"What do you think of the European Union and where should it go? What are your hopes and what are your concerns, as Europeans?". The president of the EU Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the deputy president, Margot Wallström, wanted to directly involve the citizens of the 25 EU member states to revive the debate on the "Debate Europe" website (http://europa.eu/debateeurope), a continental forum that the Brussels’ institutions have set up to give life to an exchange of opinions about the current state of European integration. The online discussion becomes interesting in the run-up to the summit of June 15th and 16th where the heads of state and government will have to outline a strategy for re-launching the EU Constitution. The forum is part of Plan D Democracy, Dialogue and Debate a contribution of the Commission to the reflection on the future of the European Union, which had been requested by the political leaders in June 2005 after the French and Dutch votes against the Constitutional Treaty. "According to some recent statistics reads the website many European citizens have lost confidence in the European Union as they think it has taken on more and more responsibilities, so it has become more and more complicated and difficult to understand". Three are the main subjects of the debate: the economic and social development of Europe; the perception of the EU and its mission; the frontiers of Europe and its role in the world.
