To face current major challenges, democracy must be strengthened at a European level, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said during the ceremony of the Parliament’s 70-year anniversary on Tuesday.
The European Parliament celebrated its 70th anniversary on Tuesday in Strasbourg, with De Croo, Luxembourgish Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in attendance.
“In 1952, here in Strasbourg, Paul-Henri Spaak [former Belgian FM and PM] presided over the opening of the first-ever session of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community. It was the starting point of this institution’s plenary activity,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola recalled when opening the speech.
Since 1952, the Parliament witnessed the transition from a community of six countries to a union of 27 member states. It also symbolises reconciliation in Europe after the two World Wars.
“In ’45 we ended the war, seven years later we decided to build something together,” Bettel said.
For De Croo, the Parliament represents “the catharsis of a long history of violence between European nations” and also “the victory of humanity over nationalism”.
In his speech, De Croo welcomed the increasing role of citizens and the institutions representing them, which he called a “healthy evolution.”
“Today, Europe’s political project is mainly driven by visionary citizens. By the people of Europe.”
The Belgian prime minister mentioned the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), the EU’s participatory democracy exercise, which “has provided us with an excellent basis for discussion on the changes we need. It is now up to us to move from debate to action and to have a positive impact on the lives of our citizens,” he explained.
Among the recommendations of the citizens was the strengthening of the powers of the Parliament, with the granting of the right of legislative initiative, which is currently reserved to the Commission. “If we really want to strengthen our democracy, we must also strengthen the European Parliament,” said De Croo.
To face the current major challenges, be it the war in Ukraine, migration flows or energy prices – which are “played out at the international level” – we must “strengthen our democracy at […] our European level,” De Croo explained.
Nevertheless, he called to be “proud as Europeans of the road we have travelled together” and praised the “fundamental work” the Parliament has done in protecting democracy and the rule of law in Europe. He defined the institution as a “vigilant watchdog” that must keep that role.
For him, the “rise of autocratic tendencies, of which Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine is the most painful expression”, shows hope as an unseen level of unity is observed in Europe.
“Deep convergence of views between France and Belgium, to move Europe forward. This is the meaning of our discussions this morning in Strasbourg with @alexanderdecroo. We face shared challenges. We answer them, together, in Europeans,” Borne tweeted following the meeting.
(Anne-Sophie Gayet | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
