European democracy

Event report

Dialogue between young people on the Future of Europe – 16/06 The aim of the event was to involve young boys and girls to ask them what were the most important and necessary changes for their generation and for the future of Europe. The young people, part of some political realities such as Italia Viva, Volt Italia and Gioventù Federalista Europea di Milano, were then listened to by Sandro Gozi, MEP, who responded to their reflections. The event was structured as follows: (i) introduction by Marco Laganà, referent Cantiere Europa di Italia Viva per la provincia di Milano and organiser of the event; (ii) reflections of the young rapporteurs; (iii) reply by Sandro Gozi; (iv) debate among young participants; (v) Conclusions following the debate. In total, 8 participants were involved on zoom and 260 people followed the event on Facebook. The interventions of the young and the young have touched on many themes, exemplifying the multidimensionality of the challenges that the new generations identify in the European project. These issues have been varied: the European Union is seen as a place of opportunity for young people, but at the same time it has some weaknesses and problems that need to be resolved with some structural reforms. The interventions showed that it is necessary to change the current decision-making mechanisms which see the Council possessing excessive power, which does not make it possible to resolve many issues effectively, such as the migration issue. It has also been underlined by the rapporteurs that it is of fundamental importance that the European Parliament should play a leading role and represent European citizens rather than national peoples. Two steps emerge as priorities for the creation of a Europe that is more protagonist and effective in resolving the problems of our time: 1. The abolition of the right of veto in the European Council, particularly in the area of taxation, since the amount of the Union’s budget and the nature of the resources which finance it are decided by the Council unanimously, and then on foreign and defence policy. It is also necessary that the abolition of unanimity and the right of veto in these areas should be accompanied by structural change, replacing the logic of cooperation between sovereign States by the creation of a democratically legitimised supranational power capable of acting, within its sphere of competence, independently of the Member States. 2. The creation of a European tax capacity which, in order to be such, must: Be independent of the will of individual States, i.e. it must be able to determine itself both on the revenue and expenditure side; Be able to mobilise relevant resources. Depending on the tasks it will be called upon to carry out, the budget will have to mobilise between 5 % and 10 % of European GDP. The above proposals call for a reform of the Treaties currently in force: these must necessarily be accompanied by a political act of awareness of the new tasks awaiting the European Union in the current international system; a political act in continuity with the original aims of the process of European unification and with the thought of the founding Fathers.