President Macron is right: resignation and conformity with the status quo are Europe’s downfall
“President Macron is right: resignation and conformity with the status quo are Europe’s downfall”, says JEF Europe
“One of Berlin’s East Side Gallery murals – erected to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 – says: ‘Those who wish for the world to remain as it is, do not wish for the world to remain at all’. As a European born in Germany I can’t but agree with President Macron: the biggest risk to the future of Europe today, are those supposedly pro-European national leaders, who have not understood that the only way to keep the European Union united and successful, is by integrating further, pooling our sovereignty to face together those challenges – such as climate change, a humanitarian migration policy, a stronger European voice on the global stage, internal and external security – that we cannot possibly address as individual Nation-States. But let us not be mistaken: we can face such challenges decisively and united if, and only if, we develop a true European democracy. The key challenges we face today cannot be solved by means of loose cooperation between Member States.
When politicians are not able to provide concrete solutions, voters lose trust in them. When politicians pursue business as usual and lack empowering visions for the Future of Europe, voters lose trust in the EU and it’s founding values: solidarity, the rule of law, representative democracy. After the European elections, we must start the process of convening a European Constituent Assembly, tasked with drafting a genuine European Constitution”, comments Christopher Glück, President of the Young European Federalists.
“It is not necessary to sign up to every detail of President Macron’s proposals, to agree that all of these issues are European public goods and require a European level action and European financing. Member States cannot continue blocking each other threatening a veto, and they must all put their money where their mouth is. It is an important signal that President Macron does not shy away from the question of Treaty change. Our current structures do not allow for effective solutions and create deadlocks and a lack of accountability in European decision-making. President Macron’s election nearly two years ago opened a window of opportunity for real change in Europe. Very little has happened since, and time is running out: nationalist and illiberal parties continue to consolidate their support across Europe and have taken government positions in key Member States. How many more warning signs will national leaders miss before they stop sleepwalking towards the abyss and bring on real European solutions?” continues Christopher GLÜCK, President of the Young European Federalists.
“By addressing citizens directly in their native tongue, President Macron is introducing a new level of pan-European democratic discourse and is helping to turn the European elections into more than 27 national elections, which happen to be held in the same week. Yet, we would have expected President Macron to go the whole nine yards: the true House of European democracy is the European Parliament, which must be empowered to elect the President of the European Commission according to the result of the European elections and the political majority which will form in Strasbourg. He must commit himself and the ALDE group to support the Spitzenkandidaten system, and urgently nominate a candidate for the Commission presidency”, concludes GLÜCK.
About JEF Europe
The Young European Federalists (JEF) Europe is a non-partisan youth NGO active with 13.000 members active in more than 30 countries. The organisation strives towards a federal Europe based on the principles of democracy and subsidiarity as well as respect for human rights. JEF promotes true European Citizenship, and works towards more active participation of young people in democratic life. While the umbrella organisation JEF Europe was founded in 1972, its sections have been operating continuously since the end of the Second World War, making it the oldest pro-European and only federalist youth organisation.
More info
JEF Europe
European Secretariat
info@jef.eu
+32 2 512 00 53