BUSINESS AS USUAL NO LONGER AN OPTION FOR THE EU

It is time for Brussels to realise that “business as usual” is no longer an option; that citizens across the continent are disenchanted, and that they are right to be; that “eurosceptic,” or “problematic” countries cannot simply be dismissed when their internal politics turn nasty. In the wake of the British referendum, there has to be some collective soul-searching in the corridors of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Court of Justice.

Europeans are scared, they are wary of migration, many have lost their jobs. Brussels cannot counter-attack with yet another round of good-for-nothing summits, and empty political declarations. What Brussels needs now, above all, is outsiders. Strong, clear-minded leaders and thinkers, with a vision for the continent who were not born and bred within the European bubble. It also needs to explain and defend the European project, not with regulations and acronyms, but with a sober and realistic case for the EU. The EU needs to start listening to its citizens, eurosceptic though they may be, if it wants to save what is left of the European project.

The Brexit vote makes it all too clear that supporters of greater European integration must bring more to the debate than open borders and Europe’s success as a project for peace. And nor should they rely solely on the rational calculations of consumers. Instead, they must bring the vision of a renewed European project. Simply disproving the arguments advanced by Eurosceptics, many of whom are authoritarian nationalists, will not suffice. Such ingrained resentment towards “the powers that be” is immune to – and will only be spurred on by – reasoned argument.

On 16 September, the heads of state or government of the 27 will meet in Bratislava. They will continue a political reflection to give an impulse to further reforms and to the development of the EU with 27 member states.

The gathering will initiate discussions on the future of the EU following Brexit under the Slovak Presidency. The September meeting will be informal because the UK has not yet even triggered Article 50 to officially open the process of leaving the EU. The summit is going to deal with reform plans that are needed to transform Europe in the times when nationalism prevails over common European approach. As such, the meeting will be  about the reforms that need to be carried out.

Czech Republic: The EU needs to be more democratic. The  Czech Republic has three priorities with regard to the future of the EU. The first is an orientation towards security. The EU should be capable of protecting its external borders and countering migration, preventing terrorism and better cooperating in the area of defence; and create a joint European armed forces. The second Czech priority has to do with strengthening the single market; the third – a return by European institutions to their roots. We believe that the European Council should have an important role. It must be a balancing between the Parliament, the Commission and the European Council. We want the European Council to be able to set the tone of the discussion about the future of the EU that we will be holding in Europe. 

France: Nothing would be worse than the status quo.It would be the continuation of the populists' enterprise.

Germany: The EU needs to streamline, cut red tape, and create jobs. We need to act now. We have to set a positive agenda, and the EU has to get better at delivering results. The objective has to be to convince citizens why we do certain things … The issue is not about more or less regulation, but to set objectives more precisely.

Hungary: We have to return to the thesis that the Member States and not EU institutions form the basis of the EU. The democratic features of the EU can only be strengthened through Member States. The EU is not in Brussels, but in the 27, now still 28 capitals. Prior efforts to create democratic legitimacy for the EU institutions have failed. Previous groups, previous divisions will change, new groups will emerge. The British decision to leave the Community caused the EU to lose its global standing. The EU without the British will never be a global player, it will become a regional player. At the summit in Bratislava, leaders of EU Member States will have to answer the question how to rebuild EU’s global position. The EU “lost” the UK, because the European Commission took the worst possible decisions regarding migration in the last year, breaking a number of fundamental policies.

Poland: To speak about changing the treaty now prompts a certain resistance ... maybe at the end of the discussions, of the deeper reflection, there will also be talk of the need for a new treaty. Poland is warning against creating sub-sets of EU states with different levels of integration. If there’s talk among some states of building a Europe of variable speeds, that’s the end of the European project … leaders have to lay aside talk of clubs or groups that are more or less elite. The European Union is a value which should be developed but which also has to change. Contemporary challenges and current events have shown, day after day, that the EU institutions in the present shape fall short of Europeans’ expectations. The EU has to return to its roots and to start concentrating more on its citizens and less on institutional matters. The single market represents one of the areas that bring benefits to all Member States. We need to further liberalise the services and goods sector and to create conditions for European companies to be possibly the most competitive. We also need to protect the obligations of states arising from the free movement of persons. The rights of all EU citizens acquired in this area should not be restricted. We see the need to enhance control over the EU decision-making processes by Member States. The European Commission should thoroughly analyse objections voiced by the national parliaments. It appears that the Commission has not entirely drawn conclusions from what happened in the UK. Changes that the EU wants to undertake should ultimately be approved by national parliaments.Poland and other V4 countries will continue to be actively engaged in the discussion on measures regulating the status of seconded employees. Our declaration clearly underscores that the European Union – if we want to be a global partner, and the Visegrad Group wants to perceive it as such – has to be built based on a common, well-functioning cooperation of the 27 states, when the UK leaves the EU. EU reforms have to focus on “really adhering to and implementing” the four freedoms, which are the foundations of the EU: free movement of goods, services, capital and people. The EU has to build going forward on the basis of elements that unite instead of dividing. Finding a joint solution to the problem of migration is very important in this regard. The EU should be a Union that competes as a global partner, not split into small actors or discussion clubs. 

Slovakia: The summit in Bratislava will start a process to seek a new offer for European societies. The summit meeting in Bratislava cannot become dominated by Brexit. It should seek answers to the question about the shape of the European Union after Brexit. 

Other countries see the process as an opportunity to scale back EU competences and to reinforce nation states. Fault lines will inevitably be exposed between those who think a more federalist EU would be more effective, and others who argue that Member States should be more in control of union decision-making.

European Commission: Of course the EU needs reforms, but not reforms that are complimentary or contradictory to what we’re doing now … It’s about speeding up reforms not adding reforms. It’s about implementation, not innovation.

Leaders will assess the outcome of the Bratislava talks in October and December and hope to have tangible outcomes by next March.