The three great questions

Plan D (democracy, dialogue, debate) – devised by the Commission last year to give content and substance to the “pause for reflection” on the future of integration, decided by the European Council – is beginning to bear its first timid fruits. The first Inter-parliamentary Forum will be held in Brussels on 8-9 May. Its aim is “to permit an exchange between national MPs of the member states of the Union and MEPs on the great issues that are raising concerns in the public opinion of our countries about the future of Europe”. IDENTITY AND FRONTIERS OF THE EU. JOSEP BORRELL , President of the European Parliament, and ANDREAS KHOL , President of the Austrian Parliament, have written a letter to their colleagues of the 25, inviting them to select a national delegation to participate in the Forum. The programme of the two-day debate is as follows: on the afternoon of Monday 8 May there will be opening speeches by Borrell and Khol. Four workgroups will then be formed, devoted to the study of EU frontiers and identity, European social model, freedom and security of citizens… The following day will be dedicated to the presentation and discussion of the four final reports, a general debate in the chamber and speeches by Wolfgang Schüssel, current President of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, head of the Commission. The work of the Forum can be followed through the website www.europa.eu.int http://www.europa.eu.int> (which from 9 May, Europe Day, will switch to the domain .eu) and on the EBS satellite channel. (which from 9 May, Europe Day, will switch to the domain .eu) and on the EBS satellite channel. OBJECTIVES OF INTEGRATION. The meeting between political exponents was preceded by the European Forum for civil society on 24-25 April, once again “in the framework of the dialogue on the future of the EU launched after the rejection of the Constitution by the citizens of France and the Netherlands”. The Forum was promoted by the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the EP, chaired by the German MEP JO LEINEN , which invited various exponents of organizations of civil society, of volunteer services and of culture “to debate what they expect from Europe”. The discussion focused on “issues identified by the resolution approved by the Parliament in January”, and hence “on the ultimate objectives of the process of integration and the role of the EU on the world scene”. The conclusions of these Forums will be taken into consideration, together with those of other Forums planned in various cities of Europe and directly aimed at involving citizens, in preparation for the EU Council in June, which will be called to draw the first conclusions from this “dialogue”. FEEDBACK: THE EXPECTATIONS OF CITIZENS. The parliamentary resolution of January, signed by MEPs ANDREW DUFF and JOHANNES VOGGENHUBER , already defined with some precision the main questions to be addressed within the Forums: “What is the objective of European integration? What role ought to be played by Europe at the world level? In the light of globalization, what is the future of the European economic and social model? How can the frontiers of the Union be defined? How can freedom, security and justice be promoted? How should the EU be financed?”. Plan D itself specifies the topics on which the debate should be created, to “clarify, foster and legitimise a new consensus on Europe”, “to respond to the criticisms and find solutions wherever expectations have hitherto been betrayed”. In the light of these considerations, the Commission led by JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO recommended member states: “to organize a national debate in each country”; to agree on “the modalities of the process of feedback”, so as to “ensure that citizens’ fears may be allayed and their concerns addressed” within the institutional seats of the EU. CONCRETE PRINCIPLES AND THEMES. More precisely Plan D, presented by Commission Vice-President MARGOT WALLSTRÖM , invites reflection on three fundamental questions. First, “the economic and social development of Europe”, in other words “the capacity to generate growth and create more jobs, exploiting to the maximum the effects of the Lisbon Strategy; the common values on which the economic and social models in Europe are based; and the necessary reforms to tackle global competition and secure the conditions for sustainable development”. Second, “sentiments about Europe and the tasks of the Union”: “starting out from the goals already achieved and the concrete benefits contributed by the EU to daily life (safety of food products, Erasmus, single currency, consumer protection), the debate could be focused on what, according to citizens, ought to be done at the local level and on what the future role of the Union ought to be”. Third theme, “the frontiers of Europe and its role in the world”: “the prospect of new enlargements, the Union’s ability to absorb new members, the global security of the continent, relations with its neighbours and the influence of Europe vis-à-vis that of other major world powers”.