Over 300 European intellectuals and academics from across the European Union have signed an appeal in view of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. The Appeal “A genuine European Union to ensure welfare, security and democracy” calls upon the Heads of State and Government meeting in Rome to celebrate the Treaties of Rome to open the way to a re-foundation of the EU on the basis of recent European Parliament’s proposals to strengthen EU institutions and policies, especially on foreign and security, economic and social policies. The authors call upon the Europe’s youth, its civil society, workers, entrepreneurs, academia, local governments and European citizens to participate in the March for Europe in Rome on March 25 to give political leaders the strength and courage to push forward the EU to a new beginning.

The appeal has been initiated by Prof. Roberto Castaldi together with Giuliano Amato, Yves Bertoncini, Stefan Collignon, Anthony Giddens, Ulrike Guerot, and Miguel Maduro. It was subscribed by about 300 intellectuals, academics, think tanks directors and experts, and personalities in all the EU, and beyond. Among the people who have already signed are: Edmond Alphandery, Enrique Barón Crespo, Emma Bonino, Massimo Cacciari, Alessandro Cavalli, Anna Diamantopoulou, Luigi Ferrajoli, Monserrat Guibernau, Daniel Innerarity, Jean-Victor Louis, Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, Claus Offe, Gianfranco Pasquino, Javier Solana, Natalie Tocci, Loukas Tsoukalis, Nadia Urbinati, Vladimiro Zagrebelsky.The full list is published below, and it is now open to the adhesion of all citizens who wish to support it.

A genuine European Union to ensure welfare, security and democracy

We European citizens are worried and scared. The economic and financial crisis has impoverished many of us. Youth unemployment risks creating a lost generation. Inequality grows and social cohesion is in peril. The EU is surrounded by war and instability from Ukraine to Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa. The flux of refugees and migrants has become a structural feature we must address together, in a human and forward-looking manner. In many Member states we witness authoritarian tendencies and the rise of nationalist and xenophobic forces. Democracy and the core values of the European modern civilization are under attack. The EU itself is questioned, although it ensured peace, democracy and welfare for decades.

We European citizens don’t want our national politicians to care only about their next local or national election. They ask for European solutions to European problems but then they act to render those solutions impossible or ineffective. They disregard sensible Commission proposals or fail to implement decisions already taken , including when agreed by all. They claim, one day, for Europe to do something and protest, the following day, Europe’s proposed actions. We ask national politicians and the media to stop depicting integration as a zero-sum game, thus pitting nations against one another. In an interdependent world no nation can satisfy all of its citizens’ basic needs and appeals for social justice. In this context, integration and supranational government is a positive-sum game. Our European social model based on liberal democracy and a social market economy can only survive in a multi-level framework of government, on the basis of the subsidiarity principle.

We European citizens are aware that globalization is transforming the world. We need a European government to foster our common values and contribute to the solution of the global problems threatening humanity. The world needs an outward-looking cosmopolitan Europe to help build a more effective and democratic global governance to cope with climate change, peace, global poverty, and the transition to an environmentally and socially sustainable economy.

We European citizens recognise the EU as an incomplete Res Publica. It has a ridiculous budget (0,9% of GDP) and no financial autonomy from Member states, while its current competences are out of date for what is necessary to successfully answer the challenges of the current crises. It has a federal like legislative, judiciary and central bank. But democracy is the possibility for citizens to choose the government and make it accountable. For the Union to work and be democratic its decisions, including budget, foreign and defence policy, and the reform of the Treaties, should primarily be taken by a qualified majority representing the majority will of European citizens and states. The Commission should evolve into a fully-fledged government, setting and promoting a political agenda legitimated through elections. European parties should present their candidates to the Presidency at the European election. The alternative is a directly elected President of the EU merging the Presidencies of the Commission and the European Council.

On 14 February 1984 the European Parliament adopted the Draft Treaty establishing the European Union, the so-called Spinelli Project, pointing towards a political union, which Member states disregarded. On 14 February 2017 we call upon the European Parliament, the only directly elected body of the EU, to take a new initiative to kick-start the EU on strengthened democratic basis. Talking about banking, fiscal, economic, energy, security, defence and political unions makes sense only within a genuine democratic European Union, with all those policies under a European government.

On 25 March 2017 the Heads of state and government will celebrate the Treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic Community and Euratom in 1957. We call upon them to match the vision of the Founders. They should open the way to the re-foundation of the EU on the basis of the European Parliament proposal, and immediately exploit all the Lisbon Treaties’ instruments to strengthen EU institutions and policies, especially on foreign and security, economic and social policies. We call upon the Europe’s youth, its civil society, workers, entrepreneurs, academia, local governments and European citizens to participate in the March for Europe in Rome on March 25. Together we shall give the political leaders the strength and courage to push forward the EU to a new beginning. European unity is key to solve our common problems, safeguard our values and ensure our welfare, security and democracy.

Read the appeal in other languages (pdf format)

Български – Deutsch – English – Español – Français – Ελληνικά – Italiano – Português – Polski

Main signatories

Gian Paolo Accardo – Alberto Alemanno – Edmond Alphandery – Giuliano Amato – Filippo Andreatta – Daniele Archibugi – Giampiero Armenise Auletta – Matej Avbelj – Roberto Balzani – Enrique Barón Crespo – Gauthier Bas – José María Beneyto – Vitor Bento – Yves Bertoncini – Stanislaw Biernat – Francesco Billari – Angelo Bolaffi – Emma Bonino – Gianni Bonvicini – Donnelly Brendan – Mercedes Bresso – Flavio Brugnoli – Massimo Cacciari – Susanna Cafaro – Raimondo Cagiano De Azevedo – Beniamino Caravita – Franco Cardini – Maria Chiara Carrozza – Roberto Castaldi – Giuliano Cazzola – Innocenzo Cipolletta – Stefan C. Collignon – Carlo Curti Gialdino – Pier Virgilio Dastoli – Mario Di Napoli – Anna Dl Diamantopoulou – Luigi Ferrajoli – Maurizio Ferrera – Thomas Fischer – John Erik Fossum – Monica Frassoni – Marco Frey – Emilio Gabaglio – Antonio Gaudioso – Anthony Giddens – Aidan Gilligan – Enrico Giovannini – Ettore Greco – Marcel Grignard – Robert Grzeszczak – Ulrike Guérot – Paolo Guerrieri – Montserrat Guibernau – Vincenzo Guizzi – Julius Horvat – Fernando A. Iglesias – Daniel Innerarity – Paul Jaeger – Pikalo Jernej – Ireneusz C. Kaminski – Ireneusz P. Karolewski – Mathias Koenig-archibugi – Tomasz Koguc – Brigid Laffan – Vladan Lalovic – Fulco Lanchester – Christophe Leclercq – Jo Leinen – Enrico Letta – Lucio Levi – Jonathan Littell – Miguel Poiares Maduro – Paolo Magri – Alberto Majocchi – Mikel Mancisidor – Andrea Manzella – Michaela Marek – Markku Markkula – Riccardo Marussi – Marco Mascia – Fabio Masini – Yves Meny – Cesare Merlini – Marcello Messori – Kevin Morgan – Gilberto Muraro – Holger Nehring – Ferdinando Nelli Feroci – Kalypso Nicolaïdis – Claus Offe – Antonio Padoa Schioppa – Francesco Papadia – Antonino Papisca – Gianfranco Pasquino – Otto Pfersmann – Mikolaj Pietrzak – Jernej Pikalo – Fausto Pocar – Fabrice Pozzoli-montenay – Adriano Prosperi – Pietro Reichlin – Pietro Rossi – Gianenrico Rusconi – Saskia Sassen – Vivien Schmidt – Ingrid Shikova – Olexander Shnyrkov – Dusan Sidjanski – Denis Simonneau – Enzo Siviero – Magnús Árni Skjöld Magnússon – Francisco Javier Solana De Madariaga – Valeria Termini – Valeria Termini – Giuseppe Tesauro – Nathalie Tocci – Jose Ignacio Torreblanca Payá – Loukas Tsoukalis – Nadia Urbinati – Kirmen Uribe – Antonio Villafranca – Jorge E. Viñuales – Izabela Wróbel – Vladimiro Zagrebelsky

See the entire list of signatories

Sign the appeal

Name: * First Last E-mail: * Organisation or institution: * Position within your organisation: * I would like my name to appear under the text of the manifesto * Yes No Please, type the following text in the box Sign the appeal Reset

Contact details of the promoters:

Prof. Roberto Castaldi, Associate Professor, Director of the Research Centre on Multi-Level Integration and Governance Processes at eCampus University

Research Director of International Centre for European and global governance www.cesue.eu spin-off of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna

Co-Editor Perspectives on Federalism www.on-federalism.eu

http://castaldi.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/ @RobertoCastaldi