Appeal for ‘A genuine European Union to ensure welfare, security and democracy’

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.

Here is the original text of the appeal:

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 recognize the EU as an incomplete Res Publica. It has a ridiculous budget (0,9 percent 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 defense 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, defense 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 (www.marchforeurope2017.eu). 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.

Gabriele Abels
Maurizio Albahari
Alberto Alemanno
Maria Romana Allegri
Salvatore Aloisio
Edmond Alphandery
Stefano Amadeo
Mads Andenжs
Filippo Andreatta
Daniele Archibugi
Fulvio Attinа
Giampiero Armenise Auletta
Matej Avbelj
Michele Bagella
Roberto Balzani
Antonio Bar
Joseph Baratta
Luciano Bardi
Enrique Barуn Crespo
Gauthier Bas
Justyna Bazylinska-nagler
Nicola Bellini
José María Beneyto
Giuseppe Bianco
Alessia Biava
Stanislaw Biernat
Paola Bilancia
Francesco Billari
Pauline Billiouw
Piotr Bogdanowicz
Angelo Bolaffi
Enrico Bonadio
Emma Bonino
Gianni Bonvicini
Antonella Braga
Anna Bravo
Edoardo Bressanelli
Mercedes Bresso
Giuseppe Bronzini
Tomer Broude
Flavio Brugnoli
Hauke Brunkhorst
Susanna Cafaro
Raimondo Cagiano De Azevedo
Gabriele Caiati
Oreste Calliano
Enrico Calossi
Antonia Calvo
Isabel Camisгo
Beniamino Caravita
Franco Cardini
Paolo Carrozza
Maria Chiara Carrozza
Roberto Castaldi
Giuliano Cazzola
Maurizio Cermel
Adriana Ciancio
Innocenzo Cipolletta
Andrea Cofelice
Stefan C. Collignon
Josep Colomer
Roberto Compagnoni
David Coombes
Alberto Cottica
Paul Craig
Claudio Cressati
Carlo Curti Gialdino
Alberto D’alessandro
Lucia D’ambrosi
Pier Virgilio Dastoli
Maurizia De Bellis
Giuseppe De Cecco
Nico De Federicis
Filipa De Sousa
Joana Rita De Sousa Covкlo De Abreu
Pompeo Della Posta
Kalman Dezseri
Mario Di Ciommo
Jacopo Di Cocco
Mario Di Napoli
Anna Dl Diamantopoulou
Gordana Djurovic
Brendan Donnelly
Samuele Dossi
Andrew Duff
Jahn Egbert
Monika Eigmьller
Jürgen Elvert
Carlos Esposito
Elaine Fahey
Benjamin Farrand
Daniela Felisini
Elena A. Ferioli
Luigi Ferrajoli
Maurizio Ferrera
Massimo Fichera
Pietro Finelli
Thomas Fischer
Filippo Focardi
John Erik Fossum
Maurizio Franzini
Marco Frey
Magnus Friberg
Diana Fromage
Emilio Gabaglio
Paloma Garcia Picaso
Antonio Gaudioso
Anna Gerbrandy
Anthony Giddens
Aidan Gilligan
Enrico Giovannini
Andrew Glencross
Christian Goeschel
Emma Gothбr
Andrea Gratteri
Ettore Greco
Marcel Grignard
Robert Grzeszczak
Daniele Guarnieri
Ulrike Guйrot
Paolo Guerrieri
Montserrat Guibernau
Vincenzo Guizzi
Didac Gutiйrrez-peris
Ryan Heath
István Hegedus
Costanza Hermanin
Herwig C. H. Hofmann
Cathrine Holst
Olga Holub-sniadach
Julius Horvat
Yaroslav Hrytsak
Fernando A. Iglesias
Piero Ignazi
Daniel Innerarity
George Irvin
Paul Jaeger
Thomas Jansen
Gurutz Jauregui
Stefano Jossa
Eric Jozsef
Nicolaïdis Kalypso
Ireneusz C. Kaminski
Ireneusz P. Karolewski
Tomasz Kogu
Vladan Lalovic
Fulco Lanchester
Ariane Landuyt
Matteo Laruffa
Giuliana Laschi
Christophe Leclercq
Jo Leinen
Gyorgy Lengyel
Laura Leonardi
Stephan Lessenich
Enrico Letta
Lucio Levi
Ulrike Liebert
Claudio Lo Jacono
Alberto Lуpez-basaguren
Antonio Lуpez-pina
Matthias Lorenz
Anna Loretoni
Keith Lowe
Gian Luca Fruci
Miguel Poiares Maduro
Jeronimo Maillo Gonzales-orus
Sylwia Majkowska-szulc
Alberto Majocchi
Antonio Majocchi
Mikel Mancisidor
Gilda Manganaro
Paolo Manganelli
Andrea Manzella
Michaela Marek
Costanza Margiotta
Silvano Marseglia
Stefano Martelli
Giuseppe Martinico
Federica Martiny
Francesco Martucci
Riccardo Marussi
Marco Mascia
Fabio Masini
Giuseppe Mazziotti
Yves Meny
Cesare Merlini
Marcello Messori
Guido Montani
Kevin Morgan
Matteo Motterlini
Gilberto Muraro
Gilberto Muraro
Franco Nardini
Holger Nehring
Ferdinando Nelli Feroci
Francesco Nicoli
John O’brennan
Claus Offe
Antxon Olabe Egaсa
Antonio Padoa Schioppa
Francesco Palermo
Thanos Pallis
Gianluigi Palombella
Alicja Panasiewicz
Francesco Papadia
Triantafyllia (lina) Papadopoulou
Antonino Papisca
Gianfranco Pasquino
Andrea Patroni Griffi
Emmanuele Pavolini
Antonia Pellegrino
Francisco Pereira Coutinho
Otto Pfersmann
Edith Pichler
Mikolaj Pietrzak
Francesco Pigozzo
Jernej Pikalo
Sergio Pistone
Fausto Pocar
Pasquale Policastro
Marco Politi
Fabrice Pozzoli-montenay
Franco Praussello
Daniela Preda
Ludger Pries
Adriano Prosperi
Marita Rampazi
Pietro Reichlin
Marco Rizzi
Cesare Romano
Gino Roncaglia
Erich Rцper
Lucia Serena Rossi
Pietro Rossi
Eulalia Rubio
Dimitrij Rupel
Gianenrico Rusconi
Laura Salamero
Magdalena Sapala-maenhout
Giulio Saputo
Chiara Saraceno
Saskia Sassen
Fernando Savater
Vivien Schmidt
Gesine Schwan
Lorenza Sebesta
Martin Seeleib-kaiser
Susan Mary Senior Nello
Ingrid Shikova
Olexander Shnyrkov
Dusan Sidjanski
Denis Simonneau
Enzo Siviero
Magnús Árni Skjцld Magnъsson
Francisco Javier Solana De Madariaga
Andrea Sormano
Giuliana Sormano
Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos
Alice Stollmeyer
Sona Szomolбnyi
Roberto Tamborini
Maurizio Tani
Mario Telo
Valeria Termini
Giuseppe Tesauro
Alejandro Tiana Ferrer
Nathalie Tocci
Alexandra Tomaselli
Jose Ignacio Torreblanca Paya
Ivan Tosics
Jean-marc Trouille
Emanuele Trucco
Loukas Tsoukalis
Gaby Umback
Nadia Urbinati
Kirmen Uribe
Paolo Vacca
Dorien Vandebroek
Simone Vannuccini
Peter J. Verovљek
Ludo Veuchelen
Antonio Villafranca
Jorge E. Viсuales
Tommaso Visone
Christian Volk
Maria Weimer
Izabela Wrуbel
Miroslaw Wyrzykowski
Vladimiro Zagrebelsky
Lukasz Zamecki
Anna Zawidzka-lojek
Bernd Zolitschka
Fabio Zucca

For the complete list of signatories, click here.