To win, let’s bet on European democracy!

Less than one year before the European elections, the stakes of this election are beginning to emerge in the public debate. If the topics of debate and the oppositions are numerous in the European political landscape; we, federalist militants, should not lose sight of our historic struggle, that of European democracy.

If the European Union is called into question, if doubt is reaching the European citizenry; it is because the Europe that we have built has not yet met its citizens’ expectations. The European Union is still too often impotent when tackling the challenges of today’s world. What is the point of the European Union, what is the point of its institutions, what is the point of its Parliament, if it cannot find concerted answers to financial instability, to social crisis, to global warming and degradation of ecosystems, to threats of external powers, to dismantling of fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, to the increase of migration flows in the world? If the EU does not provide a strong answer, then it is useless. And why ask citizens to mobilise themselves in order to legitimate institutions that have trouble addressing their concerns?

The European Union can no longer only look for its raison d’être in the past, in the successes of the yesteryear, or in the meanderings of its nations’ history. The EU must build a narrative which reaffirms its project of civilisation and regulation of globalisation. It must establish the rules so that together, citizens and businesses, can build a fair and sustainable world, and bring a social project approved by all.

In order to achieve this, we must complete the political union, fulfil the promise of European democracy, and reconcile the citizens with the European project. Starting from 2019, we can make progress on this issue: let’s claim the legislative initiative for the European Parliament, let’s impose the Community method, let’s demand the establishment of a real European government, let’s adopt the principle of transnational lists for 2024, let’s create new tools of direct democracy, let’s put the work for a European Constitution back on track. These measures are the action levers for all the others. And the European Parliament is the only legitimate and capable institution to address these reforms.

It is up to us to convince the citizens to join our camp in this fight, and to elect the MEPs who will have the courage to fulfil this promise of reform in order to complete European democracy.