From the five scenarios about the future of the EU, I believe in the sixth: an EU of the citizens
In order to have a future, the EU needs to regain the trust of its citizens, states MEP Iuliu Winkler (EPP, RMDSZ), during a debate in the Brussels Plenum of the European Parliament (EP) following the speech of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the launching of the White Paper on the future of the EU.
”<< Quo Vadis Europa of the 27? >>, is the question raised today by the Commission President in the Brussels Plenary sitting. While presenting the White Paper on the future of the EU, President Juncker discussed five possible scenarios subject now to public debate. This ranged from a profoundly, politically integrated Union, to a two-speed Europe, the nightmare of states from the eastern part of the continent, all the way to a minimal Union, reduced to the existence of a Free Trade Area, reasoned Iuliu Winkler in his written statement on the EP debate. According to him, the five scenarios are carefully formulated, and the language used is prudent to the sensitivities of the various Member States and political groups. In his declaration, Winkler underlined that the debate concerning the five possible scenarios is more than necessary. “I think that the most important stake is the mobilization of citizens, getting them motivated to participate in the consolidation of the EU, which, for the first time in its history, will see one of its members leaving the block. In order to have a future, the EU needs to regain the trust of its citizens and the European project needs to once again become a generator of adhesion, hope and even love. From the five scenarios I believe in the materialization of a sixth: a European Union of its citizens”, added the RMDSZ MEP. Iuliu Winkler considers that this is a union of the regions and communities. “Rebuilt on its regions, the EU will become more efficient and more capable to capitalize on its local economies. Sincerely valuing all its national, ethnic and linguistic communities, this Europe will truly put the citizen at the centre of its reconstruction”, he further stressed.
The White Paper on the Future of the EU was brought into the public´s attention on the backdrop of Jean-Claude Juncker´s declaration that the 25 March EU Summit from the Italian capital, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, will “not merely be an anniversary but the birth of EU27”, given that we will “turn a page” in the history of the communitarian block, after the UK´s exit from the EU. He concluded that this is the time to find answers to the longstanding question as regards the direction the EU is heading into.
