of the various States in relation to defence issues (paragraphs 31 to 44).

PROPOSITIONS CONJOINTES FRANCO-ALLEMANDES SUR LA GOUVERNANCE ÉCONOMIQUE

L'existence de l'euro, l'expérience de la coordination des politiques économiques depuis 1997 et l'arrivée de nouveaux membres dans l'Union européenne imposent de renforcer la gouvernance économique de l'Europe, notamment dans la zone euro.

Le Traité actuel reflète le choix d'un partage de compétences équilibré :
- la politique monétaire dans la zone euro est une compétence communautaire, détenue par la Banque Centrale Européenne (BCE) ;

Berlin und Paris, den 15. Januar 2003

Deutsch-französischer Beitrag zum Europäischen Konvent über die institutionelle Architektur der Union

Vor wenigen Wochen, auf dem Europäischen Rat Kopenhagen, hat die Union die größte Erweiterungsrunde ihrer Geschichte vollendet. Soll sie ihre Einheit und ihre Handlungsfähigkeit auch mit 25 und mehr Mitgliedstaaten nach innen und nach außen bewahren, so muss sie mehr denn je vertieft werden.

Wir wollen eine Reform der Institutionen durchführen, die drei Anforderungen gerecht wird: Klarheit, Legitimität und Effizienz. Um diese Ziele zu erreichen, ist eine (gleichgewichtige) Stärkung des institutionellen Dreiecks sowie eine grundlegende Reform der Außenvertretung der Union in der Europäischen Verfassung erforderlich.

CONTRIBUTION FRANCO-ALLEMANDE A LA CONVENTION EUROPEENNE SUR L'ARCHITECTURE INSTITUTIONELLE DE L'UNION

Lors du Conseil européen de Copenhague qui s'est tenu il y a quelques semaines, l'Union a réalisé le plus grand élargissement de son histoire. Si elle entend conserver son unité et sa capacité d'action à l'intérieur comme à l'extérieur avec 25 Etats membres et plus, l'Union doit plus que jamais s'approfondir.
Nous souhaitons réussir une réforme des institutions qui réponde à trois exigences: clarté, légitimité et efficacité. Afin d'atteindre ces objectifs, un renforcement du triangle institutionnel (préservant son équilibre) ainsi qu'une réforme fondamentale de la représentation extérieure de l'Union sont nécessaires dans la Constitution européenne.
A cet égard, nous nous félicitons de l'avant-projet de traité constitutionnel présenté par le président de la Convention européenne. Nous estimons que ce texte devrait définir précisément dans sa première partie les objectifs des politiques de l'Union.

The Secretary-General of the Convention has received the attached joint contribution by the French Socialist delegation and the German Social Democratic delegation to the European Parliament, presented by Ms Pervenche Berès, alternate member of the Convention, and Mr Klaus Hänsch, member of the Convention.

To read the document see: http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/03/cv00/cv00479en03.pdf (the contribution is in french).

On the 16th January, the European Parliament has adopted a written declaration (320 of the 626 Members of Parliament signed) asking for the President of the Commission to be elected by the European Parliament. The declaration will be send to the president of the European Convention and to all member state's governments.

To read the document see: http://www.europarl.ep.ec/Declaration/document/2002/P5_DCL(2002)0017/P5_DCL(2002)0017_EN.doc.

PRESS RELEASE

European Foreign Minister must become vice-president of the Commission

The Intergroup European Constitution in the European Parliament debated the issue "Which foreign and defence policy for the EU?" on Wednesday in Strasbourg. Andrew DUFF, member of the Convention, criticised that the working group ´External Action’ in the Convention had fallen far short of the expectations and the necessities of a common policy in this area. The CFSP had to be moved to the community method and decisions had to be taken by qualified majority voting. Only in this way could there be progress in this crucial policy area.

PRESS RELEASE - Strasbourg, 16 January 2003

Monica Frassoni and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-Presidents of the Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament, on the German-French proposals for the reform of the European institutions:

"Schröder and Chirac's proposal is just one of many contributions to the debate on a reform of the European institutions. The proposal will be discussed in the only legitimate body to do this, which is the Convention.

Strasbourg, 14 January 2003

SUMMARY MINUTES of the meeting on Tuesday, 7 January 2003 in the European Parliament

With a view to preparing its contributions to the European Convention, the European Parliament's Socialist Group organised a conference on "Europe in the World" on 7 January 2003.

Chaired by Pervenche Berès, Vice-President of the PES Group responsible for relations between the Group and Civil Society, this conference was centered on two round-tables: "Europe's presence in the world" and "Promoting development and solidarity".

by Wouter Coussens (KIIB-IRRI) and Ben Crum (CEPS).

Two days after the Franco-German proposal for a double-presidency of the EU and four days before the Convention will start its debate on the EU institutions, Wouter Coussens and Ben Crum publish a systematic analysis of the options and guidelines for reform of EU-leadership. Attached you find links to the full Working Paper as well as to a summary of it.
We argue that the reorganisation of EU leadership faces three challenges: it needs to make the Union more effective, contribute to its democratic character and respect the Union's institutional balance. In view of these three challenges, we consider the various options raised along the two main strands of debate that touch upon the issue of leadership in the EU: first, the debate on the election of the Commission President and, secondly, the different proposals for reforming the Council Presidency.

The Platform of European Social NGOs is an association of 38 European non-governmental organisations, federations and networks that work in the social sector and uphold the interests of a wide spectrum of European civil society. The Platform includes associations of organisations representing women, older people, people with disabilities, unemployed people, migrants, people living in poverty, gays, lesbians, young people, children and families. The member organisations also include NGOs working on social issues such as social justice, homelessness, health and racism.

The Social Platform welcomes the constitution of the Working Group on Social Issues as a recognition that the new European Union must be a social Europe.

Press-Release by JEF-Europe on 16th January

Close cooperation between France and Germany has been a driving force for European integration for the last forty years and it is positive to see attempts being made to solve the question of the Presidency of the EU. The Young European Federalists (JEF-Europe) are, however, concerned that the proposals do not go far enough towards achieving the goal of a federal and democratic Europe that is more comprehensible to its citizens.

Press-Release by JEF-Europe on 16th January

Close cooperation between France and Germany has been a driving force for European integration for the last forty years and it is positive to see attempts being made to solve the question of the Presidency of the EU. The Young European Federalists (JEF-Europe) are, however, concerned that the proposals do not go far enough towards achieving the goal of a federal and democratic Europe that is more comprehensible to its citizens.

The Italian Youth Convention took place from the 10th to the 12th of January 2003, in Rome.

The event, promoted by the "Osservatorio sulla Convenzione", part of the Ministry for the European affairs of the italian Government, has been attended by 207 young italians coming from 65 youth associations, local and regional youth conventions, local and regional youth forums, local and regional institutions, youth parties, universities and NGO.

The debate about the future of Europe continues. The process has also brought youth organisations together to work for a better future. In addition to traditional political organisations, also non-political organisations around Europe have actively discussed about and started to promote a stronger youth dimension in the future union. So far, the process has been revolutionary. Many different organisations have come together to work for the common goals in a way that I have never seen before in the world of youth politics.
There is a need for a youth article in the next constitutional treaty. It would continue the recognition of the youth policy, that the union already started with the White Paper for youth policy. The recognition would also recognise the work of European wide youth organisations. In addition, it would further put a special priority on the development of an active European youth citizenship.