EUROPE NEEDS TO THINK AHEAD

That Europe needs to work together because the challenges ahead are too large for any European country to address on their own isn’t really news. Neither is the idea to strengthen the Single Market, to foster the EU’s economic governance, or to continue with the reforms set out in the Lisbon Agenda ten years ago.

Rather than focusing on communication policy, the EU needs to communicate on policy.

It is high time for the EU to develop its forward analysis capacity, a key to the future. For this to happen the EU President together with the 28 heads of state and government need to initiate regular strategic debates based on sound scenario-planning and true forward-thinking. Most importantly, they should include member states’ parliaments into these deliberations in order to train national parliamentarians in Euro-strategic thinking as well as indirectly engage citizens beyond the mere ‘shock and awe’ they experienced lately in the course of the Euro crisis.

In its State of the Union 2012 Address, the President of the European Commission indicated that before the next European Parliament elections in 2014, the Commission will present its outline for the shape of the future European Union and will put forward explicit proposals for the necessary Treaty changes in time for a debate. The Commission will set out the objectives to be pursued, the way the institutions  can make the European Union more open and democratic, the powers and instruments to make it more effective, and the model to make it a union for the peoples of Europe. The President further stressed the need for a serious discussion between the citizens of Europe about the way forward. We must use the 2014 election he said to mobilise all pro-European forces to embrace the business of the future and this means making our Union fit to meet the challenges of globalization. That is why we need a new thinking for Europe, a decisive deal for Europe.