A few weeks ahead the European Parliament elections, which could be decisive for the direction of the European Union in the coming decades, the continent faces some challenges that, beyond the warmongering climate that dominates the political debate and to which we have already devoted some space, deserve our attention. The third great wave of enlargement, the unresolved drama of migration, economic competitiveness in an increasingly complex world, and citizen participation are some of the main topics that will define the Europe of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the decisive processes will undoubtedly be that of enlargement to the Balkans and other eastern countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and even Georgia. Throughout the successive enlargements, negotiations have taken place to adjust voting rules and the weighting of countries in EU institutions, and the last major enlargement between 2004 and 2007 was an important milestone, but it also showed shortcomings, such as the lack of preparation of both the EU and the countries that joined. Indeed, while it contributed to bringing the new member states up to Western standards, it also entailed complicated adjustments in terms of dysfunctional institutions and economic and social transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, ten countries aspire to join the EU, with a variety of very complex political, social, economic and cultural situations, which opens the door to numerous questions: how will cohesion funds, common agricultural policy subsidies, seats in the European Parliament, Commissioners’ portfolios be shared out, how will paralysis be avoided on issues requiring unanimity? It is therefore necessary to approach these applications strategically, prioritising those countries more likely to meet the accession criteria. The potential risks associated with this new enlargement, such as unresolved territorial issues and states with strong internal Balkan contestation, must also be taken into account. It is therefore essential to reach a strong political consensus among the main pro-European forces, which will likely require the use of gateway clauses to avoid the unanimity vote in some sensitive cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another key issue for European integration is migration, which has already had a major impact in the wake of the 2015 refugee crisis. The Pact on Migration and Asylum<\/a> recently approved by the EU amid strong political tension generated by right-wing populist parties reflects a continuation of the trend towards deterrence in dealing with migration issues. This, despite being presented as a victory for the EU’s characteristic values of compromise and moderation and including positive aspects, such as proposals to extend legal and safe routes for asylum seekers. However, the text reveals the extent to which Europe’s political centre has shifted to the right on migration issues, which could further strengthen the radical right-wing ideologies it seeks to counteract insofar as the articles reflect much of the radical right’s narrative on migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pact introduces measures to improve the control and monitoring of irregular migrants, streamline asylum application processes and facilitate the return of ineligible asylum seekers to their countries of origin. It also includes solidarity measures to establish basic reception standards across the EU and to facilitate the relocation of asylum seekers during periods of peak migration crises. The underlying logic of the pact assumes that tougher measures will lead to more control and deterrence, without taking into account that many migrants are driven by desperation and have no other safe and legal alternatives. The text also highlights the fact that the problem lies not so much in the lack of asylum standards, but in the failure to apply them uniformly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The question of European competitiveness in an international context marked by instability and poly-crises of all kinds also generates debate, especially after the sovereign debt crisis of 2008. Many experts, including Mario Draghi, former head of the European Central Bank, believe that the EU has focused excessively on internal competitiveness to the detriment of external competitiveness, which places it in a weak position vis-\u00e0-vis more aggressive competitors such as China and the new BRICS powers. Therefore, improving Europe’s competitiveness means increasing investment in new technologies, protecting Europe’s traditional industries, securing critical supply chains, promoting economies of scale, ensuring the provision of public goods and the supply of essential resources. In Europe’s increasingly ageing societies, but at the same time characterised by a growing reluctance towards immigration, it is essential to ensure the transmission of the right skills to increase and improve competence and to establish flexible development pathways for working life. One of the most important actors must be the social partners who have always played a crucial role in times of change and have to take the lead in adapting the European labour market to the digital age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, one of the great challenges remains to get citizens to participate more actively in European affairs and to increase their political participation in elections, which has always been rather low. In this respect, the scarse impact of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE<\/a>), promoted by the Commission, the Council and the Parliament, stands out negatively. Both randomly selected European citizens and local, national and European policy makers participated in a process that concluded two years ago with the approval of 326 proposals<\/a> that have not been taken into account by either the Commission or the Council. This means that in the EU’s institutional framework, the European Parliament, unlike the state legislative assemblies, is not truly a sovereign legislating body, like any democratic parliament, since the ordinary legislative procedure in the EU is one of co-decision between the EU Council and the European Parliament itself, with the Commission retaining a monopoly on legislative initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, in order to meet the EU’s need for democratic and social growth, it is essential to have more informed and committed European citizens, with the aim of making the EU’s current institutional system more democratic. Europe, which has been a territory of democracy and social protection in important historical periods, has a great challenge today, which is none other than to once again become a space of solidarity at a time marked by warmongering, after a difficult period marked by the economic, financial and energy crises, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the rise of the radical right and of populisms that threaten the rule of law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deepening of the European integration process will only have a future if the needs of European citizens are decisively addressed, drawing up and implementing in a participatory way true community integration policies in areas such as employment, the fight against poverty, the defence of environmental values, culture, equality or social cohesion between the territories and populations of the Union. It is therefore essential to regain the EU’s drive for social integration, with the values of solidarity, cooperation, environmental protection and advanced democracy as the key ideas shaping the Europe of today and the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photography: CC-BY-4.0: \u00a9 European Union 2023 \u2013 Source: European Parliament.<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eduard Mayol, trainee student at the CETC, has participated in this issue of Idees d\u2019actualitat<\/em>.<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few weeks ahead the European Parliament elections, which could be decisive for the direction of the European Union in the coming decades, the continent faces some challenges that, beyond the warmongering climate that dominates the political debate and to which we have already devoted some space, deserve our attention. The third great wave of enlargement, the unresolved drama of migration, economic competitiveness in an increasingly complex world, and citizen participation are some of the main topics that will define the Europe of the future. One of the decisive processes will undoubtedly be that of enlargement to the Balkans and\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":70928,"template":"","category_newspaper":[584],"segment":[],"subject":[],"class_list":["post-71155","newspaper","type-newspaper","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category_newspaper-584"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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