Political union. How?

The proposal of a “convention”, a kind of constituent assembly tasked with paving the way – once and for all – to European political union, “ascribed” for days to Angela Merkel, has the merit of drawing attention on Community integration process, although several questions are still hanging. The first regards the true intention of the German chancellor to undertake such a brave – and under many aspects daring – political step. A further question regards the scope of the proposal, namely, which European scenario is being envisaged? It is legitimate to raise doubts on the possibility that the head of the German government, on the eve of the electoral campaign for the national legislative election due to be held in a year’s time, may undertake such an impervious path knowing that Europe isn’t exactly among the priorities of German general public. Indeed, the latter are persuaded that they will have to open their wallets on several occasions to balance EU accounts, to preserve Brussels’ bureaucracy and now also to redress the national budgets of Mediterranean countries which a large part of the German, Dutch, Austrian and Finnish public opinions accuse of spending more than they could afford. Thus it will be necessary to ascertain whether Mrs. Merkel will advance a “konvent” EU scale proposal. But even if Mrs. Merkel were working on such a plan – given the emphasis she has been placing on the need to promote European political union -, what will be the real content of the proposal? In fact, “political union” is easier said than done, considering the various implications of the statement. It’s quite evident, for example, that a convention, a constituent assembly or the equivalent reality, could take place with the sole contribution of Member States’ governments (a sort of major extraordinary European Council), or else it could involve other Community institutions, starting with Strasbourg’s parliament, the only EU body elected with universal suffrage by EU citizens. Which role could be eventually ascribed to the Commission, which already now, starting with the treaties in force, detains legislative initiative powers and acts as the “guardian of the same treaties”? Furthermore, can the EU’s future be decided without directly involving – via democratic bodies – the same European citizens, or rather “civil society” (the representatives of enterprises, families, associations, or unions…) for the “common good”, hailed as the guiding principle of the entire Community building? It is equally important to ascertain whether a new reform of the European Union should proceed according to a federal (creation of a continent-wide federal state, following the example of the US), or con-federal (an iron pact between capitols and chancelleries) approach, or if through a different, original and perhaps surprising political approach, as once was the case of the European Economic Community, developed into the EU with the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. Another legitimate question, regards the need to proceed – along the path of a more efficient political union – in the direction of a new treaty. Over the past 20 years the EU issued several treaties or pseudo-treaties (Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice, Lisbon, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the stillborn European Constitution, Schengen, until the recent “fiscal compact” for national budgetary discipline…) some of which succeeded, while others didn’t. It’s logical to wonder, especially at a time when citizens urgently demand concrete measures to defeat the crisis, how the treaty would be received by the Greek unemployed or Spanish indignados, by French consumers or by British and Cypriot investors, in the cities of Eastern Europe and in the hamlets of Baltic Countries… Other knots that need to be entangled figure in the – timely and in certain ways farsighted – proposal of a ‘European Political Union’. Various questions come up regarding State sovereignty and the responsibilities of common political and economic institutions (Council, Parliament, Commission, ECB, Court of Justice…) and the effective impact of these decisions on European populations (the EU’s democratic gap). These are just hanging issues, which don’t clash with the possibility of a solid and concrete political European Union, which still lacks a true public debate on its finalities and  on the ways to implement them.