MEPs call for a first set of specific changes to the European Union’s founding documents, to ensure citizens’ expectations will be met. Throughout the 12 months of the Conference on the Future of Europe, a few key areas of institutional reform were brought up, such as the abolition of unanimity voting in the Council in most areas, and the expansion of EU powers in health and energy, among others. Extracts from the debate and from the vote.

VERHOFSTADT, Guy (Renew, BE)

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

vote

ANNEMANS, Gerolf (ID, BE)

future of the European Union (T)

ŠUICA, Dubravka (EPP, HR, EC)

FREUND, Daniel (Greens/EFA, DE)

SIMON, Sven (EPP, DE)

BISCHOFF, Gabriele (S&D, DE)

BEAUNE, Clément (FR)

conference on the future of Europe (T)

The call for Convention for revision of Treaties: extracts from the debate and from the vote

Title:  The call for Convention for revision of Treaties: extracts from the debate (EBS) - 

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka &#352;UICA, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Democracy and Demography, You know that in the conference on the future of Europe, we have given a citizens a central role. We have heard their voice. And now it's up to each institution to deliver on the follow up of the conference. According to the commitments made by the end of the Joint Declaration at the beginning of the conference. Follow up is a shared responsibility.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka &Scaron;UICA, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Democracy and Demography, The Commission is ready to play its part in turning proposals into concrete action. The first new commission proposal responding to the final report will be announced by the President on the line in her State of the Union address in September already. 

SOUNDBITE (English), Dubravka &Scaron;UICA, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Democracy and Demography, Recent examples show that even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic or a war, Europe is able to deliver on areas that are not explicitly foreseen in the treaties. Europe could play a greater role, for example, in health and in defence and in some key areas. Unanimity voting does not make sense and we need to be able to move faster.

SOUNDBITE (French), Cl&#233;ment BEAUNE, French Minister for European Affairs,, As far as France is concerned, we will back this ambition. We are in favour of the idea of a convention and we take the view that treaty revision doesn't have to be something good for their own sake. But if they would allow us to to do what we need to do, we will address them.

SOUNDBITE (German), Sven SIMON (EPP, DE), From the outset in Article 48. It's a question of giving the European Union more competences or sending them back to the member states. Then obviously anybody who is excluded from the whole process will. Well, obviously the whole project will lose. And that's not the spirit of Robert Schumann or Helmut Kohl. Obviously, what Mr. Macron has that it's not just a question of holding speeches, you have to act, be more specific and the EPP is realistic. We're going to be voting in favour of this resolution because what we want to do is to restructure the European Union so that the European Union can be a better actor on the international stage and that we are more unified within the European Union. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (German), Gabriele BISCHOFF (S&amp;D, DE), And that means, in fact, that we can't just decorate a Christmas tree with everything we could imagine. Rather, we've listened very closely to what the citizens said who said very clearly that one point is essential. Unanimity is going to destroy the European project because we can't take action because we cannot react this time. We want to have a large majority supporting this resolution with this in order to bring these changes across the threshold, because we want to send a clear, strong signal to the council, to the member states. And we if we do so, we will be successful.

SOUNDBITE (English), Guy VERHOFSTADT (Renew, BE), I think we did a good thing to ask for a convention, article 48, and to concentrate us on the main issue that blocks the union for the moment. And that is this unanimity rule, the veto right that exists today in our treaties, at least giving up a defeat to write in sanctions, creating a Perceval clause was never used. It was created in the Nice Treaty. It has never been used since the moment that it was in the Treaties. By launching a possibility to have a qualified majority the launch of the passage, I think that is absolutely needed to survive with the European Union in this 21st century.

SOUNDBITE (English), Daniel FREUND (Greens/EFA, DE), It's surprisingly easy to say why the EU needs reform. In four words, Orban has a veto. One No from a dictator can block what 450 million Europeans want, and what might have been conceived initially to protect minority rights has now become a tool for extortion. Vetoes are misused for extra cash. Vetoes are misused to destroy the rule of law in the European Union. Today, we will start to change this.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Gerolf ANNEMANS (ID, BE), The ID Group rejects the so-called results of the conference and will continue to commit itself to free negotiated European cooperation, where the Member States and their peoples retain their rights. European standards cannot be imposed on citizens. Countries have not gone along with it. The emphasis must lie on returning power to the member states.

Vote on the resolution - Adopted (355 in favor, 154 against, 48 abst.).