According to Article 48 of the Lisbon Treaty, to convene a Convention for the revision of the Treaties, the European Council must now decide by simple majority whether or not to convene a Convention, which will be expected at the next European Council meeting 20-21 October. By joining both the European Parliament and European Commission in their support for a European Convention, the promise to European democracy will finally be realised by all EU institutions.

Daniela Vancic, European Programme Manager at Democracy International states:

"The Commission’s stance in favour of Treaty change via a Convention is a highly positive and welcome position as the Conference on the Future of Europe has made clear that citizens and civil society call for democratic reform of the EU. It establishes a strong signal and impetus, and it leverages citizens’ wishes for European democracy ahead of the decisive European Council meeting. For these institutional positions to take shape, a roadmap to the Conference follow-up and to a European Convention needs to be developed with tri-institutional support."

Vancic adds: “Additionally, it is highly welcome that President von der Leyen promises that the European Citizens’ Panels will become a regular feature of our democratic life, and we look forward to further details on how this will be implemented at EU level.”

The Commission President furthermore announced that a number of legislative proposals will stem from the Conference conclusions, including a new initiative on mental health. We regret that no further details have been provided regarding the future of the multilingual Digital Platform or regarding the Conference’s citizens’ feedback event planned for December 2022, including how it will hold EU institutions accountable to following up to Conference outcomes.

The State of the Union speech addressed the need for renewing the European promise. The Commission, alongside the European Parliament, has demonstrated political leadership and political courage in committing to European democracy with a view towards the future to ensure that Europe meets the needs of the 21st century. The European Council must now demonstrate its leadership and courage in responding to the will of the citizens by joining both the European Parliament and European Commission in its clear call for a European Convention.

References:

[1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0244_EN.html

[2] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_22_2944

Read more about Democracy International’s positions regarding a Convention here.

For questions, contact:

Daniela Vancic, vancic@democracy-international.org, +49 221 669 66531