Four European countries signed a document calling for more European integration. They proposed to enhance the EMU in its social dimension, to make the EU more democratic and to harmonise EU states’ foreign policies.
A document calling for a faster and deeper European integration was signed on the 14th of September by the presidents of the Lower Chambers of the Parliament of Italy (Laura Boldrini), France (Claude Bartolone), Germany (Norbert Lammert) and Luxembourg (Mars di Bartolomeo) in Rome. The document, addressed to the other European partners, makes bold statements about the future of the European Union, and even hints at a possible “Federal Union of States”, The New Federalist magazine writes.
This declaration has been written as the EU is living difficult times: during the last months the Greek crisis, terrorism and the massive arrivals of refugees have made obvious that the EU as we know it today is not ready to deal with all the challenges is going to be confronted with. These themes and others, such as climate change, unnemployment and inequality are tackled in the text.
According to the four residents, there is one potential solution to these difficulties: “more and not less European Union. (...) The ongoing integration process should not be limited to economic and financial policies, the single market and the agricultural policies. On the contrary, it should include all the aspects related to the European ideal, such as the social and cultural dimensions, as well as foreign policy, security and defence”.
The document signed in Rome puts also the accent on the role of the Parliaments: according to Lammert, we need a "new and reinforced role of the Parliaments: we are not rivals with the EU Parliament, on the contrary we are partners".
