Event report

On 26 November, a city assembly was held in Sondrio for the Conference on the Future of Europe organised at the behest of MFE, GFE, Provincial Committee for Europe, AICCRE and Evangelical Centre for Culture. Context, FINALITY, SUBJECT AND STUCTURE/METODOLOGY OF THE EVENT| The event has been structured in such a way as to address the following themes: analysis of the current conditions of the European Union, presentation of the Conference on the Future of Europe and speech by Prof. Guido Montani on the possible paths to be taken. A debate followed, with speeches from the public present. Number AND TYPE OF PRESENT PARTICIPANTS| More than twenty-five people took part in the initiative, including representatives of administrations, the world of entrepreneurship, trade unions, schools, associations and simple curious people. These were people with a majority over 40, mostly adults. The audience consisted of men and women with a majority in numerical terms of the former. In addition to the associations promoting the event (MFE, GFE, Provincial Committee for Europe, AICCRE and Evangelical Culture Centre), there were representatives of associations such as ARCI, ANPI, CGIL, entrepreneurship, school and public administrations of the province of Sondrio. Main MATERIES OF DISCUSSION DURING THE LABORATORS/SEMINARY/ASSEMBLEE| The most debated and successful themes were: European democracy, European values, environmental and energy crisis, transformation of the European Union into a leading organisation in the geopolitical context. The hope has been that the dialogue between institutions and civil society will not be interrupted by the conclusion of the Conference on the Future of Europe itself, but become permanent. Main IDEAS SUBJECT OF THE PARTICIPANTS DURING THE EVENT, DISCORS AND ARGOMENTS SHARE or debated THAT IDEAS| The ideas that we want to bring to the Conference’s attention are related to the European Constitution, the reform of the Treaties (on all the overcoming of the right of veto within the Council), the new elective processes that improve the representation of European citizens in Parliament, the building of a European army and the permanent dialogue between institutions and citizens. The city assembly, organised by the “Ezio Vedovelli” section Valtellina and Valchiavenna of the European Federalist Movement, in collaboration with the Sondrio section of European Federalist Youth, the Provincial Committee for Europe of Sondrio, the Italian Association of the Council of Municipalities and Regions of Europe, as well as with the Evangelical Centre of Culture of Sondrio in which the event took place, saw the participation of representatives of local administrations, entrepreneurship, trade unions, schools and associations. The debate on the future of Europe and the respective Conference was introduced by Guido Monti, representative of the Provincial Committee for Europe and the National Directorate of AICCRE, and by Giuseppe Enrico Brivio, secretary of the local MFE section, and led by Professor Guido Montani. The latter considered that the Conference on the Future of Europe could be a first step in addressing Europe’s constituent problems and reported the positions taken by the European Union of Federalists to the last Congress: the demand for own fiscal resources, reforms aimed at strengthening European representation and ensuring European patriotism, the abolition of the decision-making process by unanimity. Mr Montani went on to think about what the future of Europe would be after the end of the Conference, believing that the key point should be to stimulate popular participation. Democracy is fundamental, especially in a European Union which is not yet a protagonist in the geopolitical context, its intensification would disrupt and reverse what appears to be a process of disintegration of the international order. At the same time, attention should not be limited to the Conference to the environment and to the climate and energy crisis now close to the point of no return. These aspects, in addition to ensuring respect for the rule of law, the founding value of the Union, can, according to Professor Montani, assume real authority only through a European constituent process. The analysis agreed with the audience in the room, who nevertheless presented other elements on which Europe has to work. Marco Doria, President of the Circle ARCI “Il Contact” of Sondrio stressed that it is necessary to bring to a territorial level the debate on the future of Europe, how it is necessary to translate the demands presented by European citizens today, as well as those of yesterday, on all Altiero Spinelli, to a lower level. Only in this way, in his view, can that democracy which is the means of achieving a European Constitution be stimulated. Egidio Mele, representative of ANPI, pointed out that the political union of Europe could not only make it competitive in the geopolitical landscape, but make it a leader in the dissemination of values that must be common to humanity, but in order to do this, he said that a discussion was needed on those European states that were not inclined to solidarity and respect for the rule of law. A further challenge for Europe has been raised from the business world, i.e. to understand whether, in addition to sharing values, whereby distant states could be excluded as they could be accompanied, today all the states, even the greatest and most diligent, are ready to accept a supranational power capable of making important and sometimes radical political and economic choices towards them. Alfio Sciaresa’s intervention linked to this aspect, a political choice such as that of a common army, in his view, is certainly difficult especially for historical reasons, but it is an opportunity, and the moment we are experiencing, crucial, is the best possible time to make certain decisions at supranational level. Emanuele Campagna, from the Evangelical Centre of Culture, stressed the importance of a Europe that knows how to deal with the great powers, but stressed that this concept is much clearer to political decision-makers than to citizens and has therefore said that it is necessary to educate these to multilateralism. He also expressed the conviction that, as today’s civil society is often unable to feel Europe as present as it used to be, it is necessary to promote a path of European citizenship. In order to bring Europe closer to its citizens, according to Michela Turcatti, representative of the CGIL, it is important that it puts at the centre of its activities territories, democracy and work, the latter could be a real engine of European social cohesion. Every aspect mentioned in the debate, according to Cesare Ceccato, secretary of the European Federalist Youth Sondrio section, deserves to be part of the desired European Constitution, so long as it adheres to the values of the Union, the same represented by the twelve stars of its flag. Only by observing these will the Union be able to get rid of the shadow of purely economic bureaucratic mechanism and return to be seen as what it was born for: an organisation promoting cooperation, peace and unity among peoples. Professor Montani took the floor to draw the conclusions of the assembly, focused on the economic developments achieved by the Union and on those that still deserve discussion and experimentation, especially considering that today’s politics depends heavily on the forces of the world economy and that welfare state is a European idea, on the role of Europe in the world, which through a common army and a dialogue open to all external actors would assume tangible authority, and on the European Constitution, for whose construction we must have courage, desire to grow and unite the world. The PROPOSES THAT THE PARTICIPANTS ACCEPTED TO PRESENT| The participants agreed on the need to structure a genuine European Constitution, which is ambitious, linked to the founding values and which puts at the heart of territories, democracy, the rule of law and work and to introduce a procedure that allows European citizens to choose the European Commission through the spitzenkandidaten mechanism. They also reserved the right to call for the debate between the Union and the Member States to be maintained on economic policies and that there should be a way of discussing fundamental rights in depth within the institutions so that there is certainty in the relationship with the States that have been violating them in the last period. Finally, in order to make the European Union a global player, the whole assembly argues that the first step to be taken is to overcome the right of veto in the Council, the establishment of a European army, and then to continue the path towards transformation into a European Federation.